Hello! I'm a 30 year old mother to 4 little ones. 5'8" 200lbs. I never never gone a week into my diet without giving up. But I'm just DONE being this weight. I tried on a baby carrier with a strap that would buckle around in front of my belly, and when my baby was IN the carrier and it was time to tighten the strap...I tightened it. My gut was all rolling over the strap, and that was the last straw for me. I need to get going, NOW.

Here's where I'm at--I eat junk food. I snack on candy or english muffins SMOTHERED in Peanut Butter. I have NEVER been a healthy eater, and I want to change this. I don't want to diet--I want to change my lifestyle and learn to love LIVING my new lifestyle.

I've purchased a biggest loser DVD to start working out to in my living room, and I will also be starting the couch 2 5k this week. So while I'm excited, I'm ANXIOUS! I just don't want to fail like the 2190473982 times I have before--I know that I went to this EXTREME when I tried before, and that died out in a week TOPS. I am more comfortable doing this privately and not at a gym, so recommendations there please

Otherwise, there's my story! I'm hoping to get good encouragement here and get to hear other women's stories of struggles and triumphs.

Thanks for allowing me in!

good luck! the hardest part I think is making the decision & starting. But if you just stick with it for a few weeks and start to see the numbers go down it will give you the motivation you need to keep going!

And remember its not a race but a marathon (cant remember where i heard that!) so just take it one day at at time.. start slow and build your way up. And when you do have a bad day, which happens to everyone, dont beat yourself up.. just move on and keep going.. thats the biggest lesson i have learnt with weight loss. It's so easy after having a bad day to just say, well i've screwed it all up now may as well give up.. DONT!!

sorry to babble!

hey I was just reading your comment then realized your user name....so cool. I just started today as well...

Good luck on your journey. Small changes last a lifetime! Any idea what kind of eating plan you'll be following?

Good plan, making healthy meals works for me over following a diet. Getting past that first week is a killer but it gets easier and the changes that will show up on the scale, or just being able to wear a baby carrier will help motivate u. Don't know much about the video u. Bought but don't get discouraged if u have a hard time completing it, learning to work out wa a process for me as well as eating healthy. Best of luck

I'm actually following weight watchers recipes...lots of cauliflower, green vegetables, Fiber One bars, etc. I printed out a weekly meal plan for breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks. I filled it out and have everything planned for the week so I don't flail around when it comes time to eat and just eat whatever's accessible.

As for the workout DVD, I picked up the Biggest Loser-The Workout and plan on doing that 5 times a week, as well as possibly introducing the couch 2 5k too.

I tried the DVD today and felt like I was going to die! I am really out of shape. But I'll keep at it and surely I'll build SOME endurance!

Thanks for the comments--I feel so encouraged!!

I couldn't have said it any better than krisj85 and chubbiegurl. Its good that you have a plan. I have tried many times in the past to lose weight and it never worked because I didn't have a plan to follow. Now that I do, its easier for me to stay on program. At like the others said above, it got easier after the first week once I saw results. I found that my new addiction was the weight loss. I wanted to lose so badly that I couldn't allow myself to deviate from my plan.

Its funny that you mentioned that you eat lots of cauliflower. That is something I never used to eat. Now I eat it all the time. It has basically become my substitute for rice and potatoes. As a substitute for pasta I eat spaghetti squash. I enjoy these substitutes so much that I don't really miss the pasta, rice or potatoes much at all.

As far as support goes, you came to the right place. You'll get all you need here. Plus, besides support and encouragement, you'll pick up tips and recipes... and many other things to help you on your journey.

Welcome and good luck on your journey!!!

Welcome!

I'll throw in my $0.02 (well, more like $2 at the rate I go on, but anyway... )

You need to like yourself. So that you can develop the persistence to keep going when results are slow. The thought that you're doing this for yourself because you CARE about yourself and how you feel, is the thing that will get you through the hard times, and make you chase down the wagon when you fall off! Fitting into clothes, airline seats, whatever... Wanting to run around after your kids, feeling like you "should" do it for your health, all these and more are perfectly honourable reasons to lose weight. But, when it comes down to it, the ultimate reason to do this is because of HOW YOU FEEL. When you wake up in the morning, or run for a bus, or walk up a flight of stairs... Just how you feel 24/7 in your own skin. That is the absolute, most motivational reason

You need to like your food. If you feel like you're depriving yourself constantly, that's going to do a number on you mentally. So, experiment with new kinds of healthy foods! See what you like so you've got a "go-to" list of nutritious stuff that you can rely on. My favourites are anything with cucumber (and sometimes just cucumber...), sweet potatoes & home made turkey burgers with lemon, chilli & coriander. Even if you can only think of a few, it helps immensely!

You need to like your exercise. I think finding exercise you love is much like finding a relationship you love. Some people are lucky and find it in high school. Some have one night stands with different kinds of exercise for years. Some slog it out in spinning classes forever thinking if they stick with it, it'll work, when deep down they know they hate being there but "should" try to make it work. And like any relationship, you and your exercise will have good days and bad days together, but when you find one worth sticking with, you'll know. Then you won't just quit when it gets hard. Experiment! Date loads of different exercises at once! See what you love and want to stay with long term

And post here a lot! I'm not sure I could have got this far without the support of the chicks on this forum