I cannot get over the negative thoughts about my weight loss. I just had a baby in November. The plan was to lose weight, then have a baby, but that didn't work out. The day before I was going to start a strict workout plan at the rec center was the day I found out I was pregnant. Weight loss goals got put on hold, although i did lose weight early in pregnancy due to morning sickness. Fast forward to now, and I am screwed. I am only 4 lbs heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight, but I am in worse mental shape than ever. do now, I am stuck at home all day with a baby who is really clingy and I have no time to do anything, especially exercise. i have tried to go on walks with her, but thanks to Ohio weather, it was 60 one day then back down to 20 the next. I want to get a treadmill but my boyfriend doesn't think we have space for it and doesn't want me sweating and stinking up the living room. So, I don;t know. I am seriously just ready to say screw it all and just be fat and not care. I have zero motivation and I am just sick and tired of having to worry about it. Seven years ago I was 180, now I am 262. There is no way I will be able to lose almost 100lbs if I can't exercise because I get tired after a couple minutes. I am attempting to get weight loss surgery, but by the time I can even apply to be pre approved through my insurance, I won't have the insurance anymore, and they require 9 months of supervised diet and exercise. Ok, like struggling for 7 friggin years isn't enough. All I know is I am beat down, I'm tired and I feel so helpless. I don;t have anyone to watch m y daughter, as family all lives far away, and we don't know many people in the area. Add to that the fact that I have no extra money to join a gym or to purchase healthy food, and I am doomed to a life of obesity, diabetes and other weight related issues. i know I am a complainer, but I feel liek I have no options anymore, and the more stressed about it I get the more I eat. Any words or encouragement or advice?

i'm going to ignore the mean comment from the boyfriend about you 'stinking up the living room'... because that makes me want to go off on a tangent rant that would probably get me in all sorts of trouble on this forum.

that being said. losing weight is a challenge, and you have to get yourself into the right mindset to accept that challenge. until you do, you'll lose and regain the same handful of pounds over and over (i've done this, many times).

can you exercise when the baby is sleeping? pick up a video to work out with? you may get tired after the first few minutes. but you're trying. don't push yourself farther than your body will let you, and the more you work at it the longer you'll be able to do the exercise. one week you'll be winded and ready to quit after 5 minutes, and then eventually you'll make it 30 minutes and be ready for more. it's a process. and usually a long one. (my daddy always tells me "sugar you didn't gain the weight in a week, you're not gonna lose it in a week either!" - best advice ever)

instead of eating when you're stressed, walk around the house a few times. drink a bottle of water with crystal light or something, instead of grabbing the candy dish. haunting the refrigerator doesn't solve any problems.

you can't get to your destination if you're sitting in park!

Oh, my dear, here's a big for you. WELCOME, by the way!!

Being in Ohio myself, I feel you on the weather. I want so much to get out there and walk in the fresh air every day! But don't worry, it's coming soon!

I can see why you are feeling the way you are -- a baby in November (a smidge of post-partum depression?), coupled with the cold winter we've had ever since, sounds like the little one was a surprise and you had to put off what you were just about to get going on. All of that can really set a person off balance. My daughter was CLINGY, too, it was almost impossible for me to do the house cleaning, let alone take meaningful time out for myself to exercise! This, too, shall pass.

Until the weather warms up (again, it's coming SOON!), why not focus on the eating part more? When I first got started, I didn't do any purposeful exercise at all and still lost weight at roughly the same rate. Take this time to get yourself a good eating plan into place, then you've got the whole spring, summer, and fall to get outside and really get yourself into a decent fitness routine. If you're not sure where to go with an eating plan, keep reading here in the diet section till something sounds doable, then get going on it.

Try not to beat yourself up too much. You are not doomed to a life of obesity. You are just in the contemplation phase of change. I think you will start to feel a bit better when you sit down with a pen and paper and make a plan. I'm really sorry you are struggling, but keep coming here for support, it really does help.

Since you have a child now, would you be able to go on WIC? They always make you choose healthy things for both you and your child. And I get what you mean about the weather. New York isn't much better. It was 70 out one day and then the next day we got 5 inches of snow. Go figure. The weather will warm up soon enough, and then you can go out and take your daughter outside for walks. Until then, even on a limited budget you can make healthier food choices. If there's an Aldi near you, they have really inexpensive produce, and a lot of other basics.

Don't give up, you may just have to take baby steps, but you'll get there.

I'm so sorry for the stress/frustration you are feeling during this time. I don't have kids so I can't even pretend to say I understand what you are feeling, but I do just want to extend a hug

Exercise is important for your health for so many reasons but if you can't include regular exercise in your day due to your baby, weather, etc, then you should still be able to lose weight. The saying is that weight loss is 80% diet, 20% exercise. Some lose without any exercise. Not to say you shouldn't try to get in exercise, but I don't want you to feel like the whole thing is hopeless if you don't have a chance to go run or join a gym right now. You *can* do this.

Health food doesn't have to be the super expensive protein-flax-omega3-fancy stuff at Whole Foods. Simple steps at first- cutting out chips, sodas, candy, and fast food will leave you more money to spend on fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins. Whole wheat bread is pretty similar in cost to white bread, same with brown versus white rice and whole wheat noodles instead of regular ones.

It sounds like you are at home a good deal, which perhaps means you have more time than money right now, which is perfect for weight loss. Spending an hour or so every other day cooking homemade easy meals with healthy ingredients will cut down on the need to eat out/order in (if you do that), also saving money and increasing your intake of nutritionally healthy food. Homemade spaghetti sauce, chili, and lasagna are a few very easy recipes that just require 10 or so minutes of prep and then 1 minute to take out of the oven/off the stove. If you like cooking, you could even start experimenting with making your own breads, snacks, etc. When I have time I love making homemade pita chips, which is just flour and water- super super cheap. Added bonus: standing on your feet cooking burns calories

There are a lot of exercises you can do in the house with minimal equipment. Check out the Exercise forum for ideas- I think there is a sticky thread at the top about exercises to do at home (or just search for one). Lunges, pushups, planks, deadlifts, etc are all easy things you can do to get the blood flowing, work your muscles, and raise seratonin levels (which increases happiness )

Good luck and hope you can find the happiness and love you deserve!

First of all

I couldn't agree more with this post! I was going to say the same thing myself. A lot of new "dieters" think that they need to spend countless hours exercising in a gym to see any results. This is partly because a lot of television shows that feature weight loss journeys, tend to just focus on the exercise. They make it seem like if you are not exercising to the point of vomiting, you are not doing enough. In my opinion, I find those shows to be more harmful than inspirational.

I would suggest working on your eating habits first then gently incorporating exercise into your routine.I highly recommend looking into calorie counting, as well as eliminating most of the junk in your diet. I say most because calorie counters can still fit in a little treat now and then if they wish to. That is the beauty of it, you can still eat what you want, within reason, as long as you account for it.
I started out with Walk away The Pounds exercise videos by Leslie Sansone. They are very motivational and are geared towards new exercisers. You don't need any equipment or a lot of space. If you can fit in a 30 or 45 minute workout when the baby is napping, that is all you really need at this point. I am still waiting for better weather so I can get out and walk again. too
I know you can do it!

you can also download or buy Jillian Michaels work out videos and try them...you can do them just in the living room and pause them if you need to

But if you cannot take baby out yet really, just start with Diet...that is going to be your BEST place to start!!!

You don't need a treadmill to exercise at home. Get some exercise bands and free weights and you are ready to go - easy to store, too. There are all kinds of free exercise videos on the net.

I agree with the other comments. You are feeling overwhelmed and your mind is set in the negative because you are thinking about too many obstacles at the same time!

Try letting it all go, take a deep breath and think about one thing that you can do to feel better about yourself and your situation. Just one thing. You could start exploring a food plan that you really like and includes the foods you enjoy. Decide on what is more important to you, do you prefer eating types of food or is record keeping feel more productive? Many diets are based on particular foods, like vegetarianism, low carb, paleo/primal where it is more important to stick to the correct foods. Other diets such as calorie counting have no restricted foods, it is completely up to you, as long as it gets counted.

Focus on one change at a time, then when you are ready, add another change. For me, I needed to lose a significant amount of weight before I wanted to move my body more. Now, I feel terrific and I enjoy moving. If I had done that at 300 pounds, I would have felt miserable. Slow and steady works well for long term weight loss. Hugs!

I agree with every one else and