[sarcruze]

WHERE DID MY MOTIVATION GO??? I hate being 10 lbs away from my starting weight. Losing 80 lbs and then regaining it all back is just disappointing and discouraging. I need to lose this damn weight and keep it off for good. I've let food control my life and my emotions. It has made me feel better when nothing else could. But that's no excuse.

I regained a large chunk of my weight back when I found out I was pregnant. I had decided a month before that I didn't want to have kids. I became severely depressed and just gave up on everything and food comforted me. I went into labor 10 weeks early and my son had to stay in the hospital for 6 weeks. I had bad postpartum and again food was there to make me feel better. I tried to diet and exercise but I just didn't have the motivation anymore.

When my son was finally released from the hospital I barely had time to do anything for myself. I let my hygiene slip and sometimes would only eat once a day but when I did it was totally unhealthy. Now that he is almost 7 months, I realize that I can't be an overweight mother. I need to get healthy for him and also for myself. I need to be able to keep up with him and be active. I know I need to lose weight and eat healthy but I keep slipping back into my bad eating habits. When I am this big I don't like to go out in public much and I don't want to hide and keep my son indoors. I want to take him places and let him experience things.

A part of me also feels like there's no need to care about what I look like. I have a lil boy to take care of and he is who I need to put all my time and effort in, not myself. One thing for sure is that, I don't want my boy to fall into my poor eating habits and become overweight. Sorry for all this ranting but I had to let it all out. How do all u mothers out there do it? I know he should be my motivation but I've just given up hope grrrr

[lin43]

Originally Posted by sarcruze

A part of me also feels like there's no need to care about what I look like. I have a lil boy to take care of and he is who I need to put all my time and effort in, not myself.

But putting effort toward making yourself healthy will benefit your son as well. As you noted, you want to be a good role model for him in terms of healthy eating and exercising habits. Also, you want to be healthy so that you can do things with him and be there for him. Do not write yourself off!! You are young and have many years ahead of you.

Try to drop the "all-or-nothing" mentality. I had that mentality for many years, and it prevented me from ever keeping the weight off. Make whatever changes you can, even if they're small. Those small changes really do add up.

[lm3898]

I agree with above poster. Just try for small goals originally - such as planning out your meals and maybe going for longer walks with your son. I think you need a starting foundation to build on so it doesn't seem like such a huge challenge. I used to step on the scale and that would be so discouraging I would automatically quit and hide myself with baggy sweatshirts and sit on the couch instead of going out. When I really decided to change, my first goal was only to complete level one of Jillian Michael's 30 day shred without stopping, once I did that, I created new doable challenges i.e. next level, new video...etc. Don't set yourself up to fail.

Start small, make small every day changes that you can live with while taking care of your son and build on them - hopefully it wont seem so daunting. Good luck.