Please help!
 

I need some ideas! I'm feeling beaten down. I am a mom of 4 beautiful babies ages 12 to 5 months. During the day I work 6 10 hour shifts per week in a factory, so between work and taking care of the kids I'm always on my feet. I have been gaining weight recently due to fatigue and grabbing fast food on my way home because its already 6 and everyone is starving. I have started meal planning a bit to help with this, using the crock pot, freezer meals, etc., but my problem lies with exercise. I know I need to incorporate a routine to jumpstart my metabolism, but by the end of the day I'm so dead tired I dont want to give up my few precious hours of sleep and I can't seem to drag my butt out of bed earlier to work out. Do I need to just suck it up and do it anyway or does anyone have any other suggestions? I was supposed to be losing my baby weight not gaining more! 😞

So as a physical therapist I can't believe that I am going to say this. The exercise plays a much less important role in weight loss. Don't get me wrong, we need movement, we need strength and flexibility, and we need our heart to pump, but considering that you are overwhelmed at the moment you should triage the situation. The nutrition is the biggest piece to the weight loss puzzle. Ever hear the saying, "you can't outrun your fork?" people that work out so that they can eat pizza aren't losing weight. they are just eating pizza and working out. Keep doing the meal planning and, for sure, as a busy mom the crock pot is likely your best friend. Try to get super nutritious foods in you bc that also contributes to the fatigue if you don't. Take it one step at a time. Once you feel like you have a handle on that, incorporate a slight bit of exercise. This isn't the best time of year for this but maybe start making a family tradition of going for a 20 min walk after dinner with everybody. It'll get everybody some fresh air, get the brains of the kids turned on if they are still doing homework and you just built in some quality family time where you guys can discuss your day. If this becomes a regular thing then everybody holds each other accountable. One day you might just not be up for it, but it may turn into your 12 year olds favorite part of their day so they will request it, ya know. Just an idea.

Just purchased a copy of that book Morgan!! Ordered 2 paperbacks because My sister in law is getting a stocking stuffer. I just feel that if I could just get the weight loss process started then I would be ok. My problem is that I tend to lose a few pounds and it just stops cold. It's very discouraging... :(

moniray I agree with Kiwi. I have lost 80 lbs. in the past 11.5 months from diet changes alone. I have worked out for about 6 weeks on and off during this time. All the small changes add up, but I would recommend cutting out all fast food. It is expensive as well as unhealthy! Planning ahead has been the biggest key to my success so far. We have about 10 go to, easy recipes that are healthy and super fast to make. I am sure the last thing you want to do is cook when you get home, especially while taking care of 4 kiddos, but I promise it will be worth it!!

I must say that it really is all about what you eat, in my experience, anyway. I changed my ways many years ago and my weight has stayed down. I have never found that exercising has kept me slim, although it's vitally important that we exercise if we are able to do so in order to stay healthy.

Planning meals and lots of healthy snacks can go a long way to help find success!