Moms Losing 40 pounds?

thickandfitmommy

Hello,

For me weight loss is a struggle. With two kids, a hubby and a full time job I feel like I have no time to workout. And my eating is terrible. I just cant cut it down to where I want to be. I'm thinking I might have to just cut out all unhealthy foods together because when I give myself any kind of exceptions to eat ice cream or chips, I can't stop lol I need help! Help me out mommies

Liftng4Lis

Weight loss starts in the kitchen. I'm a single mom who works full time and maintains a home. MAKE time! You've got this!

thickandfitmommy

@lifting4lis i know. I have to make time. Just like I make time for everything else. When do you get your workouts in throughout the day?

Sued0nim

It's not about workouts it's about the kitchen and calorie counting

get that right and you'll lose weight

start losing weight and you'll find the time to move more

you don't have to workout - take the kids to the park - go for a walk, bike ride, play football whatever

beasley06

I'm in the same boat! I'm trying to find out door activities with my 3 year old, 10 year old & 12 year old on my 2 days off- I'm thinking the school play ground & then some kind of hiking. I find that when I excersize more then I eat less & crave less sweets:)

brightsideofpink

I work 40-50+ hours per week, with two busy kids. One who seems to constantly have some sort of sports practice, and a 2 year old who is lovingly high maintenance. It isn't easy, but its very possible. Diet first- find filling lower calorie meals, prep on the weekend, and don't beat yourself up over shortcuts. I eat a frozen meal or boxed soup at least once per week, and eat lunch out another day or two. When I don't feel like dicing vegetables or didn't make it to the grocery store, I'm fine with the frozen backups I keep. When my counters are too cluttered to make room to cut raw chicken, I'm okay with an easy omelette for dinner. I do weigh everything- I find the time involved negligible but so important.

As for exercise, I find that it helps so much. One- it gives you more calories to eat. Definitely a plus. Secondly, it can help you to really appreciate the value of a calorie. I do a combination of things here. One- I make the time. I get up at 4 am at least 2-3 weekdays and get my self to the gym. Two- incorporate the kids. Especially when the weather is fair and the days are long, we play soccer or walk to the park or race each other (this is their favorite). Three- some time is better than no time. If I get 10 minutes in in the morning and 5 minutes doing stairs during the work day and 15 minutes doing zumba on my wii, its still more valuable than doing nothing.

I've lost 55 lbs doing this, and I have every confidence that the sum of all these things will make it a sustainable lifestyle for me.

mleeginn

I'm a stay at home mom/caregiver.... My husband is a veteran and he can not be left alone and has back problems.... I have one child who is 10 and is overweight... I'm trying to get us all healthier... we live on 20 acres and we r outside ALOT.... But I'm not sure how to log our outside activities.... Feeding livestock clean up yard.... I've only started counting cals for a week and a half... I just need some encouragment, I know that its going to be a long process but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to keep my family around and to keep them happy.... Sorry to be rambling on thanks for listening/reading

sarahlifts

I have one child and a husband at home. Because I dont want my 1.5 hour 6 day a week interest to take away from our family time in the evenings, I go in the morning at 5 am. I prep breakfast for the family the night before so my mornings arent a rush. I wake up at 3:45 every morning to get my me time. I am not a morning person at all. That is how I get my training in.

Weight loss comes from being in a caloric deficit. I UNDERSTAND YOUR PAIN of eating a treat then overdoing it. I cant help myself with cookies and cake. You can have these things. Buy them in singles on the day you plan to eat them. If you fall down get right back up. Don't wallow in it and just mess over the whole week.

Don't beat yourself up. You can do this!

edited to add I was 189 lbs and am at 143 lbs now I have been maintaining for a year. You can do this

CrazyDogLady403

To the OP - I understand your frustration in fitting in your daily exercise. I have two kids, stayed home with them or worked part-time for years, and just recently went back into the workforce full-time. It was much easier to find time for workouts before... When I get home from work in the evening now I feel like I owe it to my kids to be there 100% for them - same with weekends.

My solution was to buy a membership to the gym that is in my office tower, I make it there nearly five days a week over the lunch hour. It is a shorter workout, no more than 35 minutes or so, but it is do-able. If you don't have such a facility near where you work, walk during your lunch break. Every little bit adds up!

I have also found that spending some time on the weekends preparing a meal plan for the week as well as some healthy lunch items for the week pays off big time. I have healthy choices readily available to pack a lunch, and know exactly what we will be having for dinner every evening so I can avoid that awful feeling of coming home starving and staring into my freezer looking for something to eat. It helps me with healthier choices as well as keeping my sanity at dinner time. I can't stress enough how much planning ahead has been making things move along smoothly, it is well worth the time on the weekend.

Good luck to you, I sure empathize with your challenges. I wish I had it 100% figured out myself, but these few things have helped me a ton.

9Rounder

I also work full time and have two kids. I don't know how old the OPs kids are, but mine are 10 and 7. They are old enough to be home alone for an hour or so. So right when I get home, I give them a few minutes, then change into my gym clothes and head out for an hour to get my workout in. I know if I make dinner or sit down and watch television, I'll skip my workout. So I do it right after work. It is something I do for myself and it makes me a better mom.

You could also just wait until the kids go to bed and do a quick 1/2 hour workout on your own at home if they are too little to be home alone. Make it a habit and schedule it in.

I do agree that you lose weight in the kitchen, you get fit in the gym. So eating is what you need to focus on, but move as much as you can. Maybe take a walk every day when you get home with the kids. Or have a family Xbox time?

Regardless, you are not alone!

dekmom33

It's tough! I just had my second baby 5 months ago! I make sure my food is planned ahead of time. I make my lunch for work the night before. I have dinners planned 2 weeks ahead. Also, I force myself to get on the treadmill at night after my 3-year-old goes to bed. It's usually around 8:30/9:00 at night. I also give myself one higher calorie day a week. I try to just use calories saved from working out during the week, but I let myself have some of the treats that I've been dreaming about all week
I know what you're going through!!! Good luck!

twins2x2

It's taken me years to do something. I had back to back twins and I'm a stress eater and a binger, so not a good combo. The first 3yrs were about survival so I popped whatever was easy into my mouth whenever I could. Then depression hit, more eating.... Now I'm looking at surgery in May to my foot and ankle and there's no way I can lug my body around on crutches so the weight must go. I can't exercise so it's by diet only. Today I hit the 10lbs mark. I'm taking it only 10 at a time

dawnsnarks

My two are finally both in school so I adjusted my work schedule to have them take the bus (we start at 9:15 here) and I continue to get up at my previous time of 5:30 to get my work out in before they wake up. I know that I'm lucky working in a 24-hour facility that I can adjust my schedule to be here later and it was super hard before this year. But I'm down over 40 lbs since the end of September so you can do it! I also do the meal prep so I can control what it is we eat - my husband only has to put in on the stove/in the oven (though sometimes that seems to flummox him. Oh well, that's a different post altogether.)
Good luck!

thickandfitmommy

Hey all, my kids are ages 2 and 7 months so you can relate on what I'm going through lol I already wake up at 5:30 just to go to work so any earlier will not work for me. Especially because my son wakes up through the night so I try to get as much sleep as possible. I could probably squeeze a workout in after work but that's a struggle too depending on the chores and cooking I have to get out of the way... I do go on walks during my breaks and lunches though at work. Hopefully I can find more ways to incorporate excersize into my day. And as far as food, I think meal prep would be a life saver but I have no idea how to do that. And do you meal prep snacks too?

thickandfitmommy

Btw, I lost 40 pounds before I had kids by going to the gym only. I ate whatever I wanted lol so I don't think that's true ( the 90% in the kitchen thing)

Sued0nim

thickandfitmommy wrote: »

Hey all, my kids are ages 2 and 7 months so you can relate on what I'm going through lol I already wake up at 5:30 just to go to work so any earlier will not work for me. Especially because my son wakes up through the night so I try to get as much sleep as possible. I could probably squeeze a workout in after work but that's a struggle too depending on the chores and cooking I have to get out of the way... I do go on walks during my breaks and lunches though at work. Hopefully I can find more ways to incorporate excersize into my day. And as far as food, I think meal prep would be a life saver but I have no idea how to do that. And do you meal prep snacks too?

Meal prep for me is cooking a big batch of something I like (meditteranean vegetable stew, butternut squash risotto, chicken cacciatore) when I have the time, generally weekend. Putting it in a big tupperware in the fridge, same with pre-cooked rice, pre-grated cheese and having easy go to lunches to grab for work (or eat at night)

In the summer, I'll do big salads to keep in the tupperware and just add cooked tuna or chicken and salad dressings

Also slow cookers can be your friend

and skinnytaste.com ... look at the big one pot dishes for time saving

jbaile07

Personal story of struggle http://youtu.be/jXoeg-pMhwQ