losing the mom bod

Coffee_addict22

I've posted in here before about not being able to lose weight. I have tried to log in my calories and the longest streak that i have had is one week. I have a 10 month old and stay at home. I am a stress eater and eat relatively good. I have worked out at a gym for several months the beginning of this year and just gained muscle and didn't lose that much weight. I do not want to bulk just slim down.
I know that my weakness is food and I really don't know how to fix it. I can't seem to get a grip. I fall on it when I'm sad and I justify eating like crap when I have had a bad day. I need to lose at least 20-25lbs and no one is able to tell me how to accomplish that with a very busy schedule. I can't cook every single meal I eat and its almost impossible to log everything consistently. I either forget or can't log what I'm eating because i came up with the recipe myself.

any suggestions from fellow mothers that have succeeded?? I want so bad to be back to my old self and feel good in clothes.

L1zardQueen

read this https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818701/the-myth-of-motivation-and-what-you-need-instead/p1

TavistockToad

If calorie counting isn't for you, that's fine, but you can't say it doesn't work after only a week.

Cut your portions or cut carbs or cut fat as a way to reduce cals.

tulips_and_tea

Coffee_addict22 wrote: »

I've posted in here before about not being able to lose weight. I have tried to log in my calories and the longest streak that i have had is one week. I have a 10 month old and stay at home. I am a stress eater and eat relatively good. I have worked out at a gym for several months the beginning of this year and just gained muscle and didn't lose that much weight. I do not want to bulk just slim down.
I know that my weakness is food and I really don't know how to fix it. I can't seem to get a grip. I fall on it when I'm sad and I justify eating like crap when I have had a bad day. I need to lose at least 20-25lbs and no one is able to tell me how to accomplish that with a very busy schedule. I can't cook every single meal I eat and its almost impossible to log everything consistently. I either forget or can't log what I'm eating because i came up with the recipe myself.

any suggestions from fellow mothers that have succeeded?? I want so bad to be back to my old self and feel good in clothes.

I'm sorry you're struggling, but per the bold, there's nothing anyone else can tell you. Keep it simple. Keep eating the same things you are now but eat smaller portions. Consistently. If you do that eventually you'll lose weight.

If you know stress triggers eating when you're not hungry then make a list of things you can do that AREN'T food related. Do those first, again consistently, and you'll break your habit of turning to food.

Coffee_addict22

TavistockToad wrote: »

If calorie counting isn't for you, that's fine, but you can't say it doesn't work after only a week.

Cut your portions or cut carbs or cut fat as a way to reduce cals.

I have tried it probably 4 weeks total just off and on. I'm cutting portion size but it doesn't seem to help. It's so hard knowing what to put on your plate. One person says this food is great for you and another says its horrible. I don't know what to eat is the problem and what foods to stay away from.

I know that technically you can eat whatever you want when you're calorie counting as long as its in the calorie limit but thats not helping me get healthier.

TavistockToad

Coffee_addict22 wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

If calorie counting isn't for you, that's fine, but you can't say it doesn't work after only a week.

Cut your portions or cut carbs or cut fat as a way to reduce cals.

I have tried it probably 4 weeks total just off and on. I'm cutting portion size but it doesn't seem to help. It's so hard knowing what to put on your plate. One person says this food is great for you and another says its horrible. I don't know what to eat is the problem and what foods to stay away from.

I know that technically you can eat whatever you want when you're calorie counting as long as its in the calorie limit but thats not helping me get healthier.

Get your 5 portions of fruit and veg for health.

Eat less food that has little nutritional value.

Don't drink your calories.

Also, as woman you'll need at least 6 weeks to avoid fluctuations from hormones

Spliner1969

Coffee_addict22 wrote: »

I've posted in here before about not being able to lose weight. I have tried to log in my calories and the longest streak that i have had is one week. I have a 10 month old and stay at home. I am a stress eater and eat relatively good. I have worked out at a gym for several months the beginning of this year and just gained muscle and didn't lose that much weight. I do not want to bulk just slim down.
I know that my weakness is food and I really don't know how to fix it. I can't seem to get a grip. I fall on it when I'm sad and I justify eating like crap when I have had a bad day. I need to lose at least 20-25lbs and no one is able to tell me how to accomplish that with a very busy schedule. I can't cook every single meal I eat and its almost impossible to log everything consistently. I either forget or can't log what I'm eating because i came up with the recipe myself.

any suggestions from fellow mothers that have succeeded?? I want so bad to be back to my old self and feel good in clothes.

It is possible to succeed. It's also possible to accurately log everything, including your own recipes. It just takes a ton of effort and sometimes time but it gets easier. This app/site makes it easier. If you can get out and get away I'd suggest walking as an option for exercise and to burn extra calories. You can create recipes in the app, just add your ingredients and then save the recipe. I cook most of the food for our family and trust me if I had not entered my recipes I'd have never lost any weight. I also learned to hack my own recipes, substituting lower calorie options for ingredients so that the recipe cost me less calories and tasted just as good. Takes time and effort and you can do it once you put your mind to it. You'll need a scale which is a cheap purchase on Amazon, and you'll need to take the time to weigh everything you eat before you eat it or pre-log your meals and have them prepped in advance if you don't have time to weigh them as you eat them. Eating out is tougher, but eating pre-made or frozen meals can also be logged fairly accurately with a scale. My point is that you can do it, I did it, and so many more here have done it.

If your schedule/time is an issue then you'll need to likely prep meals and snacks ahead of time when you can find extra time to do so. Tupperware and your refrigerator/freezer are your friend. I've been known to make up high protein and low fat meals on the weekends and freeze individual portions to thaw for lunches during the week. I can't tell you how many times in the past I've cooked a huge meal for my family and because I take the time to measure and weigh everything I eat, I'm the last one at the table to eat. It was a pain at first and I didn't want to do it but I stuck with it, and it helped me reach my goals. I'm on my 4th year after hitting my target weight shortly after my first year, and I still log my food and exercise to maintain my weight.

Research meal prepping, it can help. Also, try out the recipe builder. The tools are there.

Truns1990

I'm a single full time dad who works full time and I just started getting in shape. I lost 20 pounds from running after work for 30 min and eating better and I don't cook here is a normal day... I do change things up but this is so easy it's stupid

Breakfast- bananas or kind bar and coffee

Lunch- turkey cheese sandwich on Dave's killer bread or if I eat out 1 full California roll or a chicken bowl with brown rice

Dinner- eggs with spinach tortilla or sweet potatoes fries and chicken nuggets.

If you want to swap something do it just look for something healthy with high fiber to stay full while you ajust

emmamcgarity

Just keep logging. On days you forget go back in and log everything you remember. The more you log the easier it is to form the habit. Even if you go over on calories just keep logging.

DomesticKat

You just have to want it badly enough to stop making excuses. Trust me, I know all about it because I used to make every excuse in the book. I would overcomplicate the process, have unrealistic expectations, and would ultimately fail. I would drown my feelings in the drive-thru and with Little Debbie. I failed enough times to feel absolutely disgusted with myself and finally admit that what I was doing would no longer work. It's hard to admit that we're screwing up and it's on us, but it's necessary.

I have five children ages 10 and under. My husband is in the military. Busy is an understatement. It certainly hasn't been easy, but it didn't stop me from losing 70 pounds between 2014-2016, and then another 63 pounds and counting after the birth of my 5th baby in 2017. And I'm still going.

So how did I do it? Well, I knew that I was ultimately responsible for success or failure. I cannot blame anyone else if I'm not disciplined enough to make good choices, just like I tell my children. I didn't try to implement 100 different changes at once. I started with one, and that was a modest calorie deficit and logging my food. In 15 minutes of my day I could log my food and go on with my life. I changed absolutely nothing about my diet, I just logged it. If I had fast food or junk food or whatever, I logged it. Over time I improved my ability to distribute my calories over the day in a way that helped me feel happy and satiated. I started looking up take-out menu calorie info and coming up with a selection of things that I knew would fit my calorie goals when I'm crazy busy and not cooking. Gone are the days of blissful ignorance and eating two value meals in a row. I learned how to use the recipe builder for regular recipes that I make for my entire family all the time. I just weigh it out with my food scale so I know how much to eat. Eventually I started the gym, fell in love with strength training, and with that I started tracking my protein.

These were all small changes over a very long period of time. I didn't do it all at once. I didn't expect overnight miracles. I just knew if I made it as easy on myself as possible, I could keep going for as long as it takes, and I have. I give myself grace if I have an off day. It means nothing in the grand scheme of things. I just go back to what I'm supposed to be doing tomorrow. I'm not trying to be my old self anymore. I'm never going back to that person. I'm trying to be somebody better.

mom23mangos

Listen to what Spliner said. Plan, plan, plan. When the baby goes down for a nap, write out your meal plan for every day of the week. Include snacks. It's helpful if you eat the same things M-F, with the exception of dinners. If you are cooking from recipes for dinner, enter them into MFP. Pre-log your meals and snacks for the week to make sure it fits your calorie budget. Adjust where necessary. Now you have your grocery list. Saturday, do your grocery shopping for the week. Sunday meal prep everything that was on your list. Freeze stuff if you need to, but I've found I can get 5 days out of most things.

Voila! With a little planning you are completely free the rest of the week and you are guaranteed to lose as long as you stick to the plan. And you don't have to scramble for meals or make poor choices because that's the only thing that was handy.

FireORose

I really love working out at home with streaming workouts! I lost the last stubborn 25lbs of my 55lb weight gain from my now 9month old.

busyPK

Consistency and patience is key. I'm a single mom to 3 young kids and work full-time out of the house. I don't cook every night - about 3 nights a week I will and I make enough to eat leftovers in between. Baked chicken with spices, roast in crockpot, chicken in crockpot to shred for tacos/salads/sandwiches/etc., brown hamburger for tacos/taco salads. If you truly want to lose weight, get a food scale and start weighing your food out and log it. Try and walk more and you can lose weight over time. Again, you need to be consistent with this and have patience.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

When you do log are you giving yourself enough calories? If you aim for too little (say 1200), sure yeah, it's hard to stick with. I'd start with setting your goal to a half pound a week.

You can add your own recipe's to the app.

If you find yourself wanting to stress eat, take some deep breaths, have a diet soda and some gum and see if you can ride out the desire.

urloved33

there is an app. CALORIES MAMA all you have to do is take a picture of your food/drink and it counts the cals and stores them for you. easy/peasy.

Spliner1969

BusyRaeNOTBusty wrote: »

If you find yourself wanting to stress eat, take some deep breaths, have a diet soda and some gum and see if you can ride out the desire.

I'm not a mom, but I can tell you my desk drawer both at home and at work are filled with different flavors of gum and the fridge is always stocked with diet soda lol. There's a lot of truth in what @BusyRaeNOTBusty suggests. Without gum some days I would munch all day on bad stuff just from stress alone.