struggling to find inspiration.

lucifer2o

hi
iv been doing this for 14 odd weeks now and i think im loosing my strength and ability to do it, i had 2 weeks off at christmas but managed to maintain my weight but now i seem to just be dormant so far i have lost 19lb/44.4kg ( i think 12st 6lb to 11st) im worried if i cant maintain it it will all pile back on. im a single mum to 2 yrs old twin boys and an 8 year old, so i dont really exercise but i walk everywhere and am constantly on my feet, but even that has gone down a bit. iv started drinking a protein shake in the morning as my protein can be low, iv really struggled cutting down my bread ( think i may have a bread issue lol) i dont have any my fitness friends and was just looking for a bit of inspiration/guidance maybe.
thank you

stacejane

Hey! 19lb is a great loss! I LOVE bread it is really difficult to find a replacement, but if I need a little something I eat "crisp bread" from M & S, they are like 20 calories each and taste pretty good keep it up, you are doing amazing so far!! x

KarenJanine

If your diary is complete you're eating well under 1000 cals per day. It's not surprising you're losing motivation.

Reduce your settings to lose only 0.5 or 1lb per week and enjoy more calorie allowance and you'll be able to enjoy more of you're beloved bread while still losing.

Love4fitnesslove4food2

Can you invest in workout videos--you can start with one and do that until it bores you. You don't actually even have to pay for them with the number of free ones online. Best of luck and don't give up....you've had amazing progress in such a short amount of time.

Boogage

Christmas really threw me off too. Still feel worn out because of it lol. It's frustrating but at times like these I just do my best to keep my plan in mind so I don't completely fall off the wagon and look forward to my determination returning. If you want to exercise when it returns then you can find the time. Take the kids out for a walk/jog at the park or stick on a short workout dvd. I have 5 kids each 2 years apart with the youngest just 1 years old and I can find at least half an hour most days. Quite often the kids like to try and join in too. You can do this!

jcorpern

Love bread! If you look at my diary, you'll see that through the week I often find a way so squeeze in a sandwich or cheese on toast into my calorie goal. Just by being here you're demonstrating that you want to lose. Keep at it! It's totally worth it in the end!

lynheff

You have done great! Be proud of your accomplishment! Look at some "before" pictures or pull out some before" pants. I keep a pair of 3x jeans in the drawer that I use for inspiration.
For me, dieting is harder in the winter since I spend more time in the house ( where the food is) . But we can do this! I have lost 149 pounds. I wish I could say I never had a gain or a slip-up but that isn't true. I am human. But I am not willing to go back! Back into the 3x jeans and back into the wheelchair.
As for bread and highly processed carbs, regardless of the weight loss I just feel so much better when I don't eat them. And once I start letting them into my diet I have a hard time kicking them out again. Can bread be addicting? So for me, the best strategy is no bread, pasta, chips. Just find what works best for you. Hang in there, girl friend. Spring will be here and life will get easier.

wickedwendy6

Read some blogs on here. This was a truly awesome one:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Jenna299/view/motivational-stranger-617426

befitnow3

You can absolutely do this!! Try reading some articles here daily and also in increase your friend circle-introduce yourself to a few people on every article you read. The more you see on your newsfeed the more it motivates you!! Hang in there!

lindsaymarcin

I love my bread as well! Aunt Millies has a lite 35 calorie bread or I go for healthy life's 100% whole grain and make an open faced sandwich. I understand how hard it is to get to a gym with kiddos, but there are plenty of alternatives you can do with them and create quality time as well! When it's nice out we do Sunday bike rides to the library, walk a local nature trail, go swimming, sledding, and even play wii fit or wii dance if it's too bad to get out. Never give up on yourself!

lucylousmummy

the only exercise i have done consistently is walking, so what i advise to you is join endomondo, it's a free sports tracker i use it to track my miles, you can either do it on certain phones via gps (although not always accurate it once said id walked 289 miles in 42 mins and was stood in the middle of the north sea lol) or draw the map yourself on the site.
once youve got the hang of it (really takes no time at all) challenge yourself to do x amount of miles/km in a month, i try to join a 100 miles a month challenge or 1000 miles in a year, i dont always manage it lol but so far ive walked about half way from london to new york
also go onto scoobys workshop and accurately answer the questions about activity levels etc and get your correct calorie consumption (mfp tends to give you to few) and make sure you eat them, too few calories=misery=falling off the dieting wagon
above all dont lose hear,t we all have set backs, most people fall off the wagon at some point, if you have a bad day/week just brush it aside and start again
good luck x
edited to add.... the point of doing the whole endomondo thing is to show that actually just doing your everyday walking about, your more active than you think you are x

Roaringgael

I note that you aren't eating enough. Perhaps you can fit some of that bread in that you love.
Exercise is good for your fitness and health but doesn't have that great an effect on weight loss. I can't exercise because of a knee injury and am losing weight.
Be kind to yourself.
Don't worry too much about the exercise just now, get back into the swing of things and be happy about your food.
I had 6/8 of a take -away pizza on Saturday and was within my calorie intake. Planning food is the way to go. Don't give up.
Running after children is probably enough exercise for now.
Keep at it.

GameChanger82

Congratulations on your 19 lb loss so far!

Just to add to and echo the great advice so far:

1. If you aren't getting enough calories to make this a long-term proposition for you, then do slow down. There's nothing wrong with losing 0.5 lb a week - that's over 20 lb by the end of 2014. If you make this sustainable, you'll have the rest of your life to enjoy your healthy weight.

2. Try thinking on longer timescales than just a week at a time. Use milestones from your future as big targets. It's cool to think you could be 2 lb lighter next week, but it's way more inspiring to think you could be 14 lb lighter by the time the kids go back to school in September, for example. To give you an example, my big milestones are my birthday in March (want to lose 10 lb by then), my summer holiday in August (35 lb), and a Christmas fun run in December (55 lb)

3. Throw some more intense cardio into your walks. The easiest thing is to mix some jogging into the walk. Even if it's only 15 seconds at a time to start off with, you'll be upping your calorie burn.

4. If hunger is a problem, try a 'caloric drip' approach for a week and see how it suits you. Just eat a balanced 100-200 calories whenever you get hungry. A quarter of a peanut butter sandwich works incredibly well for me and stops me feeling deprived at all.

5. Bread - you didn't specify which kind you're hooked on, but I found switching to wholegrain seeded bread from my previous 'white death' has made me eat less of it and it actually tastes and feels better now.

6. How about sharing your goal weight on here so we can keep cheering you on?

Sam

lucifer2o

thank you all for your tips and advise, i am aware i barely reach my 1200 goal most days iv always been a sod when it comes to eating i would go all day then just eat from 6-8, fully aware how bad that is for me. most of the time im just not hungry though and when i am its never the right stuff, iv invested in some high protein meal shake things that i have one of most mornings now that or i make myself eat cereal. but like today iv been doing things all morning and iv just realized its 3pm and iv ate 1 custard cream and my protein drink (stupidity at its best lol) im going to look for exercise dvds and try out some of the other tips you have all been so kind in giving me.
i dont really have an ideal weight id just like to be happy, im aiming to be able to fit into size 14 clothes in any shop i go in? this may sound stupid but it was the only thing i could think of when i started this. iv told myself between 10 and 10.7 stone would be the right weight for me but i have no idea really.
And bread wise i just love fresh bread, i love the smell outside subway and in the bakery i have soup for dinner and polish of 2 rolls with it, i was doing that with my tuna salads but i stopped myself.
thank you all again for you advise and praise x

SheaBdoll

Hi Everyone ! New here.

Something to also consider is your vitamin and mineral levels. Mine were low and adding supplements helped revive me. I was acutely anemic and low in B12 and vitamin D. Get your doc to run some labs. It could be a very simple fix. And a huge congrats on your weight loss! 12 pounds is a lot of bread!!! Think of it that way!