unhealthy and fit

I got married youn and money was tight I learned to make foods on a cheap budget. You should buy dried bean. They can be soaked over night and you can cook them slowly on on top of the foood. It might be in your best option to cancel the service and work with the carrier on making payments. You could cancel your internet service and use the internet at school or the library you can even go to a McDonald's for their WIFI service. My oldest son says he can find hot spots almost very easily. You could proably bundle internet and phone cheaper. You don't have to have the best phone or 4G. I have a prepay phone that had a free phone and I apy $25.00 month. It is very easy to save money. The cost of a slow cooker would pay off in just a few days. Well if you don't have a slow cooker you can still make easy meals instead of prepackaged food. You can pick one day of the week to make all the meals for the whole week. Going to college and you are tight on money there are creative ways to earn money. I offered to help tutor a few kids on reading. I offered to do a neighbors laundry because she hated to do it. I only got paid $20.00 a week, in between loads I studied. You could also probably get a slower internet and save some money. Just a few ideas. You should go shopping with them and bring a calculator and figure out how much you are spending. You can even go online and check prices as well. I have been known to barter. I have cooked a few meals for a neighbor and I got to eat as well. You just need to come up with ideas. There are always posting at colleges and you can post for jobs for watching kids or doing elder care. I am sure you will find ideas.

It sounds like you need a financial adviser more than a food adviser. You are spending 42% of your income on non-essentials --- phone and internet. You're paying for frills and not paying for basics of food and shelter.

Drop the internet and take the financial hit for breaking the phone contract. Buy a no-contract phone and stay within their cheapest minute plan. Get free wi-fi at McDonalds or go to the public library. Start banking the money you would have spent on internet and phone and start saving for a downpayment on your own apartment. Buy your own food. At your age, there's no reason why you should be dependent on a disabled parent for your food.

Without spending hours a day on your phone and the internet, you'll be amazed how much more you'll be able to accomplish. When I was laid off a few years ago, I immediately cancelled my cellphone, internet, and cable --- you can easily live without it!

Internet access is arguably a necessity, especially for a college student. And it sounds like the package is for the family, not just the OP.

OP: How receptive are your parents to new cooking methods? Preparing some of the same foods differently could make a huge difference. Maybe you could share information with them

I want a slimmer toned body (fit, flat abs, slimmer thighs and arms and looking good in clothing and bikini next summer) and I mainly do workout dvds to achieve this (my trouble areas are the stomach and thighs). I am not able to eat healthy and I'm pretty sure I'm way below my 1430 calorie limit on a daily basis, however I'm not eating out or eating fast food regularly. usually I will have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on WHITE bread, scrambled egg sandwich fried with vegetable oil on WHITE bread, oatmeal WITH WHITE SUGAR, FRIED and PACKAGED foods for dinner, WHITE rice and mashed potatoes.. (I'm in the south so think of typical sourthen foods). My main concern is this will hinder my results... what do you think? is whey protein needed to prevent losing muscle and do you think pro-biotics should be taken to help with belly fat and bloat?

I live in the south too, so i know all about the southern fried food that our families get together and eat! Truly, you can lose weight eating anything as long as you stay within a certain amount of calories and burn a certain amount off. BUT, why not choose foods that are better for you and will nourish your body instead of eating empty calories or foods that are going to make you hungry in an hour? If you don't like wheat, it's all good. You don't have to eat wheat bread. There are other options, such as Whitewheat or even Honey wheat that taste better than Whole wheat. I don't care for brown rice, but I love spanish rice and can eat that just as much as I have consumed white rice. My thoughts veer toward eating balanced, though. If you are going to have bread and protein at every meal, you should have HALF of your plate in veggies. If you don't like vegetables plain, add some seasoning to it and use less butter or even spray butter. I LOVE mashed potatoes, but instead of using russets, I use red potatoes. They make good potato salad, too, and are tasty roasted! It is best to have another vegetable with them, though, because potatoes are a starch, and turn into a sugar in the body. Same as white bread. Eating oatmeal, though, is a great way to add some grains. Even cereals can be chosen wisely. Look to see if they are Multigrain. Many cereals out there are. Avoiding the ones with dyes in them, like Trix, can help too.

As for Whey Protein, I love it! I have only been using it to make smoothies, but it really helps keep you full for awhile and definitely helps your muscles heal when you are active! I have seen more results eating more protein every day these past few months than not eating it as much.

Supplements and weight loss aides, I am not going to comment about, but I will say that I use a Multivitamin each day (One A Day) to help get the nutrients I lack in my diet. I would suggest asking a doctor about any weight loss aides because they may be more informed on the subject and will have a better understanding of what YOUR body can and cannot handle.

Good luck! Oh, and I do suggest drinking AT LEAST 8 - eight oz glasses of water each day. I, myself, drink up to 10, and I have seen great losses drinking water.

I know exactly what it's like to not be supporting myself at an age where every expect that's what I would be doing regardless of life circumstances. My suggestion would be talk to your dad about trying a different diet. Buy a bag of rice,a bag of lentils or beans (which ever you can tolerate), and an onion.

For everyone else, speaking as someone from this generation; It's very annoying, demoralizing, and plain old not helpful when you apply economics from WHENEVER you were young (even if it was just the early 2000s) to now. Trust me when I say that economics purchase do not work quite that way anymore and the ability to acquire free services or cheap services depends greatly on where you are. For example, there are two very cheap grocery stores where I am now, they don't much exist in the city I'm from and the ones that do exist do not carry good produce (it's often just this side of rotten). I've never seen a dollar general carrying veggies, but I confess I've yet to visit the one in my current town. Wi fi is abundant in Chicago (where I'm from) but difficult to find where I am now and was almost impossible to find in some of the smaller towns I went through to get here.

Most importantly, these are the issues that the OP believes she has. Just because you think you know a way out does not make her feelings or fears any less valid.

Most importantly, these are the issues that the OP believes she has. Just because you think you know a way out does not make her feelings or fears any less valid.

Isn't she asking for help on ways out? And I'd be shocked if her college campus didn't have both Wifi and computer labs. If she doesn't want to take it away from herself and her parents, that's a choice, and only she can make that choice.

$95 for your phone and you are splitting it between three people? That is insane! Plans around here with unlimited minutes, texts, AND data are only $45 per month!

You may not have much money but set aside part of it for your health. It comes down to what is your health worth to you? One loaf of wheat bread can last a while for one person. Buy whatever fruit is on sale. Start tracking your calories in and out here on MFP to see where you stand.

I think you should try talking to your dad about being healthy (how it can benefit the whole family) and how you help him SAVE money. You mentioned he buys fried chicken? Why not buy the whole chicken, cut it up, and then fry it? Does he actually buy it FRIED? That seems way more expensive than buying a whole chicken or chicken parts and cooking it any way you like. You mentioned he occasionally buys beans: explain how buying a bag of dry beans for $1-2 is cheaper than a 15oz can of beans. You get so much more. Bread: I realize the cheap white bread is usually $1, but find areas where you can splurge (bread) and areas where you can save (beans, buying fruit and veggies at a farmer's market). For $2-2.50, you can get something like Nature's Own Honeywheat. It tastes really good and is filling.

I think the biggest thing you can do is talk to him, offer to help "save money" by doing some of the shopping and helping prepare healthy and tasty meals. You can start with a hearty bean soup. You don't need to overhaul the entire grocery list, but pick a few things like bread, meat, beans, and/or fruit/veggies to focus on first.

Stop paying auntie and uncle's phone bill. they can get stuffed.

Waiting for the excuse why that's not possible ..

"this" is just another tool . People have been losing weight way before myfitnesspal.

white bread and wheat bread cost almost the same... same at brown rice vs white. .. i don't understand why its so hard to do this. Tell your dad to leave one piece of chicken out and you can bake it yourself or bbq it. When I moved back with my parents they ate junk and i just said leave the meat ill cook it myself my way.

LOL that would be too easy

Not sure if anyone already said this- but as far as the oatmeal thing, you can always add apple sauce instead of just straight sugar to sweeten it. It still contains sugar, but at least it's not a spoon full of added white sugar. Apple sauce is relatively cheap.
Other things that are pretty cheap (try to shop at aldi's if you can, I love that place)
- Brown rice
- Whole grain oatmeal
- Lettuce
- Reduced sodium canned beans (i still rinse them even thought they are low-sodium)
- Dry beans (takes care of the sodium issue)
- Vegetables/fruits
- Frozen chicken breasts (keep your eye out, they go on sale sometimes for $5/bag which has around 2 lbs. of chicken)
- If you're already buying jelly, get sugar free instead

You can always sign up for the grocery ads of places in your area. If you find things on sale, Wal-Mart does price match if you take the ad in with the exact same item currently on sale