Help! Advice! Encouragement!

The water... look into buying flavored water that has no calories and especially no sodium (you have to look... I was surprised). My mother would not drink water - said it made her ill so I bought the flavored water from Aldi's for her to drink when she came home from the hospital only she didn't come home. So I started drinking it (I didn't drink much water before this either) - I find it much easier to meet my water requirements drinking these. I put 4 bottles to chill every day and get one out in lue of going to the coffee pot between meals now and so far I've hit my water goals daily:drinker: .

As far as the children:flowerforyou: ... you might want to calculate how many calories they are to be taking in daily and make their menu plans accordingly as theirs and yours will be different. I can't suggest anything for meal plans, sorry - my diet is very restrictive as to what I can eat due to health issues... :ohwell:

I know what you are talking about with the non-supportive family - I've been dealing with the type my entire life. :grumble:

Good luck on your journey I know you will do great!... :bigsmile:

Hey NBC's Biggest Loser is searching for candidates!! You should try to sign up, with your story they may pick you!!!! They said they are casting for a new season.

If not, lol, my fitness pal is the place to be for encouragement. If it weren't for MFP I would have already went back to my old ways but every day I log exactly everything i eat so I see how much I am overeating.

Good luck, you have the right attitude and I know you can do it.

Welcome to MFP!
I am new here myself and just beginning this journey. You will find all the support, encouragement and motivation you could ask for here. The tools help, and there is alot of great advice.

You can find many many great meal idea's here. I am not much of a cook myself, but there are just a ton of great recipe's and easy snack idea's, so I would suggest looking at them, there are pages and pages of yummy things! Surely you can find meal idea's that will please everyone, as well as being healthy. Your kids are young enough too that you can train their taste buds to prefer healthy foods over bad ones.

And the water.. I have been dehydrating myself for years. You have to teach your body to feel thirsty again I have found. I have a 90 year old aunt who is very active, and what she has done for years is drink water hot, as if it were tea. She does not even put a slice of lemon in in or anything, but you could, and just sip it. I guarantee, once you start introducing water into your day habitually, you will start to want more of it. That's how it works for me anyway.

Your already off to a great start !

:flowerforyou: First of all, CONGRATS on finding a safe place to work on improving yourself. I too have a family of obese and morbidly people with diabetes and heart problems. I know how hard it can be to make changes with no support. You'll definitely get that and more here.

I have found the that the easiest thing for our family meals is to cook a great healthy meal and add something extra for them to enjoy. Ex) last night was grilled chicken w/low cal, low sodium teriyaki sauce, green beans and for them mac &cheese. I also use a smaller plate than I used to. You can find alot of great recipes in the message boards here.

The smartest thing I did to tackle the water issue was buying a Pur Flavor Options Filter. Its sink mounted and you can choose from a few different flavors with no calories or sodium. My entire family has benefitted from increasing our water intake.

Workout DVD's have been my saving grace. I actually like going to the gym but sometimes time just doesn't allow it. I can get in a late workout once the kids are in bed.

Good luck:happy:

Congratulations on changing your eating habits!
Your children are small,and you can help them by feeding them fresh fruits and vegetables now,before they develop a taste for junk and processed foods.Think of their future-only you can permanently wipe out that family pattern of obesity!
Most gyms are really not that expensive,and you can pay on a monthly basis.Golds is just $35 a month,and for an extra $15 you can bring the kids!They can have fun and play for up to two hours!That is equivalent to just ONE drive thru trip to McDonald's a week! Planet Fitness is like $10 a month,but they do not have childcare...
Get outside(weather permitting)take walks with the kids,the park,anywhere -but get away from the TV and temptations.
Good luck and stay strong!Don't let anyone at home discourage you!Keep up the good work!
:flowerforyou:

A good start can be to rid your house of junk food. No more Twinkies or cupcakes (if you have those) - take them to a shelter or food pantry where someone who NEEDS calories might be grateful for a treat!

Make sure you have a TARGET RICH ENVIRONMENT of healthy snacks! If there's something easy and within reach you probably wont have the urge to make an effort to find something bad. I keep the five pound bags small crisp apples around- if I'm hungry, grabbing an apple does wonders! Also baby carrots and broccoli spears - celery if you can like it (hate it!). Hard boiled eggs are cheap sources of protein and fat and have great staying power!

Once you have your junk food gone and healthy foods on hand, start working to build healthy easy and quick meals for your family. I buy dream-field pasta and substitute it for the pasta in the package mixes on a lazy night - at least I'm cutting back a little on some of the bad stuff! Keep some sugar alternatives on hand, like stevia and Splenda and buy sugar free when you can. Almost anything that comes in a "low fat" version will be an easy substitute for the full fat flavor!

If you husband wants junk food - treat it like cigarette smoke and have him keep it outside and eat it out of your site. He can understand what a dangerous health situation you are trying to save yourself from, and keep your kids healthy. There is no reason to think you're hurting your kids by only giving them junky treats every once in a while (like school parties or Halloween).

Look for an elliptical machine used in the classified ads or on Craig's list or eBay - or get a standard stationary bike! OR if you're broke - walk and jog in place! It really doesn't matter as much what you do, as long as you break into a sweat and keep it up for at least ten minutes but eventually 45 -50 minutes several days a week (I try for six).

GOOD LUCK!!!

Ah, but if you bake it, you control how good/bad it is for you! Substitute applesauce or pumpkin puree for the fat, reduce the egg yolks, tweak the sugars, use dark chocolate instead of milk...You can definitely feed your baking urges and cooking creativity by experimenting with "light" cooking.

Do you have a Half-Price Books Store where you live? I go there and check the cooking section. I come home with Cooking Light magazines with dozens of low cal and healthy recipes, and I get them for 99 cents. Cover price on those things is like 4.50! They're a great resource.

As to walking around your neighborhood-please hear this in the kind, gentle tone in which I am saying it:flowerforyou: - You will never get in shape to walk those hills unless you start doing it. Walk 200 yards from your house. Turn around and walk back. Or 400, 600, whatever amount you can handle. Every couple weeks, go a little farther.

Obviously, if you're not recovered yet from childbirth, start small and slow and work up. But you won't get anywhere unless you start moving.

Also, kudos for all the home-cooking and food research you're doing. That is the best gift you can give yourself and your family in terms of getting and keeping all of you healthy. I definitely applaud your efforts there!:drinker:

the best thing is to keep at it. i made the decision last year. and i'm glad i did

i have 4 kids and I can tell you that at 1 and 3 you are at a perfect place to be able to feed them and teach them to eat the right way as they grow up.
For meals for the kids why do they need to eat something different then you eat - if you are eating healthy then they should be too and vice versa. I always make 1 meal and it feeds us all ever since the kids were able to eat. some of the staples in our house are baked chicken breasts, mashed potato/baked potato mashed up - not made with lots of butter and veggies. You can cut the chicken breasts into "squares" and tell them they are eating chicken nuggets. My girls were 5 before they realized that "chicken nuggets" were different then what I made. :laugh:
Other meals in our house that are a hit with all ages:
Pasta with chicken meatballs (ground chicken and spices) and veggies (usually broccoli) and maybe red sauce or olive oil with some parm cheese -messy for the little ones, but I serve this before bathtime
Chili - this is a great one....lean ground turkey in the chili, made very mild with kidney beans, onions, peppers - the veggies are there, the protein, carbs - and I will serve it over Whole grain tortilla chips - like "nachos" - for the baby I just serve it as I would soup/baby food
We love turkey sandwiches on whole wheat bread. I will add lettuce, tomato and sometimes turkey bacon, sometimes cheese. the little ones usually take the sandwich apart and eat it all individually but thats ok with me. I will pair this with homemade chicken soup sometimes or other times I will skip the lettuce on the sandwich and serve with a salad - the little one may not like the salad at first but after they continually see the others eating it they will want to too...sometimes this entiremeal winds up getting eaten with their fingers but thats ok with me.
Another favorite in our house is homemade pizza - the kids LOVE it at all ages (cut it into little pieces for the baby). Use a whole wheat/grain crust - made very thin, I add a bit of olive oil (rather then red sauce) light amount of cheese and load it with veggies (mushrooms, peppers, onions, broccoli) let the kids put the veggies on - even the 1 year old....they will earn to like healthy pizza rather then "take out"
My 4 year olds favorite meal is grilled cheese -- I will make that for everyone on whole grain bread, no extra butter, cheese, ham, tomato -I serve this for lunch a lot with some yogurt (plain, for no sugar) with fruit (Strawberries or blueberries)
There is no reason for you to eat differently then they do and you can do it healthy all around.
Good luck!!

First take a deep breath and congratulate yourself for taking the first step towards a healthy lifestyle. You deserve it! Second, you have to reset your "food mind". We have been told all our lives that chips, pop, prepared foods etc.. are ok to eat. The truth is there is little to no nutritional value in most of the items in the middle of the grocery store. Think about what is around the perimeter> fruits, veggies, grains and proteins. Here are some simple rules to help you differentiate "good" and "bad" foods. A healthy diet consists of whole grains, lean proteins, a variety of fruits and veggies and water. The easiest way to start is to prepare meals yourself. Start to cook with smart balance or a healthy oil instead of butter or man made butter. Use honey as a sweetener instead of sugar. If you like FF try oven baked sweet potato FF. These little swaps will start the process of elimination. After a while you will start to recognize the good and bad foods quicker and easier. It can be fun for the family to figure out which foods are the most healthy and what they can do for your mind and body. Did you know that adding in some blueberries at breakfast will boost your child's brain power! Go ahead take control of what your family eats

couple of things: congrats on your decision, it WILL impact your life, and your kids' lives! on the walking thing- I also have a hard time with the hills, etc. I can tell you there are a couple of options that are free: your local schools may have a track, I have organized walking groups with friends and other moms, and met there at least on a weekly basis around 7pm or so in the summer time, or when it's still light outside at that time. There's also a walking group at the mall in the mornings, so you can check with your local mall about walking groups, I don't know if they are all free, but it's worth a shot- that gives you some flat stroller-friendly places to start. as for the recipes, the internet, and the library are GREAT resources, my MIL also "rents" DVDs from the library - so you can try different workout tapes as well. Living on a budget, I have also found Yard Sales, or Craigslist are great places to find cookbooks, and exercise equipment. start small, and work your way up. good luck!