3rd day, and I have bombed the first two!

Bulk cook and freeze your own ready meals (crock pot./ slow cooker is great for busy parents), research healthier choices at your favourite eating establishments ahead of time, choose a different restaurant, you don't have to always eat with your boyfriend.

You can do this!! First...gotta ditch the excuses. I counted 4-5 excuses in that small paragraph. As a fitness instructor I have people come up and ask me "what should they do" but the second I start talking they start spitting out excuses like nails. It's your life. You have GOT this! Believe in yourself. Secondly...PREP. Firefox was right. Buy a big ol' thing of chicken for example. Bake/grill it all and throw it in your fridge. Get a bunch of salad veggies, cut them up, put them in containers to grab. Steamable bags of veggies for the microwave are handy too. I'm as good as what's around me, so set yourself up for success and don't have junk in your house. After a super healthy day, and 2 classes my kids had pizza....guess who ended up with one in her mouth? LOL!

Also, 1490 may be a bit low if you have quite a bit to lose. I'd maybe bump it up a bit! :-)

It's okay....it took me several days to get into a routine with logging/eating right. So you slipped up for dinner? That's okay, do good for breakfast the next morning, and lunch and plan for dinner. Just keep planning to do good and logging everything and you'll be fine! Planning is everything. Write out what you want to eat for the next week, look up all the calories in the database. If you have no plan, you'll keep going off track.

You can do this! It's so worth it!

You're making excuses and that will get you nowhere. You made poor choices the 1st two days. You can't blame it on being short on time or going out to look at Christmas lights. If you WANT this, you have to make it a priority and make better choices. DO IT.

People don't quit a habit like smoking without relapses, why would food be different? You just need to realize that every day is a new day and you can't change the past. It will take some experimentaiton for you to find what ways work best for you as an individual to ensure you eat within your goals. Some prepare meals in advance, others eat small amounts throughout the day to keep theirselves in check, some always have granola bars etc on hand... so on so forth. Takes time to get into your groove, but once you do it'll go easier.

Too many excuses and something to remember is you have the control over what goes in your mouth. If there's pizza, have one slice. If there's a huge restaurant meal, eat 1/2 and either leave the rest, give it to hubby or have it boxed. You have to take the responsibility for yourself. Use this as a lesson in how you need to make changes and move on.

Okay, so let's be honest: it's absolutely easy to be influenced by the people we live with. My husband and I were MAJOR fast food addicts. I'm talking, three to four nights a week. We ate infront of the television (still do sometimes), and it was like if we didn't eat JUNK, we'd feel hungry until we got it. It didn't matter if we had a full healthy meal; we wanted junk. Our bodies thought we needed it.

Here's my advice: don't let your boyfriend affect how you eat. Easier said than done, I know, but for example last night my husband, one of our friends and I went to a burger joint. My husband and his friend ate -- wings, fries, cole slaw, the whole shabang. I ate nothing, but I sat and talked with them. I had already eaten at home, and because they were ordering, the waitress didn't care that I was just there to be social.

My husband isn't counting calories, but after me being 2 months without fast food (I became a vegetarian, and so aside from one time of ordering fries and one time of ordering a milkshake there has literally been no fast food for me), his habits are changing now, too. We eat together at home, and it isn't junk, it's food we're cooking. Granted, we still eat a lot of pasta and pizza and carbs, but at least we aren't stuffing our faces with greasy burgers and fries AND the ranch that usually goes with it!

It takes time to establish a new routine, but you have to do this for YOU. I've learned that I am not my husband, and he certainly isn't me. Sometimes we don't eat the same thing, but we still eat together, and honestly I don't miss the grease, the "food hangover," etc. He and I are making changes towards not eating out as often, so not only will our bodies benefit, but so will our bank account.

Trust me when I say it takes time and patience, but if you really want a lifestyle change, you can do it. And that's exactly what this is: it's not a diet, it's not "temporary", it's a lifestyle change. Once I read someone else's post who said that, it changed my world. This is not a temporary crash diet for me, this is my lifestyle. MY lifestyle, not OURS.

Feel free to add me as a friend if you'd like some support!

Its funny how people think they "bomb" a day.
I wrote the original "In place of a road map" because of those posts.
It really opens your eyes to how much you most likely burn vs what you consume.
After you do your own numbers you probably wont feel so bad.
For instance if your TDEE is 2400 and you are consuming appx 1600 daily for 2 weeks then have a day at 3500 did you fail?

The math:

2400x14=33600 burned

1600x13=20800 consumed
3500x1=3500

Total consumed 24300-33600=9300cal deficit for 2 weeks.

Not so bad is it?
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Quit ur *****in and get back to it!

OP: Do not fear!! You are establishing new habits and new ways of thinking. Ignore the nay-sayers. This is a process. You made progress just by being aware. It takes time to re-learn!

It took me years to lose the weight because of some medical issues but each day I told myself this.

"A year will go by no matter what I do. Do I want to be heavier or lighter. If I keep doing what I am doing I will be even heavier so today I am choosing to do something that will lead me to being lighter."

Watching what I eat for one day did not seem as daunting.

Never quit!! Just keep going and bit by bit it will get easier and more automatic.

I can remember walking in the kitchen picking up a cookie and taking a bite before I even realized what I was doing. I would always spit it out. It helped me remember...."Right!...I can't eat that....I am a skinny girl now!"

Good luck.

D

"Getting knocked down in life is a given. Getting up and moving forward is a choice."

It takes awhile to get used to making "good" food choices! I had a hard time with it at first, but everyone is right you can't make excuses for yourself. My husband is a natuarlly thin guy who can eat whatever he wants and not gain a pound, but I on the other hand gain 10 if I even look at a piece of cake without working out after I eat it. So, it's all about moderation and it's all about thinking before you eat. Try and plan your meals ahead of time, if you think your going to go out, look at the menu online first if possible and plan what your having. This way when you get there, you don't have to look at the menu and all the deliciously high calorie things. Everyone is busy, it's just a matter of making time for exercise. Is there a way to get up early or stay up a little later to get a walk or run in? Don't give up! It does get easier!

Great advice in this thread! Also, the first few days of logging calories is really where you see why you got to the point where you are. You now recognize WHY you are overweight. Next step is to plan what you are going to do about it.

Welcome to MFP!

Oh sure, I've felt that way. I was obese for years and blamed it on all kinds of things. You don't see them as excuses but once you learn that there are better ways and healthier habits, you'll see why they're seen as excuses. And not putting myself first was one of the problems too - comforting others and doing for others was always way more of a priority. You don't have to change your personality and give that up completely, just realize that you're just as worthy of care as others and start taking better care of yourself. Or maybe think of it this way - the healthier you are, the longer you can be around to be there for them.

Glad to hear you're thinking more about planning. This can also help a lot with the budget. Getting meals out on a whim is way too tempting and expensive. The better option is to have something cooking in the crockpot or pre-cooked meats and veg in the fridge as another poster above suggested. Even if you're not a salad person, there are things you can do like take time on the weekends to cook up a couple casseroles and/or soups and freeze the portions so all you need to do is pop them in the microwave. Have frozen or canned veggies on hand (be careful oft hose with rice, pasta and sauces though) so all you have to do is microwave or heat them up quickly on the stove. It really can be easy once you start thinking about the options and putting that plan in place.

Once you have a plan, instead of stopping at the Waffle House, you tell your boyfriend that you either want to go back home for dinner or go somewhere with healthier/low cal options. This is another thing you can pre-plan. Check the nutritional info on the websites of some of your favorite restaurants and write down the good options somewhere and tuck them in your purse. That way when that spontaneous dinner comes up, you can check your list and know there are still low cal options out there.

And lastly, give yourself a bit of a break. It takes time to develop these healthy habits so pick one thing to change each week (or two or three weeks) and all the little things will add up in the end. Like this week, since you've already gone over twice, just make a commitment to keep logging and try to do better the rest of the week. Next week, have those meals planned. The next week, try staying in your calorie count every day. Then getting exercise in, fruits and veg, your water, etc.

1st day on mfp, I ended up with pizza for dinner b/c of babysitting and bf was late getting home. 2nd day, i was all ready to cook dinner and bf comes home and says "lets go see the lights!" so we are going to grab something to eat on the way and end up at waffle house. i get the all star breakfast b/c it's b1g1 1/2 off and i need to save money. so both days ive gone over 1000+ calories from the 1490 that mfp suggested for me. i walked both days with the kids but geeze!!! now i see why im so fat. it's not fair! i have kids all day long, i'm stuck in this house, i just cant focus like i used to in 2009 when all I had to do was wake up and go to the gym and pay attention to how I was eating. I'm so frustrated.

1.) Welcome to MFP!
2.) Isn't it really crazy when you first start logging and starting to understand how much you really DO eat? I remember thinking "well i only eat twice a day it's not a lot!" and then "holy **** i've been eating 3,000 calories a day?!?!? As a matter of fact I logged everything i ate for a week without changing my habits JUST TO SEE what i was really consuming.
3.) You say you have "kids all day long"? I'm not really sure what you mean by that. But lets just say that you DO have the option to change your habits and live a healthy active lifestyle. There are plenty of people who work numerous full time jobs, go to college while working full time, have kids and work, etc. who make it happen. You can too! It has nothing to do with "being fair" it is solely dependent on your actions and choices.

I know it cant be frusterating at first, trust me i know, but if you make small changes and keep at it and realize this isn't just some quick fix and you can go right back to your poor eating habits then I think you will have great success.

Best of luck!