I'm so embarrassed

trying to determine if you are serious

The caffeine is probably what's making you jittery and panicky, especially with no good food in you.

As for the other things, make a budget and actually stick to it. This works for your calories and your money. There are tons of sites out there that can help you get your finances in order, and can also help you plan your food so that you can afford to eat healthy. You could even eat the same junk for much cheaper than you ate out. A box of frozen mozzarella sticks and a 2 liter of vanilla Coke would cost you less than $5 and give you more food, not that I recommend you going out and buying that stuff, but if it helps you afford some healthy food, too, then I say go for it.

For the food thing, start planning your meals. It's way cheaper to eat at home than to eat out, as you've obviously noticed. For $55, you could have probably bought enough real food for a week! Buy what's on sale and don't buy a lot of pre-packaged convenience foods, diet or otherwise. Make a big pot of soup or chili for lunches and even dinners. Cook up a couple pounds of ground beef and use it for tacos a couple nights and spaghetti other nights, etc. Beans can be cheap and filling. I use them to make my chilis and soups heartier without having to add more meat. Google meal planning on a budget, for more dollar stretching ideas.

You just have to do it. I mean - people ask here all the time how to find "motivation" and how to make the right choices.

The thing is, I can't want you to lose weight and I can't make your choices for you. It comes down to YOU and you have to decide why you want to do it. Then you have to just get off your *kitten* and do it.

I don't allow myself to "have" to make bad food choices. I pre-plan my meals and I bring all my food with me when I leave for work in the morning. I cook all our dinners. And I plan trips to the gym or plan exercise routines at home and I just don't skip them. I do all this because there is a certain way I want to look and a way I want to feel, and I know that these choices I'm making are helping me to achieve that.

It doesn't mean you can't ever eat at Denny's again. But you aren't going to get what you want by consistently making the wrong choices, especially when you KNOW they are wrong. No one here can fix that for you.

Make sure to eat breakfast before leaving your house in the morning. If your not hungry your more likely to make smart choices. I have a similiar problem at times... try to plan meals a head of time by looking at weekly ads for your local grocery store, left overs make a great lunch too. That will cover your 3 main meals, then make sure you pack lots of healthy snacks, fruit, veggies and dip, yogurt.. I personally love the 100 cal popcorn bags. Taking a little time to cook your own food will not only make it healthier but cheaper.
I've found that by doing this I have not only saved money, but I'm losing weight too! Eatting healthy snacks (between breakfast and lunch or between lunch and dinner, especially that difficult time of 3pm) gives me the energy I need when I get home to make something good for me. I have the energy to work out which makes me feel good and wanting to eat right.... its a cycle.
I'd say start planning your meals and go from there, making sure to have lots of fruit and other healthy snacks to keep you from being too hungry. :flowerforyou: good luck!

Don't be embarrassed. At least you're being honest with yourself. It's hard to eat right when all the stuff that is so bad for you, tastes SO good! It's hard to go to the gym, when you're already feeling like crap, and comfort food is calling your name.

Don't dread going to the gym. You don't have to go and work out so hard that you hate it. Just go do SOMETHING. Walk on the treadmill, ride the bike for a bit, anything. Even if it's at a slow pace, at least you're out there moving. Download a book to your iPod, or your favorite TV show. Something to take your mind off the exercise. After a while, you'll find that you WANT to go!

Try to limit your crappy food to once a week. Allow yourself one day every week to eat whatever you want (within reason). Don't use it as a binge day, but use it to treat yourself for being so good the other 6 days.

When I am out to eat, or wherever, and someone offers me a "bite" of something, I always say no. Not because I don't want to try it...but because I know myself. I can't have 1 bite. I'll eat the whole thing. Or order my own! It's easier to not even start.

Sorry, I didn't mean to throw a bunch of stuff at you. Just trying to give you some pointers. Just some things that worked for me in the beginning. And even though I don't have a huge weight loss to show for it, I certainly feel better and have more energy. Sometimes it's enough...

Sounds like you need to see a therapist and not MFP. Good luck.

I made heame excuses you do.. honestly.. you just have to get it in you head and do it. Don't make excuses.. make decisions and stick to them.

Don't look or think about that food fatty fatty pants cause it's why you are in this mess in the first place. That is what I used to tell myself when I first started, nowadays I smile when I see Denny's commercials cause I know I can make better food at home for the same cost that will last me two days.

The main thing was learning that every time I gave in to temptation it only made me have to wait longer for what I really need which is a much healthier body.

Pick a day.

On that day, cook a pot-load of healthy food,
like a beef and veg stew, or lentils.

Make a lot. Freeze half. You'll have fewer excuses for eating out.
And you'll always have healthy food in the freezer. Just defrost.

I do this once a week. On Sundays.
I also wash and prepare fresh vegetables and refrigerate in zip-lock bags,
so they're always handy and ready to eat.

I'm on a budget. My boys (my honey and his son), will eat whatever I put in front of them, so actually I've been forcing them to eat healthy as well. I tend to not eat out too much and I REALLY try and stay away from fast food joints. I was very proud of myself this Sunday. My boyfriend and his son wanted Farmer Boys. I didn't. They ate Farmer Boys. I made myself a turkey patty and a side of veggies. Eating healthy doesn't mean breaking the bank. I have good meals every day. I bring my lunch to work and I make sure to stay away from places that only have "bad foods". If your boyfriend wants to eat crap. You have to find the will power to not indulge. At the end of the day, it falls back on YOU!

I got your post. I know you were being totally sarcastic. I got the meaning behind every " ".

If you can spend 50 bucks per day eating crap, then you can spend 50 bucks eating healthy! I get it

One day at a time. I think sometimes we get caught up in thinking about these big generalizations: I have to lose weight. I need to eat healthy. I should exercise more. And we end up doing NOTHING (or the oposite) because it all seems so daunting. Some people can do it - they can jump in with both feet and I applaud them. But that was never me. I had to start out slowly and concentrate on one thing a week and slowly add another and another. It has really helped me to NOT pack on the pounds while I've been on maternity leave (adopted so there is no post baby weight to lose). Working keeps my daily eating in check, being sleepless and busy with a new baby has thrown my schedule out of whack - I don't eat as well, I don't exercise as much. But I'm back on track and was able to not completely fall off the wagon because I kept up with the small changes.

I still have weight to lose - and I'm back to doing it the same way I started - this week the only thing I'm concentrating on is what I eat and logging my foods honestly. I might do that for a few weeks - just get myself back in the grove and allow habits to establish. then I'll move on to other things like working out again. It's worked for me anyway.

Healthy foods are far cheaper that the other foods you listed. My wife and I cut back on going out to eat and we have saved a ton of money, enough for a down payment on the house we just bought. Shop the outer ring of the grocery store, i.e. produce, meats, dairy, etc. and you will find that your grocery bill goes down quite a bit. And it forces you to eat healthy. Once you stick to it for a while it becomes alot easier to stay in and make a quick dinner. Also it tastes so much better and makes you feel loads better. I try to make a habit of having my meals planned out on sunday so that if needed i can make them, freeze them, then heat em up at night. Works great for me. Also i always eat right before shopping. It keeps me from collecting everything in sight.
As far as working out goes... If you are truly invested in the idea of being healthier, you will make time for it. I wake up at 2:30 in the morning on workout days and get it done, because it is a priority, or I do it as soon as i get home from work. I make it a requirement to eat dinner. In my mind if i want that good dinner my wife made i have to at least go for a run.
All in all though, a healthy lifestyle is, in my opinion, 80 percent intake. Not to say exercise isn't important, but if you fuel your body correctly, you will be more likely to feel like working out and more likely to have great workouts.
Take small steps towards being healthy and you will accomplish it very quickly. Keep at it!! I know it will be worth it!! You won't look back and see all the times you didn't get to eat that piece of cake, or all the horrible workouts. Once you change your perspective and begin to see changes you will only see the amazing change in your health, a love for a sweat drenched shirt, and a serious upgrade to confidence and desires. Best of luck. I'm here cheering you on!

ETA: Because I can't spell...

I total agree here. Since me and my wife have stopped eating out and started eating healthy. We have saved so much money. You just got to check whats on sale etc. I think by us shopping around and eating at home. We save at minimum a week $250+. And that is just by eating at home for dinner and breakfast and taking lunch to work.

One day I just decided to make myself a priority.

Honey, we have all been there or we wouldn't be here. I was you a year ago. I went from 210 pounds in January of 2012 to 158 currently. I'd like to get to 145, so I still have a little ways to go. I'm going to give you a little tough love here... You have to decide that you mean business. You also have to decide if you're ready to make your health priority #1. You also have to recognize that this needs to be a permanent lifestyle change. Diets don't work. I've tried plenty of temporary diets. What worked for me this time was a complete lifestyle overhaul.
What I'm going to do for you is eliminate your excuses

Money- You are spending quite a bit of money eating out. We used to eat out a lot. Now we try to limit ourselves to once a week.
You can buy healthy food (fruit and veggies, chicken breasts, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, etc.), cook at home, and probably spend less than you are now. Shop the perimeter of the store. The packaged convenience stuff is actually pretty expensive.

Time- This ones tough. Nobody has more than 24 hours in a day. You have to MAKE time and make it non-negotiable. I work full time and have two elementary aged kids. My husband is the deputy police chief in our town. His job doesn't give him much opportunity to help out at home. We also care for my husband's parents- his mother has a heart condition and his father has terminal cancer. My kids are involved in stuff. Almost every night I am running the girls to various practices, etc., and fixing meals for us and my in-laws. I have no other option than to work out in the morning. VERY early in the morning. I have to be READY for work at 6:00. That is when my kids get up and have to get to the bus. I have to be at work at 7:00. I work out at 4:30 A.M. Yes, you read that correctly. Now, I don't go anywhere. I use my elliptical and/or spin bike in the basement. During the summer I will run/bike outside. This time is non-negotiable for me. I don't care how tired I am, or how badly I want to sleep. Believe me, there are many, many, many mornings that I'd love an extra hour of sleep. I have discovered that I actually have more energy when I get in the exercise than if I spend the extra time sleeping. My point is, we are all busy. You have to make that time sacred.

So, how do I have time to cook healthy meals and not eat out? My slow cooker is my best friend. And thin crust frozen pizzas with veggies. Some of them are only 300 calories or so per serving. Tyson has new "lightly breaded" chicken strips that are pretty good in the oven. They are low cal and high protein. We have been known to have omelets for dinner. When all else fails, we hit Subway. No mayo, cheese, etc., and lots of veggies. Allrecipes.com has some good recipes. You can also search/select healthy recipes, quick recipes, etc., and you can search by ingredient.

It's all that refined sugar that makes you jittery. Eat some good snacks that include some protein. Think Greek yogurt, apple with peanut butter, etc. and try to make sure your meals include more lean protein, less fat, and less sugary stuff. I can't do without my caffeine, but I limit it to 1 cup of coffee per day that I make myself. Some of the low cal creamers, etc., are pretty yummy. Almost like starbucks and much, much cheaper. I avoid artificial sweeteners, so I splurge on a little sugar in my coffee. 1 tsp has 15 calories. Much better than the hundreds of calories in Starbucks!

You can do this. You just have to decide that you're a beast, your tough, you mean business and you're going to get it done!! Reward yourself with a new outfit or pair of shoes rather than that steak dinner... Fitting into Victoria's Secret stuff was huge for me. That's the reward that keeps on giving, let me tell you... Husbands are more than happy to contribute to that reward!! As you lose, you will need new clothes. You'll also enjoy shopping for them! Shopping will become fun again, and if you do this right food will no longer feel like a reward.

Friend request sent