Where to begin???

Designfah · February 2013

Like WW, I've signed up for MFP before but didn't stick with it. I found it difficult to stay on track and motivated until yesterday when after getting ready for work I bent down to put on my shoes and quickly realized I ripped my brand new shirt:(

It's clear I have to make some changes but not sure where to begin. I struggle with finding time to prepare meals and workout because I have a 6-mouth old and he demands so much of my time not to mention the stress of my job.

Does anyone have any suggestions on where I should start first? Years ago I was successful at loosing over 100lbs but I didn't do it healthfully. I've crept back up to 267lbs and my back and knees are feeling the strain.:(

Thanks y'all.:)

ktsmom430 · February 2013

You can do this! Do it so you can be able to keep up with your baby and set a good example for him.
Take all of the support you can get from others here, you are not alone.
Small steps and goals. Try to log everything and keep track daily. Drink plenty of water. Allow yourself to make mistakes, but do not let it deter you from continuing on the next day.
Your son will be a toddler soon and you will be running to keep up with him. Do it for your family, but most of all do it for yourself because you are worth it.

P.S. It may seem insurmountable, but that is what I thought too less than a year ago. My knees are 100% improved from a year ago.

PaulFromEssex · February 2013

Hi, knowing where to start can be difficult.
My suggestion would be to just make small changes to your habits first.
Try to cut out / reduce any junk food. Snack on fruit not sweets.
Drink plenty of water. Walk at least once per day.
Log everything. Take one day at a time.
Gradually you will learn what works and what doesn't. You will be able to develop a routine to fit around your youngster. It all takes time, and remember, anything healthy is better than nothing healthy.
Good luck, and never give up!

CrazyTrackLady · February 2013

Welcome! I want to add: DO YOUR RESEARCH about health and nutrition. Do not fall victim to any "quick weight loss" schemes you read about, either on here or on the net. Avoid magic pills, cleanse diets, and any other diet scheme that tells you it's okay to survive on 700 calories a day. They are scams, and they don't work1

Learn what TDEE, BMR and BMI are, and find yours.

Lastly, log EVERYTHING you eat and do so you can see your daily progress. You will lose weight slowly, which is the ideal.

AllergicToExercise · February 2013

The key I think is logging everything you eat, get it down in writing and it becomes easier to see where you've been going wrong.

Also as a start, you could try to fit in some walking even if it's during lunch breaks at work or when you can find the odd 20 mins here and there, it all adds up and is better than nothing.

A support network is great either at home, with colleagues at work or even online as this will help you through it.

Good luck!

marykpfist · February 2013

With a full time job and two small kiddos in lots of activities, there's no time in my schedule for the gym. So I know what you mean!

Remember ...you are worth it!

I loaded a pedometer (striiv) on my phone, and wear it in my pocket all day. This small step has helped a lot with helping to get me up moving. Ni shoot for 10k steps a day...sometimes just circling my house!
I also have downloaded some exercise videos and try to get in at least 10 minutes...usually after the kiddos are in bed. Bt sometimes they get to giggle and watch me do it. I find 10 ,invites at a time is easier to fit in. Like grabbing the kids and taking a short walk before or after dinner. N(or in my case while they are at some practice.)

Not sure what your job is, but I also try to walk at work. Not tons, but a conscious effort to just walk more. A little goes a long way.

I know you can do it!!!!

chica6578 · February 2013

you sound like me 6 months ago and i barely started to actually do the whole logging food 'thing'.
i struggled against MYSELF for the longest time. telling myself "i have to take care of my son first. i dont have time, im too busy, im too tired im no go at this". anything and everything.
your first battle will have to be yourself. start small. i didnt even concentrate on exercise really until last week. and even then i only do walking videos or anything "easy" on youtube :-) lots of great stuff there. i spent 6 months trying doing lots of reading about weight loss and protein shakes, and i shared my ideas and fears and gold with lots of people around me. you'll do in when youre ready :-)
try not to use your baby as an excuse. but them in a boppi seat thing or in a play pen, or just on a clean blanket on the floor with a stuffed animal or two. they dont like it, but its good for children development anyways. so dont feel guilty if your baby cries :-) use those few mins to do something anything towards your weight loss goals. If youre anything like me it takes you three days before you have a 'meal plan' for a two day plan. its about changing who you are as aperson and your life. dont beat yourself up any. if your baby is 5 and you still havent changed, then go ahead and slap yourself (JK lol please dont really, i;ll feel bad ;-) ) but its a long hard battle so dont feel guilty for messing up, just dust off and take another step :-) you can do this!!! we're all here beause we want to changed, you can to. but only when you're ready. :-)

89Madeline · February 2013

I would start very slowly. It's such a cliche, but make losing weight/your diet a lifestyle. So it has to be something you can keep up with and becomes as natural as possible!

It's hard to cut out sweets and cookies and junkfood and soda and alcohol all together while also exercising 5 times a week

.

I'd say:
- Start by only drinking water! No (diet) sodas and juices. Tea and coffee are fine for a limited amount. Limit your alcohol to only a celebration or something, not a glass of wine/beer everyday definitely!!! Alcohol is a killer really.

- Stock up on tons of fruits and vegetables. Don't stress out too much about the sugars in fruit. Grab fruit instead of a cookie! And try to add in a ton of veggies in your meals. Cherry tomatoes need no preparing and are very tasty, bell pepper is easy to add in to any meal, what about boiling some broccoli for about five minutes?

- Don't fill up your plate immediately. Used to eating a certain amount of dinner? Start by only preparing half of it, or at least only but half the amount on your plate. Eat it. Wait for twenty minutes. Be honest, are you satisfied or not? If not, add more. It's a great trick to limit what you're used to!

- Lastly: stock away sweets, cookies and junkfood. Do not put it next to you when you're about to sit on your couch/behind your desk just so it's there when you want some. Stock it far, far away! (better yet, don't buy it). Now, if you reaaaaaallly desperately need some, at least you'll have to put in a bit of effort to actually get it. And when you do, eat one bowl of crips or one cookie instead of getting the whole pack.

So, don't restrict yourself tooo much. Fill in the diary what you ate yesterday (before you began) and you'll be probably shocked by the amount of calories/fat/sugar you took in. It's nice to see the difference when you apply the above!

Become stricter every week or every two weeks, take it easy! It took me six months to lose my first 8 kilo's. It didn't go extremely fast, but I've been able to keep up most of the six months! And still having a pizza/cookie/chocolate on a regular basis. Even some beers! It is possible. Trust me.

Cyclingbonnie · February 2013

You've already taken the first step, now take a moment and congratulate yourself.

I find that logging everything is the real answer. Log and be honest with yourself and the log. When you slip and eat something you really didn't want to. Log it, own it, and move on. We are imperfect and will never eat right every moment of everyday. The important thing to recognize is NO ONE DOES.

So, with that said. Take a couple of days of getting used to logging every bite you take. You will find that being cognitive of what you eat, will in itself help you make better decisions. Once you have become comfortable with logging your food and exercise it is time to start planning and researching what is good for you to eat and to do for exercise. Do not fall into the fat free/sugar free trap try to eat as much real and little processed and fake foods as you can. Know that everyone finds a different balance with this and you will find yours. I choose not to eat anything fake and eat organic as much as possible. But that isn't right for everyone you must find your own balance. I live with two skinny people who have never been an once over weight in their life, so I'll tell you I know the temptations (of their junk food) and occasionally fall victim to them. My way of dealing with that is, acknowledge it, log it, own it and move on. One slip now and then will not undo me, remembering always that it is one day at a time, and that this is a change in how I live and not a temporary fix, is how I'm making it.

I just started MFP in January and I am losing well. I had lost a few (15) before I started here. I promise you it is more effective with these tools and the support than it was alone. Add me if you would like.

Danni1585 · February 2013

Track everything, stick with MFP and spend time on the threads to educate yourself, and get inspiration. Good luck. I am 40 days in, addicted to MFP and have some lovely people for support. Good luck. You can do this xx

micro1039 · February 2013

You know from WW that you do little goals and do not look at total amount you want to lose. Focus on 26 lbs. first. How I do MFP is before I go to bed each night, I log in what I ate for the day. It takes 5 mins. We tend to eat the same things all of the time so you can hit "copy yesterday" and it does it for you. I use the "recipes" tap also to log what dishes I make and that makes it easier. I have been doing this since Jan. 5 and have lost 13 lbs to date. I also try to go to the gym three times a week but you can work out at home just as easy. With a little baby it is hard to find time, I know. But you want to be there for you little baby when they grow up so focus on that. Habits take six weeks to establish so stick with it and before long you will need new clothes not because they ripped but because they are way to big on you!!! You CAN do this!

rduhlir · February 2013

Having a kid can make things difficult....but my co-worker has 4 boys and still finds time to work out and get in shape...and that is with a 12 hour job. If she can do it, you can do it....oh did I mention she is also pregnant again? (Her secret? Doing Insanity with her boys lol)

You just have to find things that work for you. One way is to incorporate your kid into your work outs. That way you are spending time with your child and also instilling a sense of health early on. Take him with you on walks, even 30 minutes a day is something.

If what do you did before didn't work and you fell off track then find a different way on here that will work. May I suggest:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Changing your life is hard. It is supposed to be hard...if it wasn't then the entire world would be composed of nothing but body builders. You have to set your mind to it. You have to know that this time you WILL do it. You aren't going to just try, or give it a shot....but, this time you are GOING TO DO IT AND GET IT DONE. (Sorry if that sounds drill sergenty...military here lol)

Just find what motivates you. Is it a song? Is it setting an example of healthy living for your child? It is looking in the mirror and saying, "Yup...I am one hot momma."

pcfrend · February 2013

There are a lot of excellent suggestions here for you to consider - most of which I used and continue to use. I have two more for you to consider.

To save myself time I make a nutritious dinner with one extra portion/dinner set aside for my lunch the next day. It helps save time and you prevent yourself from eating out.

My second suggestion is about motivation. No matter how well you plan, organize, shop and cook, there will be times when temptation is so strong you have to draw upon your motivation. What made you want to lose weight? Is the reason strong enough to get you through the tough times? Keep reminding yourself about the "why" and the "how" will be figured out as you go along.

kuger4119 · February 2013

Most of the suggestions above are good. The most important thing is to make your goals modest to start with and continue to build on them over time. Remember to eat food. There's nothing wrong with eating 1700-1800 calories per day if you are trying to lose 100+ pounds.

The other thing is to realize that there will be an occasional bad day. Don't obsess about them but keep them to a minimum. If you blow it by 1500 calories in a day (which I did yesterday), remember that three healthy days will get you back to even. Try not to have days that bad but if you have 9 good days for every bad one....you'll see progress.

Finally, it's easy to get into a rut and hit a plateau. Don't worry if you have a week that doesn't seem to make sense. For a month, I wasn't eating at a deficit on Friday, Saturday and Sunday but being good on Monday to Thursday. I was losing about a half pound per week. This last week, I was good on all but one day and was pretty close to my targets. Even though I had a net deficit of 2000 calories for the week, I was 1.5 pounds heavier yesterday than I was the previous Friday. Some weeks won't make sense. Knowing my own personal history, I know that by next Friday, that 1.5 lbs will be gone plus another pound.

At the end of the day, the most effective way to be healthy in the long term is to select a "diet" that is sustainable in the long term. Using weight watchers or any other program is usually a short term tease that doesn't last. I've watched my sister-in-law cycle through 40+ lb weight swings a half dozen times.

Where to begin???

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