Really Struggling

Don't be depressed as you have reached out and can now move forward. I am short, small and in menopause and know you will feel so much better when you start to eat right and exercise. Take that 15 month out for stroller walks, the park whatever. Getting outside in the sunshine and fresh air will make you feel better.

I get onto MFP every morning, log food and exercise and then read the motivational posts to help others or read good stories. It motivates me to do better.

I definitely understand the struggling feeling! But reaching out and deciding to change is a good step. I have a 2 1/2 and a 6 month old, so I understand it's hard to fit exercise in, especially if you can't go to the gym. What I decided to do when I wanted to add exercise at home was pick up running (which I've always HATED!) I started the Couch to 5k program, C25k, which gives you small steps to start that you can do. It builds up every week into running a 5k. I prefer to run with one of my girls, which might work really well for you. Good luck!

There are a lot of free exercise videos on Youtube...everything from walking to squats and lunges to Zumba. I understand it's hard with small children to find time to exercise, but this is one way you could fit in some exercise. Have a 30 minute dance session in the living room.

Right now I am spending very little on my groceries. My diary is public if you want to take a look. My diet base is brown rice and lentils. A cup of lentils has the protein of 3 eggs and none of the cholesterol. I just add 2-3 steamed, blanched, or stir-fried vegetables with the meal. For breakfast I eat steel cut oats with diced apple for sweetener (steel cut oats taste better to me than regular oatmeal). I don't know what kind of food your family likes to eat, but a bean, rice, and vegetable meal once in a while is inexpensive and nutritious. Best of luck. You can do it.

This story is all too familiar. I also have a 15 month old and I am STRUGGLING!! i'm not at all happy with my weight, but I am glad to know that someone other than myself struggles with this (I'm not alone). I work a full time job, do everything i can to be a good wife and mother, and try to stay within our financial means. I have let my gym membership go because of our budget and health foods are expensive, like whole grain and organics so i definitely understand your pain. I am about 5' 1" and I am about 70 lbs over weight by doctors standards. I am a curvy woman so it doesn't look bad in clothing, but i feel so uncomfortable. And as the summer approaches I feel as though I want to cry because I lost 20lbs and I was so proud of myself, but I got sick and was put on steroids and have gained almost all of it back. I too love food and being African American and a Southern doesn't help my case much. My mother and husband are very supportive in helping me with my motivation and self esteem, but my personal motivation is simply nonexistant at this point. I follow varous blogs with healthy recipes that seem to work and I am really being more proactive about logging everything I eat ot drink and my doctor says that should help. I don't want to be dependent on diet pills or mixes and I don't want to fall victim to all the diet fads, but i am desperate to feel good about myself again. I am extremely confident in my intelligence and person as a whole, but my image and comfort level are real problems. I believe as a community we can be each others motivation!! I want to be healthy and set good examples for my son as well!

Here's the thing: motivation should come from something deeper than just not liking how you look. I used to be overweight, I hated my body, I hated going clothes shopping and I had a love affair with food... not just any food, but junk food. I was in an abusive relationship with a guy who called me fat all the time and told me that i was lucky that he kept me around because no one else would ever love me. And you know what? I believed him for four and a half years....

I thought about things and even though I hated my size 18 pants, and my XL shirts, and I hated seeing myself in the mirror I had stayed at this size anyways. I started doing some research about weight loss and exercise, I found some scary information about different types of cancers and diabetes and heart disease and it scared me a little. Then I looked at my own family tree, diabetes, obesity, colon cancer, breast cancer, arthritis all of these run in my family and being overweight increases your risk.

What finally did it was watching the P90X informercials. These people were just like me and they made huge changes to their bodies. After I made the decision to do it, that was the end all of excuses for me. I'm a very stubborn person and once I make up my mind to do something then there are no other options.

What I would suggest for you, look past the size of the clothes that you hate, take into consideration how you feel about your body and remind yourself that YOU have the power to change it. But rather than just leave it there, look at your beautiful baby and decide if you want to be able to play outside on the swings with her, play tag or hopscotch with her, watch her walk down the aisle one day, play with your grandchildren. Those are huge reasons that you can use to base a lifestyle change on.

It won't be easy, and you'll have slip ups but don't let one bad day derail all your other efforts. Create a support system and set mini goals for yourself. It sounds like your husband is supportive and loves you and that can make a huge difference!

As for exercise, there are tons of options that require no gym membership and very little equipment and space. If you Youtube workouts there are millions to choose from. My favorite go to's when I'm traveling or looking to switch it up, or if I only have about 20-30 minutes: jump roping, Tabata workouts, and running.

I hope this helps, and just know that you're not alone!