Not feeling too great about myself...

Feeling bad about yourself is actually not a recipe for motivation. That's okay, though. Don't get more down on yourself for being down on yourself. It's part of the process of getting to where you want to be. You just need to find the bottom, so you can start working your way back up. Make a realistic plan and celebrate small victories. Once you start feeling better about yourself, that's likely where the motivation and drive will kick in. Best of luck to you and keep us posted.

I agree with DamePiglet. Track everything, everything and everything. I go backwards every single time I relax on my tracking.

It's ok to feel bad, just keep getting back on the horse.

Good luck!

Habit changing can be hard, especially when you're trying to change everything at once. It's absolutely possible to lose weight and get fit & healthy with a busy work schedule, but it definitely makes it harder when you're new to it all. I would advise keeping it simple and concentrating on one thing at once. Start with the tracking. It only needs to take a matter of minutes, especially when you've been doing it a while and have all your usual foods in your "recent" section. Planning ahead helps a lot. You can spend 10 minutes in the morning pre-logging your food and that can help keep you on track. My schedule recently got a lot busier, and I've started taking an hour or so on a Sunday to make food for my week's lunches so that each morning I only have a small amount of meal prep to do, but I know that my lunch each day is going to be the right amount of calories and nutrients to fit my goals.

Then, another 10 minutes or so at the end of the day to log anything extra or make any changes. If you are buying lunches on the go, then it really helps to use the app if you have a smartphone. Otherwise, if you have no access to a computer during the day (which you might have if you're a student) then just jot down calories on a piece of paper and add them to your diary later.

I think in the beginning, there can be a lot of decision making and worries about what's the "right" thing to eat, but once you get into a habit of meeting your calorie goal, it gets easier. Don't worry too much about "bad" foods, just hit your calorie goal and then as you look at your diary each day, or over the weekend, you can see which foods make it harder to hit your goal, and which make it easier. Which foods fill you up more etc. Nutrition is important, but if you try to make lots of radical changes all at once, you are less likely to be able to sustain them.

I don't know if you've got exercise in place yet, but again, don't try to do too many things at once and then feel bad because it's not happening. Just try to get a bit more active. If you're sitting down a lot, then make a point of standing up and walking around when you can. If you get a lunch break, go for a walk. I really recommend regular exercise for improving your mood and confidence, but again, try to make gradual changes that you're going to be able to sustain.

The fact is that you don't need to feel motivated and excited about weight loss all the time for this to work. You just need to get the right level of calories, and then be consistent. Work logging your food into your life, (just like taking a shower or brushing your teeth) and the rest will fall into place.

One last thing I'd recommend for now is taking measurements of your body, and taking progress photos if you haven't already. Both of those things can be great motivators further down the line when the scale isn't moving as fast as you'd like.

Check out these too:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819925-the-basics-don-t-complicate-it

I don't know why this is, but I've found that feeling good about myself helped me lose weight. Of course, making yourself feel good about yourself is hard to do, I know - I wish I could tell you an easy way to do it! It's much too easy for us to find fault with ourselves, so it goes against the grain to appreciate your body properly, but do try. You'll look even better tomorrow if you feel confident! And then, if you love your body, you'll want to look after it and if that means losing a little weight for health, you'll be more motivated. I found exercise helped - mainly because I wanted to get fit, and exercise was difficult while I was so overweight, so that motivated me to lose it.

Best of luck .

Oh yes - I'd definitely agree with this too. I struggled with depression and self-loathing for a long time, all through my teens and adult life, and I never had any success at losing weight. It was only when I started to change how I feel about myself (still get depressed, but no longer hate/dislike myself or my body) that I was able to start really making the changes I needed to make to be a healthy weight. It took a change in mindset to somebody who wanted to be healthy (physically and mentally) for me to be able to really start eating better and exercising.

So, yes - definitely try to work on the confidence/self-esteem etc right now, and don't fall into the trap of thinking "I'll feel better about myself once I lose weight". That doesn't always happen either, and in my experience it's the other way around.

I would echo the people above who say that you should start by feeling better about your body. I had to do this out of love for my body, not out of hate for it, or I wouldn't have got very far I don't think.

One of the ways I did this was by avoiding 'thinspiration' and 'fitspiration' photos (while they work for some people, I found they harmed my self esteem) and looked at body positive blogs, things like the curve appeal tumblr and the militant baker blog.

I just started to try and untie the negative feelings I have in my mind from the food I gave my body, I strive to nourish it and give it the things I know it needs, not what my brain tells me I want!

And I got some really supportive friends on here by introducing myself in the forums

Hope some of my advice helps, and the best of luck with your journey!

You've been given some fantastic advise here, I've been feeling low recently, I think it's the time of the year, the weather is nasty and I just want to see some lovely sunshine to perk me up a hit.

To get me through my bad times, I have some amazing friends on here, from time to time we all let off a cry, rant or a moan, my friends are full of encouraging, kind, funny, helpful comments. I don't know how many friends you have, but it might be worth looking out for some, feel free to add me.

Another thing that keeps me going is simple goals and treats, maybe after a week of successful logging treat yourself to a new nail varnish, I recently broke my plateau, I hadn't had a weight loss in 4-5 months, I treated myself to some yummy protein bars, I wouldn't usually spend that sort of money on an oat bar, but I'd worked hard and felt I deserved it, it made me feel good about what I'd achieved and encourages me to carry on.
When I reach my goal weight my OH is treating me to getting my belly button pierced, it's something I've always wanted, but never had done.

Read some of the success stories on here, I find them really encouraging, it a amazing what some people have achieved, they look so happy in the after pictures.

Most importantly stick with it, don't give up if you have a bad day, we all have them from time to time, just start a fresh the next day, you'll start seeing great results in no time.

Good luck.

I remember how that feels. I knew I was overweight and wanted to lose but didn't know where to start and then there was the excuses. I was sad so I would eat, tired so I would eat, mad so I would eat and so on. For years I was trying to lose weight for all the wrong reasons. So my husband would be more attracted, my sisters would get off my back about being heavier, etc. It wasn't until I started logging and exercising that I realized it was not about any of that. It was for me and no one was going to stop me (and believe me they will try!) Taking back control is not easy, taking responsibility for our behavior is not easy, and admitting we have a problem is hard. You are a very busy women. Start slow. Count calories, make better choices when you eat out, give up sugary foods and drinks. Walk a little further, if your college has a gym, go. Even if its for a 10 minute walk on the treadmill. You can do this! Look at all the success stories on here! they are amazing!

There's some great advice here! One thing that helps me is to set wee little goals for myself. In the early days it was sometimes as simple as "track today" or "do a 10-minute Pilates video on YouTube." It really helps in starting to build confidence when you can accomplish something you set out to do, no matter how small it is.

I also gave myself a month to ease into exercise so I wouldn't burn out and give up. I did a lot of short workout videos, a lot of walks, nothing too strenuous unless I was really feeling it. (And there were a couple of times!) Now I'm going into my second month and I'm a bit stronger, a bit more flexible, and have a bit more stamina.

feeling bad about yourself only feeds the need to keep sabotaging yourself! Do something nice for yourself and know that good feeling you get from that deed will continue and help you stay on track.
I agree with another response....track everything! Make tracking your hobby now. Get on the site often and explore all the food options under the food database. Plan ahead your meals and snacks so you will stay with what you have already entered in the system...I find that helps me tremendously