Feeling too far gone

I walk to relieve stress too. I make sure that it's through some form of nature (river valley, parks, open green space, etc).

Stress will do that to you - my husband has been laid off since March - I am the sole support and slipping farther behind each month. I get it.

You don't need a gym or equipment to work out - with 6 people in one house - take the kids for a walk - go to the park - nerdfitness has a workout you can do at the playground. Look it up. The kids can play and burn off steam (go home tired and calm for grandparents!) and you can get a work out in.

Also remember - most of you battle will be in the kitchen. Offer to do the cooking and make healthier items. Adjust your portions and go with it. Talk to hubby - let him know you are feeling stressed, without putting blame on hm - and that you really need to be able to go for a walk, or something to clear your head a few times a week.

Look up some videos on internet (Zumba, etc. maybe get a few small things out of storage - dumbells, jumprope that don't need much room).

I wish you the best.....I know its hard - but the one thing that is helping me get through - is taking care of ME for the first time in a long time. I may still have 15# to go - and maintain as many weeks recently as I lose - but I'm still lighter than I was in January - and you aren't back up to the Highest weight - catch it and reverse it before you are!

One thing I find incredibly difficult to lose weight and continue to stay in shape, is to do so while you are unstable.
Ex - moving, switch jobs, tragedy, traveling, etc.

I have been incredibly lucky in that during this past few years I have been fairly stable. I have however, gone through periods of instability. During those times, I just decide what is priority at that time. Sometimes, I give myself a break and just do the best I can in the situation I am in.

The biggest challenge, and I think the true secret to losing weight/dealing with addiction/any behavioural change...is to acknowledge that you WILL fall off the wagon, but the true test is being able to get back on again - even if its 1,000,000 times over again.

I'm sorry you're going through all that. I've been there.
I'm going to put another vote in for walking. Right now, I'm finding that walking helps me de-stress like no other form of exercise--even lifting, and I love my barbells.
I also liked the park workout idea. The kids can burn some energy and so can you.

When I had that down, I'd tackle one area of my eating. Are you drinking your calories? That might be a good place to start. One thing at a time. Maybe just start tracking without limiting anything. Maybe eat at your TDEE for a while, so you aren't losing, but aren't gaining, either. I think the key will be to keep it simple. Good luck. :flowerforyou:

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles. I know how difficult and stressful worrying about family and finances can be and how difficult it can be to put yourself first even for a little while. But remember, you can't take care of your family to the best of your ability if you don't take care of yourself first.

Another vote for walking - not only for your physical health but for your mental health also! After a full day of work and caring for my disabled DH, taking care of household/financial matters on a modest income, I NEED to de-stress. So I lace up my walking shoes, put my earbuds in and take a hike - literally. I find that "me-time" is essential to a healthier outlook and it frees me (at least for an hour or so) of my daily troubles and worries.

Best wishes to you and your family.

Sorry to hear your going through a rough time, life can do that from time to time, you just got to believe that this will pass. I agree with the others on here, you got to take care of yourself first before you can look after anyone else, I'm giving you this advice and I should be doing the same thing. Maybe we can do it together, I need to start exercising, it's very difficult carrying around this weight, my poor body is worn down. All the best to you, I hope things work out for you. Hugs:flowerforyou:

I'm sorry to hear of the troubles you're having. I remember about a week after we signed the papers to build our house, my husband was laid off too, and didn't find another job for about 3 months. That was about 10 or so years ago.

Last year, I had lost 115 pounds and had skin removal surgery that took off another 26 lbs - I had a really rough time recovering from it. Then last December, I lost my dad - he had been struggling with a lot of health issues (mostly cancer related) for about 2 years. Now, I'm sitting at at about only 70 pounds lost.

Yes, it's just grates at me that I gained so much back. I was closing in on 150+ pounds lost....not too far off from "one-derland".

A friend of mine always says, "Life happens when you make other plans." I don't think anybody would have thought any of this would have jumped right in our path and really mucked things up the way it did.

My 20th wedding anniversary was Wednesday. My "early" anniversary gift to myself was to get back on track. Since Monday, I've been logging everything, and trying to pay attention to the Fitbit numbers. It's gone a lot better than expected, and it's gotten easier as the week's gone on. I'm almost to the point of being excited to weigh in on Monday/Tuesday. Gotta get thru the weekend though.

It's hard not to focus on the things that have diverted us from the path we're on. But it's necessary to keep the eye on the prize and continue working towards it.

My last year, I spent a lot of time pulling a "poor pitiful me" because it's the child in me so upset and bothered that it seems like everybody else can eat whatever they want and never gain weight. I have felt like other people don't have the same challenges that I have in losing weight. I've come to realize that that isn't so. There are plenty of other people who have had life throw them plenty of curve balls.

We can't focus on the past. We can't focus on those things we have no control over. We can't let our emotions overrule our head when it comes to figuring out what sort of food we're going to have. That's how we got here.

Realize you're human. You will fall. It has happened before, and it will happen again. It's that whole being fallable thing. What matters is what happens after that. Get back up, dust yourself off, see if you can figure out what triggered the fall and if there's something that you could have done different. Don't dwell on it too long, but realize that stressors can come in a variety of forms.

Make sure you set aside some quiet time for you each day just to help you chill, think about the day, think about the day ahead. Etc.

You can do this, and you are worthy. Worthy of the effort, worthy of the success that comes from it. You matter to a lot of people.

One of the lists I'm on has many women of different faiths. We sort of thought it sounded corny to say, "We're praying for you" or maybe it just didn't "go over well" with some....so we started telling each other we were "sending good thoughts" their way.

So - sending good thoughts to you! You can do it!!

Please be more kind to yourself. You don't deserve to be treated the way you are treating yourself right now in being so harsh. Sure, there's work to do. Just accept that it will take time. I wish you all the best for getting through this terrible time. The world is a cruel, harsh place but you need to keep your spirits high and KNOW that everything will be okay.

Lots of great responses but I'd like to add one more thing. Whenever life puts too much on our plates to deal with and we are basically in survival mode, its real difficult to focus. My favorite saying is, "How do you eat an elephant? . . . answer: one bite at a time".
Don't overload yourself in making new habits. If walking and logging is too much, then pick one to start with and then add the other a week or so later.
You want to develop a habit. Too many can kill the goal before you even get a good chance at it. Granted some of us are better at cold turkey and lots of changes . . . others it is best to go one habit at a time.

For myself, the one habit at a time has been the ticket for me. Stopped drinking sweet tea, changed to water. Stopped drinking coffee, changed to herbal teas. One hour less television, went to one hour walking. The list goes on. Just swap one bad habit, for a good habit. Best to you