Miserable about my weight & tears over photo

Let today be the first day that you drop the excuses. All of them.

I second this. It sounds like a lot of excuses really. Sorry.

You have to want this enough to do whatever it takes. It's not enough to just want the "after", you have to be willing to put in the work. Maybe it might even take some of your stress away when you start losing weight and gaining control. It helps me to feel like I have some control over my life which I generally feel I am just a passenger on this ride.

No one likes exercising at first. Some people never do. Just do it. If you can't make yourself exercise right now then just start with controlling your intake. If you find that you are eating out too much because you are "too lazy" to cook or don't have the time than see about meal prep once a week or once a month. Some meals you can have complete meals ready that just need to be popped in the oven. You do all the work on one day and have food for the whole week. There are tons and tons of recipes that you can find online.

Make this a priority, don't give yourself any room for excuses or getting out of it for one month. Commit totally. Exercise as much as you can. Stay at your calorie goal. See how you feel in one month and the weight you have lost and you will feel a new commitment to it.

I weighed 248 pounds this morning, but I got up and did a cardio dvd for 30 minutes and drank a protein shake for breakfast.

YES!!! I love this!!! I'm gonna be draggin' my 220 pound *kitten* all over the treadmill tonight, and I'm gonna do it like a rockstar!

Let today be the first day that you drop the excuses. All of them.

This^^ If you want it bad enough, you WILL make it happen.

As far as your food intake is concerned: try to cook one day a week - Saturday, Sunday - then freeze enough meals to feed both, you and your husband for the entire week. You'll eat much healthier, you'll see your energy level go up, your weight go down slowly but steadily. And that's a great motivator. Don't give up!

That's awesome, amylouize!!! Good for you!!! I bet he'll end up tagging along. Maybe not tonight, but eventually. Men hate to be left out of what looks like a good time

The same thing pushed me to take this seriously. I've always been overweight so it became just who I am to me and everyone else. I never really tried to do anything about it, that was just too hard. About 8 years ago we had some family issues that completely altered my world. I let the stress get to me and became less and less active. Slowly over that time I gained over 30 lbs and took me to the point of almost hitting 300 lbs! But when I'd look in the mirror, I didn't see it. My friends and family would tell me I dressed well, and carried myself well. I had just resigned myself to always being the big girl and at least I looked OK. Then 1 day I saw a picture and thought, wow, is that me? Then I walked by a mirror and saw myself for the first time in ages. I was shocked and so unhappy. I sat down with my husband and said I have to do this. I immediately started walking and went to the grocery store and bought some healthy food choices. I started on MFP again and took in serious. Suddenly, I had something I was in control of. My family, work, kids, husband. . . all the stress in my world was uncontrollable, but this I could control. My husband said he'd work out with me and he has, though he's lost his motivation lately. I still have mine though after 6 weeks (a record for me) and have started telling him that if he doesn't want to do it, that's fine I'll do it myself. I've started to lose weight and am felling better in general. I can walk up a flight of stairs now and not be out of breath. I can walk 3 miles and feel good and loose, not sore. It's AMAZING, and makes handling the stress I used as a barrier in the past a little easier to handle.

It's hard work though and I completely understand how life can be overwhelming and make this process seem like a chore. It took me years of start and stop before I stuck with it. I'm still at the beginning and it's daunting I know. You can definitely do this, I know you can! It's a wonderful thing that you see what your obstacles are and you are seeing what needs to be done. It doesn't make it any easier, it just shows your getting ready to really dig into this journey. I hope you can stick with it. I'm rooting for you because I know you'll be amazing at this.

Also, as someone who was too big to exercise properly maybe these will help you. These are the exercises I did until I could exercise correctly, and I still do them when I'm feeling sore:

Start with stretching. Sit down with your legs out to both sides in a V shape. Reach for one knee/foot at a time and then reach out in the center in front of you. Go until you feel it starting to pull and then hold it for about 10 seconds before releasing. Sitting with your legs apart leaves room for your tummy where having you legs together your tummy might get in the way before you got a good stretch.

Do "super cheater push-ups" I still can't do real push-ups or girly push-ups. Stand in front of a wall and put your hands on the wall shoulder width apart. Lean into the wall until the tip of your nose touches. Push yourself away from the wall with your arms and then slowly lean yourself back towards the wall.

In place of doing sit-ups sit on the edge of the bed, and slowly lean back into what would be a laying down position. When you get to the point where you start "shaking" and have to clench your tummy to stay up hold it for 10 seconds before laying down. It works the same muscles but is easier for people who have a hard time laying down on the floor or have too much tummy for a traditional sit-up.

Stand behind a couch or in front of your kitchen counter and hold on to it for balance. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart with your feet pointed outwards. This position is also Ballet 2nd position if you need to look up a picture. Bend your knees, slowly lowering until you feel the stretch in your legs, or your heels are trying to come off the floor, then slowly come back up.

These helped me a lot and I still do them a few times a month. Best of all they cost nothing to do. I hope this works for you and anyone else who needs them.