Calorie counting as my last resort.

Well.... on the plus side I guess you have 100% control over the ingredients that go into your cooking.

You sound a bit overwhelmed. Don't worry, counting calories take extremely little time, though it does likely need a bit of planning.

The good news is it takes literally seconds to put something on a scale to see how much it weighs before you eat it. The bad news is you have to practice having availability of said scale and other plans when weighing is not an option.

I have "car-snacks"- a bag of pre-measured food I carry around with me in case I get hungry while out and about or tied up later than expected. I find this habit along with not having things in the house that I tend to over-eat on has resolved much of my undesired calorie intake.

As for exercise I pace when on the phone or do a few wall-push ups here and there or just little things to get some movement in. You don't "need" exercise to lose weight, and certainly not formal exercise at a gym. It sounds like you might be a bit active already anyway.

My last bit of advice would be to start SLOW. I set my goal at .5 per week to get in the habit of tracking and weighing and still set it back to that on some days when I want to eat more. Losing .5 a week and sticking to it is better than giving up and continuing to gain. It's been quite easy since I have not been trying to over-do it.

Support helps!

Debmal77 wrote: »

smantha32 wrote: »

You can lose 200 pounds straight away by dumping the lazy husband.

This for starters.

Totally agree - you didn't make those kids on your own right? If you can help make them, he can help take care of them. He's supposed to be your partner.

If you don't take care of yourself or invest time in yourself, who will? With so much stress, it's possible you could get sick down the road, will your husband be there to help you with things when you're sick and cannot do them? I hope nothing ever happens where it comes to that situation, but realistically it could.

Bottom line: if you want to change your life and lose the weight, it's a commitment and you need to invest the time in yourself. Further, you need the support of your friends and family. Otherwise, it's going to end up being a yo-yo diet instead of a long term lifestyle change.

tracyannk28 wrote: »

Just to set the record straight...you are not an antisocial:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisocial_personality_disorder

You're probably just shy.

Yepp.

zillie77 wrote: »

I found that staying within a calorie budget every day and incorporating exercise and weightlifting into my week I had increased energy almost immediately, even before the pounds started coming off. There is something very therapeutic about taking care of one's self, especially when one has lots of competing demands, like you do, with your work and your family's needs.

About 6 months into my lifestyle change, I started trying other fun things, like music lessons, and painting my toenails, little things that were not that time-intensive, but which added to my sense of well-being.

Good luck and I wish you the best.

I love this

rrabe78 wrote: »

I see your getting a lot of flack for taking care of your husband, but I understand. I get up and make mine breakfast and lunch before I head to the gym and after work I make dinner for the family- we choose our burdens.

No flack is being given for taking care of her husband, but feeding him? His total inability to make even a frozen dinner? Unless he is physically unable to do that for himself, is not taking care.

I do 90% of the cooking here, but if I choose not to my husband will fend for himself. And I sure as hell don't feed him

50sFit wrote: »

GiveMeCoffee wrote: »

rrabe78 wrote: »

I see your getting a lot of flack for taking care of your husband, but I understand. I get up and make mine breakfast and lunch before I head to the gym and after work I make dinner for the family- we choose our burdens.

No flack is being given for taking care of her husband, but feeding him? His total inability to make even a frozen dinner? Unless he is physically unable to do that for himself, is not taking care.

I do 90% of the cooking here, but if I choose not to my husband will fend for himself. And I sure as hell don't feed him

My wife would just let me starve. She's not missing the gym. I could be keeling over in a dead faint, and she'd be like "try not to die on our new carpet".

Oh yea don't mess up the new carpet.. if you are keeling over go outside please.

50sFit wrote: »

GiveMeCoffee wrote: »

rrabe78 wrote: »

I see your getting a lot of flack for taking care of your husband, but I understand. I get up and make mine breakfast and lunch before I head to the gym and after work I make dinner for the family- we choose our burdens.

No flack is being given for taking care of her husband, but feeding him? His total inability to make even a frozen dinner? Unless he is physically unable to do that for himself, is not taking care.

I do 90% of the cooking here, but if I choose not to my husband will fend for himself. And I sure as hell don't feed him

My wife would just let me starve. She's not missing the gym. I could be keeling over in a dead faint, and she'd be like "try not to die on our new carpet".

HahahaHahaha your wife sounds like me

Op= If do mostly all the cooking but my partner helps me with the cleaning, washing and anything else that needs doing.
It's not the 50s where it was a women's place to do everything whist the man works.
A relationship should be a partnership. Yours seems a bit one sided.

Good luck

You sound extremely busy like most mom's with kids are. Somehow you need to squeeze in some time for yourself. I know other's make comments about your hubby, but just ignore them. You are so typical of young mothers: doing everything for others all day long at your expense.
Since you do the cooking, try some quick healthy recipes for family meals. Keep more fruit and veggies around for snacking or to grab and go.
There are great exercise videos on youtube. If you're sitting at your desk - set a timer to remind yourself to get up and just walk in place for a minute or two every hour. The more you think about YOU, the more time you'll find to take care of your needs. It isn't selfish- the healthier and happier YOU are the better it is for your entire family.

You can do this.

OP if you are going to use diet alone, then please take the time to prepare properly , read the stickies and learn how to use MFP. Learn how to log and weight your food .