I want to quit, but just not ready to

Hang in there, honey!!! I know it is hard. Is there a community agency that you could contact to see about getting some help with your stove? Like maybe social services might be able to help since you have children. Also, a great resource is "angel food ministries." You can get great food at a fraction of the cost. A lot of what your body NEEDS can be eaten raw - fruit and veggies. I lost 95 pounds, but my first "baby step" in month one was giving up SODA (and I'm right with you on the Dr. Pepper!!!!). Even if you start with that and commit to it for a month, that is a positive change. After a couple months of drinking water and crystal light, a MIRACLE happened to me. Now soda tastes NASTY. I'm not even kidding!!!! And if you knew how addicted I was, you'd understand what a HUGE change that is!! I'll try to look for some good microwave recipes. Please don't give up!!!

Don't quit! Healthy foods= fresh foods. Lots of produce! Also, lean meat. I have even cooked eggs in the microwave.

Allow yourself to indulge in your cravings. If you don't indulge in the super strong ones, you will quit, and end up giving in to all cravings, no matter how small. I read recently that if you visualize yourself indulging in the craving, like REALLY see yourself giving into it, when you do get it, you tend to not need as much to satisfy the craving. I've also heard 3 bites or sips satisfies the brain. Not sure if this stuff is true, but it's worth a shot.

I personally do not deny myself. If I REALLY want a blizzard from DQ, I have one. But I always get a mini. If my friends are going out for drinks, I join them. I'm in this for the long haul, and that means I have to make it work for me. Good luck finding the ways that will make it work for you. I 2 mile walk for a DP sounds like you're already making your cravings fit into this lifestyle. It's not an all for nothing game.

Good luck!

1) I don't use my oven for hardly anything. Many things I eat are of the cold variety, like sandwiches or fresh fruits/veggies. I do as much cooking in a skillet as I can. I imagine your small griddle can warm a small skillet and that is all I would need.

2) Give it a try with eating 1500 or 1600 calories a day when you exercise, and 1200 when you don't. It is not very accurate but a good safety net if you feel you aren't burning as much as MFP suggests (which is sometimes the case)

3) Sorry I don't know. Very rarely do I have a craving, and when I do, I usually have a little piece of whatever it is I want. Ice cream, soda, whatever. I just have a little bit and put it away. That is what takes willpower. I just put it away after I have a little bitty bit.

4) Sorry you haven't found any close friend support here. I will say that though I have found a group of awesome people I like messaging, I find that just seeing the weight loss and feeling smaller has helped me more than chatting with them. I do get lots of ideas and helpful comments from folks here though! The motivation I get is kinda twisted, I have a bad body image so I am working hard to fix that in a bad way, I'd rather change my body than change the way I think about it. Kinda a bad situation there.

Don't quit. You can do lots with a microwave and hotplate. I used to travel A LOT, and lived on roasted chicken (from the store), steamed broccoli and baked potatoes topped with cottage cheese. Don't want to sell anything here, but Pampered Chef makes a great line of microwave cookers and steamers that are BPA free. Ask around and see if one of your friends sells them. The rice cooker version is awesome because it acts like a pressure cooker, and in addition to rice you can cook fish or chicken (any meat really), steam veggies, or even make a cake.

Hope that helps. I do a TON in the microwave, including barbecue pork tenderloin.

And yes, build in your treats. I eat the Lil' Drumsticks or Magnum ice cream bars several times a week and have still lost 27 lbs in less than 10 weeks. Some of us need those treats to avoid bingeing. I'm one of those...

I am in the exact same position as you. Funny how you got no replies. So i thought I should tell you that you are definitely not alone. It is very difficult to fight those cravings and keep yourself motivated. I am still trying to do the same. Although I have found the biggest motivation ever but I still feel as if i’m lazy. Going on a vacation in December 2011 (to the in-laws...i know not much of a vacation but oh well..) so I sure as hell wanna look good. I think that’s what you need to do (maybe). Not saying go on a vacation but what I mean is that when you know for example that your in-laws will talk crap so you stop urself from giving-in to the craving..I don’t know if I am making any sense.
Just like you I am trying to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight (40 lbs to go). I have been a size-small all my life and being at the weight that I am now kills me..I don’t feel like myself at all. The in-laws part is just my “motivation” but more than anything I want to do this for myself..I want to feel the way i used too...If you need any kind of support just add me and we can go through this together =D just know that you are not alone..trust me knowing that helps!
Take care

I once lived in a tiny bachelor pad with a hotplate and bar fridge. It can be done I promise!

If you can't give something up yet-then don't. Just fit it in your day.

I wish I had had a griddle, why you can do anything with that!

It comes down to that fact that the only motivator that works-and the only one that counts-is the one inside of you. Did you come here on a whim? You planned it. Now you do it.

Then don't. :-) I have no clue about heart rate monitors, calories burned/accuracy, or any of that. What I have done on MFP is stick to my goals, be brutally honest about my food logs, and always err on the side of caution when logging exercises AND eating my exercise calories, etc. I have had success with this. It is so hard to ignore cravings. So what I do is try to ignore them for as long as I can, but if the craving doesn't go away after a reasonable amount of time, I go on & have whatever it is I'm craving. My personal experience is that it either will go away (meaning it wasn't really what I was wanting anyway--like thinking I'm craving sweets or soft drinks when what I really wanted or needed was a nap! lol) or I won't end up wanting it any more after the craving has been answered. It has helped to teach me to 1. break habits like "needing" the soft drink (Diet Coke was what I went to after Dr. Pepper...and now I can take it or leave it. I don't "need" it every day). and 2. listen to my body and it's hunger cues, etc. I LOVE to be able to record exercises in the daily log, so it's helped me to be more active. Even though I've not been faithful to logging my food the past couple of weeks while my computer was in the shop, etc., I still can't help but think "Wonder what the calorie burn would be for THIS activity..." every time I'm playing outside with my kids, playing in the pool, or whatever.

As for the support on here--you don't have to have it from anyone but YOU to make it work. HOWEVER, there are tons of people and TONS of advice on here that can help carry you through each goal. YOU CAN GET THERE! And I saw your goal is for next January. You can do it! HANG IN THERE!!!!

After 3 weeks I realized it was unrealistic for me to go from eating 2-3000 calories a day down to 1200 so I reset my goals to maintenance (1870) for a few days just to get used to eating at that amount. After 4 successful days I set it for 1/2 lb. loss (1630) and will do that for several days. This has taken off so much of the stress about what I'm eating and made me feel much better about being able to make long term changes to how I'm eating. It feels better to succeed at a higher calorie goal than to fail by going over a lower goal. I'm going to ease back into it and let my body adjust to the lower calories gradually so it's not such a shock, so I'm not so hungry and to lessen the stress around what I'm eating.

And when I do want something that's not very healthy I try to eat a smaller amount of it. Like try having half a dr. pepper served in a fancy glass (so it feels like a cocktail) and really slow down and savour it. If it's chocolate you crave, try a fibre one bar (nuts and dark chocolate is delicious) or a small piece of dark chocolate that you suck on slowly. I'm having a crappy cranky night myself so I asked my dear hubby to bring me home some ice cream (a mini dq blizzard) since I don't keep any in the house anymore. Baby steps sweetie - it took a long time to get where we are and it's gonna take a long time to fix it so you have to be able to live with what you're doing.

I also wouldn't worry about the HRM - just do what you can and don't stress over the numbers too much - be proud that you're doing something and allow yourself a 'reward' by eating back maybe half of the calories you burned.

Good luck and good eating! Feel free to friend me, every little bit helps!

My husband and I lived in a hotel for three months and only had a microwave.

- You could try turkey burgers on the griddle instead of ground beef with wheat buns instead of white and with lettuce and tomato.

- They have pre-packaged fajita chicken and beef that you can microwave. I usually would heat up the meat and put it on salad with cucumbers and tomatoes and some feta cheese.

- Maybe you could invest in a medium sized crock pot and there are a ton of inexpensive crock pot meals you could prepare.

- I use http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc for a calorie calculator. They have not only your basic exercises, but also various activities as well.

- I'm doing Medifast, so besides regular "dieting" I'm a extremely restricted on what I can or can't have, so the cravings are murder! But I'm doing it! I psyche myself out of the cravings. I think about how great I'm doing and how great I'm starting to look and feel. I know how I feel after eating the bad stuff and I just don't want to feel like that anymore, so I keep telling myself it's not worth it. I have hobbies and activities that I do when I start obsessing over food/cravings and just get my mind off of it. I also drink a bottle of water or have a cup of chicken/beef broth. It's been hard, but I've had to retrain myself and become more aware of what goes in my mouth.

- I totally understand what you mean about the Dr Pepper. I LOVE Dr Pepper and HATE diet ANYTHING. On my program, I can't have regular sodas and am limited to 2 diet sodas a day. I have learned to appreciate the diet soda, just for the sake of being able to have one. But it has also increased my water intake. You have to look at it as you aren't making a temporary "fix" - these have to be changes you make forever otherwise you'll end up right back where you are.

I really hope I don't sound too "preachy." I don't mean to be, but I have been overweight for over 20 years and I now have a wonderful husband and a beautiful baby that I want to be healthy for. It took a little while, but I'm finally seeing changes in myself and I get more and more excited. I guess you can say that's my motivation. I started off with 105 lbs to lose and I'm down to 78.5. I love seeing those numbers go down and it makes me want to keep going.

I'd love to be friends and offer as much support as you need!!!