Struggling

Well done on the first step in admitting you need help!! :-)

You could do an exercise DVD? or buy a skipping rope and do that in your garden or a hula hoop? all relatively cheap from sports shops or Childrens shop?

You could buy ingredients to the foods you like so then at least you know exactly what is going in your meals, and cooking from scratch makes it more fun and you enjoy the food so much more. Try and eat pasta and bread in the morning or in afternoon and lighter meals at night. And if you can't manage that then just have a smaller portion, try eating off smaller plates like a side plate then it feels like you have a plate full of food when really you have a smaller portion.

Good luck i hope this helps xx

I live in a small town where I can walk, but after walking the same few routes many many times, I get bored walking too. Do you have an ipod or something to listen to motivating music? Maybe get a new workout dvd, like the 30 day shred? Find someone to walk with you every day?

ah I do feel for you. Everyone gets like this I think at some point. I hate walking by myself (I truly believe I am a pack animal and I need people around me! Call me wolfwoman if you like!)
Can you find someone who will go for a walk with you or does the gym offer just swimming as and when. I found I can go when I want without the cost of a membership fee and it suits me.
I also think you should just take each day as it comes. What I find helps is visualise your ultimate goal. Feel it, see it, smell it, hear it. What does it all say to you? If you can hear people saying "wow you've lost weight" feel healthier running up those stairs, try those smaller clothes on (and the smell of McDs finally makes you gag a little)
I think little changes gets you started and taking each day as it comes. Retraining your brain, leaving something on your plate if you have grown up knowing to eat it all up. Finding out why your body is telling you you want unhealthy foods. Are you feeling down about something else?
I know it's a lot but we're all here for you and want you to succeed!!!

i know exactly how you feel! the hardest part is starting. once you are going for a week it gets easier, but what i would suggest start getting tapes for home. even px90 if you have the money. i have friends who lost weight and toned up using it! if not then start boxing..even without a bag. the point is to keep moving. use a kipping rope. that is a killer workout. i find its easier to workout in the morning and i feel soooo much better throughout the day. if your like me, i always say im gonna start tomorrow and then 2 months passes and ive gained weight. today is the new tomorrow!! think of you at your goal weight and how good you will feel when you walk into a room. you will have so much confidence and its the best feeling! you have to decide to change your life because no one is gonna do it for you! you can do it. what i find really helps me while i work out is to watch the biggest loser. not because i was like them but i watched the finale episode online before i i watched the season and some of the contestents were bigger than me starting at 270 and they got down to 128!! now 128 isnt a healthy weight for me but if they can do it..so can we right? its something about seeing them take control of their lives that is so inspiring! ive lost close to 50 pounds before i started on this site and now im looking to lose the last 20ish! best of luck to you. you can do it ! if you have any questions just message me=)

What little things can you change? Instead of parking by the door, park far away and walk. I started exercising by just walking up and down extra aisles in the grocery store. Every step counts and I had to start somewhere.

As for gym memberships, that sooooo didn't work for me. I couldn't cancel it fast enough. I am a homebody and I work long hours. After those hours, I want to go home, so I had to find something I could do at home. We rearranged the house and I have a gazelle, it's like a treadmill, but it reduces the impact on knees. I get on the gazelle and go go go when I get home. Sometimes I have to do it after dinner, which is less than ideal, but it works for me. I may invest in a real treadmill when it dies.

I have a friend who gets up early and goes running, but she lives in a nicer neighborhood than I do. lol

Celebrate the small victories. Seriously, I mean it. Every time we have a real veggie on the side instead of french fries, it's a victory. Every time I have two slices of pizza instead of half... or the whole pizza... it's a victory. Low fat cheese is a victory. lol

If you drink soda, a diet soda is a victory. Not having a soda is a victory. Unsweetened tea is a victory (I live in sweet tea country).

It's not going to be an instant change. It's going to be a gradual progression. Take on problems one at a time and we all fall off the wagon now and again. All that matters is that you get back on and keep trying.

I started my weight-loss journey nearly 2 years ago. I have yo-yo dieted my entire adult life. I lost 40-something pounds in 2005 and put it all back because I stopped watching what I ate and exercising. 2 years ago I had a health scare and a few panic attacks. I was done waking up in the middle of the night with palpatations, thinking I was having a heart attack or dying. I started back up with my Leslie Sansone Walk Away The Pounds DVDs. (Try your local library to try out all sorts of workout DVDs. If they don't have them, get an inter-library loan.) You can walk as little as 15 minutes or 1 mile and work up to her 4 and 5 mile DVDs. I took it very slowly and gradually worked on adding time and actual hand weights to my workouts.

I started walking at the track and logging all of the miles I was doing on my calendar. I tried to beat my numbers from the previous weeks and months. Then I actually started jogging! 1/2 a lap at first, then, again, gradually adding distance. The Couch-to-5K program on Facebook or www.coolrunning.com plotted a course for me to train for a 5K. I have done 3 so far and I love it! I started MFP in April because I was stuck at 180 pounds and I wasn't happy staying there. I realized I was snacking too much, so I needed to clean up my act. I have lost another 25 pounds with MFP and I am the lowest weight I think I have ever been as an adult. I'd love to get the records from that dreadful gym weight check they put us through in middle school to see what I weighed at 11 and 12 yrs. old.

My point is, you have to give yourself time. If you take it off slowly, you have a greater chance of KEEPING IT OFF! Believe it or not, losing it is the easier of the two. You also have to want it really badly. I was tired of feeling lethargic and just not well. Going through all sorts of medical tests really gives you a good perspective on how important our health is, and how short life really is. My mom has also gone through bladder cancer with 2 surgeries and 2 months of chemo these last 6 months, and I want to be healthy to help take care of her and to be around for my children and their children for many years. So, when I'm on the treadmill or the elliptical or doing a DVD, I think of the struggle my mom went through and I use the mantra "Do it for those who can't" when the workout is getting tough. Be thankful you can get out and walk on your 2 legs. Others don't have that luxury. If you start by focussing on the things you have in life, you'll start to feel more positive and want to do it.

You have to motivate yourself. No one can do it for you. You have to want to be the best you can be and not settle for less because it's more work. If trying to both eat healthily and exercising are too much, take one step at a time. Take a walk on your property and change your thoughts from "This is sooooo boring" to "It's a beautiful day" or "I never noticed how tall that tree got, how blue the sky is, how fast the clouds move...etc." If you marvel at the wonders around you and really take in the scenery, it's like meditation. A walk outside is so great to clear out the cobwebs in your mind! (Also, a little music wouldn't hurt!) I see a dog in your profile picture. Take him/her along! It will do wonders for the both of you!

Gosh, I can go on forever! I just want you to get even a little taste of how great I feel now. I thought it was impossible and overwhelming- "A pound a week! That's only 52 pounds lost in a year!" Well, one week goes and another goes... almost 2 years later, down 73 pounds. I'm so glad I started. You can either choose to do it, make the commitment to yourself and be down that pound, or you can do nothing and hope you don't gain. "Do or do not...there is no try." The great Jedi Yoda! Please...DO!

I am in the same boat thanks for all your ideas

YOU are not alone!!! For me, I'm doing something very similar too Revoltionwithin, I eat a lot of lean cuisine & smart one meals. I'm not saying it is the right route for everyone but it is what helps me stay on track right now. As far as cooking for myself, I do occasionally but never without a scale to measure every single ingredient. It can be tedious but a few bucks at walmart you can buy a scale that when your the cook, can keep you on track.

One thing that really works for me is on the back of the door of my exercise room I blew up pics of myself at my hugest weight and hung them up. When I feel like, "oh, I'll work out tomorrow." I look at those pics, hop on the treadmill and stare at them! It can be really motivating!!

Maybe something else you can try is starting a fitness program with friends from work. We have a lifestyle challenge going on right now and its how I got myself back in gear. It helps having the support at work and not just at home.

If you have cable, you can to on demand fitness channel and they have tons of workouts that are anywhere from 10mns. to an hour long. Gives plenty of variety. Hope some of this helped! Good luck & I'm always here if you need a push!!

As for grocery shopping...shop the perimeter, no more processed food unless you can't help it. Lots of fruits and veggies, lean meats (chicken, fish, lean beef, pork)...you just have to do a little research.

Excellent way to put that. I love it. Shop the perimeter.
Thank you!!!

If you know someone with a Wii with Wii fit see of you could borrow it. Just 15 minutes a time to start with the radio on in the background or listening to an ipod helps. You could try to make the things you like from scratch and put in finely chopped vegetables carrot, onion, celery etc and try to cut out high fat foods.if you can't cut the high fat the cutting down will help. Both my wife and I are doing this I can't work and she is on maternity leave so we can't afford gym membership either. I have been trying to do as much gardening as possible as well as walking. As daylite said, try and drive somewhere and go for a walk. Look at the scenery and change where you go on a regular basis. I walk every day and its just to the shops and back, I have no car to go farther afield so I have to make do. You could try different fruits with some natural yogurt and honey for breakfast, that's what I do, or egg on wholewheat bread. If you need to, send me a request and you can look at what I eat and what I do for exercise. Any cleaning around the home or food prep/cooking can be put down as exercise. Hope some of this helps.

JB