Having a hard time!!!!

I find my little guy makes it hard to find to exercise, but after he's in bed or before he wakes up is really the only time I have. I'm struggling to find enough energy to fit it in, but you just have to do the best you can. Have you looked at some at-home routines? There are Youtube videos, free online charts of exercises you can do right in your living room with no equipment and hardly takes an hour if you're pressed for time. I don't belong to a gym anymore, I do miss it, but it just makes sense to save the money right now.

I have hypothyroidism as well. With that make sure you are getting your labs done at least every 6 months, if you haven't gotten the right dosage of meds make it every 3 months to make sure your on the right track. Also, don't feel dumb working out at home, I used to feel dumb as well but your kids will see you working to become a healthier version of yourself and will teach them to live a healthier lifestyle as well! It's a win win! My daughter who is 11 works out with me and is a huge motivator for me. Lol I have 4 kids so I know the struggle is real. Get in what you can when it comes to exercise but don't obsesse over it! Sounds like you get plenty of movement in already!

Ready2Rock206 wrote: »

You don't need to exercise, eat clean, cut foods you enjoy, cut sugar, cut carbs or cut processed foods. What you do need to do is eat at a calorie deficit. That doesn't take any more time than eating too many calories. Don't make it harder than it needs to be. You're excessively over complicating it - which is what the diet industry trains us to do so don't feel bad about it or take it personal. Work on accurate logging and eat at a calorie deficit and you'll see results.

SO true!

You don't have to do a complete lifestyle revolution in one big jump. Take it in simple steps, and think about your goals.

If your most important goal is weight loss, then just log your food here, eat on a schedule that's normal and happy for you, and try to hit your calorie goal (or close) every day, by portion control.

If you then find that some of your routine foods don't fill you up, consider switching things up, replacing some of the higher-calorie items that aren't filling with other foods you enjoy, and also find more filling. That could be more high-volume/low-cal veggies, or a bit more fat (healthy fat is ideal, like nuts, olive oil or avocado, but most other kinds of fat are fine, too), or some more lean protein.

You may also find that varying the number, timing or relative volume of meals/snacks helps satiation, too. But satiation is very individual, so you'll need to think about it yourself and maybe try different alternative combinations of foods/timing until you feel best.

On the exercise front, a good start is just trying to move a bit more. It doesn't have to be big formal exercise, especially at first. Those walks with the kids sound great. If you're watching TV with them, maybe just stand up and move around during the commercial breaks. Just move around. Play.

As you lose a bit of weight, and get more used to moving about more, then it may feel more natural to want to think more about what kinds of exercise activity would be fun for you. If we find something fun, we want to do it, and do it more often. It doesn't have to be tedious!

In the long run, as things shape up, you can keep reviewing your food log here if you want to, to further improve your nutrition. There are lots of reports and things on MFP you can use to figure out what may still need some improvement, and ask for help in the forum about how to improve it.

If you were remodeling your house, you probably wouldn't rip up every single room at the same time and try to replace it all, while still living there. You'd probably think of a gradual plan to move through the house room by room, getting one or two done before moving on to the next, so you could still live there comfortably. Improving weight, fitness, and nutrition is no different: A gradual, progressive plan is easier to live with.