So many questions

Forget motivation change habits. No motivation needed it is just what you do.

kayleigh88marie wrote: »

How do you all get and stay motivated to work out? I always give up
How do you eat healthy if you don't like salads and are picky with food?
How do you eat healthy when you don't have the money to afford healthy food?

Looking for friends and people to help motivate me and I will do the same. Add me and shoot me a message.

Walking is easy. I got a pedometer and have worked on increasing my steps gradually. 30 minutes to an hour a day of brisk walking is not too hard to do regularly.
I eat pretty much the same foods I always did just more appropriate portions. Some foods have more nutrients than others. I prelog my food to help me make sure I meet my goals. I am not a picky eater. I love to cook and try new things.
I meal plan and have a strict grocery budget.

Low budget friendly foods where I live are oatmeal, tuna, whole chicken or chicken thighs, dry beans, lentils, rice, pasta, bread, peanut butter, eggs, potatoes, carrots, apples, ground turkey, cabbage, onions, canned tomatoes, frozen vegetables. None of these foods are unhealthy.

Meal planning is a good place to start if you have a tight budget.
A healthy diet is not a specific list of food but everything you consume working together to meet your body's needs. You need to look at nutrients of foods you eat and how they fit your whole day. There are a lot of ways to "eat healthy".

You should start with just logging what you normally eat and sticking to your calorie goal. You want to eat in a way you can sustain while losing weight.
You can alter your diet in small steps like getting more protein or having more vegetables on your plate. Try things prepared different ways and you might find you like some more foods.
You don't have to exercise to lose weight. It is a good idea for health to be active but you can create a calorie deficit through diet alone.

kayleigh88marie wrote: »

Thank you everyone for the responses. I know my questions sound stupid, but they were things that keep crossing my mind and trying to figure out why I never saw results before.

So, maybe you have been asked this before and if so my apologies but what are you looking for?

I've struggled for years. I've had some pretty decent success as I was at 350lbs and lost 100 of that at my lowest (have gained 25 back due to my own lack of stuff) however I was, and still am, a binge eater. I could ruin a weeks worth of habit building in one meal. And I've done it, multiple times. I deal with depression too. However, recently my nutritionist asked me: what's your goal? What are you working towards?

And you know what, I had no idea. I said weight loss. And she said how much? What will your life look like when you have made it? And I have no freakin clue - I still don't. Maybe your motivation, and lack thereof, comes from this. What are you working for? What are your "results"? Have you figured that out? Not just to be healthier - but real, tangible results.

Also, as many have pointed out - "healthy" doesn't mean expensive. Eat within your budget. Now if you're vegan, that's expensive. But if you're just trying to make more nutritionally sound choices then that's easy and doesn't have to make you remortgage your house.

Further, being "picky" and someone said seems childish. Sure there's foods you don't like, there's foods we all don't like . . . but there's about a billion food choices . . . surely there's enough you do like to be able to sustain yourself reasonably well and be nutritionally sound.

ETA: if you know how to cook well, I'm assuming you mean both in taste and in food choice (IE - what you cook is nutritionally sound) then what's the problem? You have 3 kids who are picky eaters because that's what they've become accustomed to.

Child 1: I don't really like this mom
Mom: Ok - what do you want?
Child learns if he/she isn't really feeling like eating something they just have to say they don't like it and BAM mom makes them something else.

In my house - and in my parents growing up - dinner was dinner. My mom was making very good, healthy, home cooked meals. Eat what you do like, don't eat . . . whatever, but that was dinner. When she made peas, I just didn't eat them because I really don't like peas. She didn't make a different vegetable . . . I just didn't eat them. It wasn't an option for mom to make something else - she already worked a full day plus coming home to kids, it just wasn't happening. As someone else said, involve your kids in choosing dinners: Monday is child 1, Wednesday is Child 2 and then Friday is Child 3 or something like that. That way they get to have a say so they can speak out about what they like and can't say they don't like what you made.