Help starting out

Hi, I know exactly what you mean about the office job.

For motivation I found that it comes after you give it a week or two and start seeing changes to you body. What I did is start with portion control. I would put the same amount of food on my plate, but made a point to leave some on it (that became part of lunch the next day). I also started eating a bit more slow, taking a break from stuffing my face half way through the meal to allow my brain to realize I was already full.

Then I made a point of making myself a lunch for work. I added more veggies and fruit to what I usually had. That saved me money and I don't go out for food anymore. After a week or two I started adding 2 hard boiled eggs to my lunch that I would have for breakfast. I can't eat breakfast first thing in the AM so usually just eat both eggs around 9:30-10:30 at work, I leave the shell on and just crack, dust with pepper and eat. They usually keep me stated until lunch time. If not, I'll have one of my fruit or veggies. In the PM about an hour before I have to leave for home, I have a banana, that keeps me from getting home super hungry.

After a week I was able to reduce my food intake quite a bit and NOT feel hungry. I didn't add any exercise until one month after I started watching my food intake. For the exercise, I have a exercise bike, elliptical and weight bench in my basement where I can exercise and watch TV at the same time. Start slow, 10 mins, then 15, and so on.

It is hard with kids and housework, but it's doable, you just have to adapt it to what works for you. Once you start seeing progress, your motivation will REALLY start coming. There are days that are harder then others, those are the days you really have to test your will power.

As for exercises at your desk, I've seen bicycle pedals that go under a desk so you can do that, not sure how well those work though.

Motivation is fleeting. Set yourself up with healthy habits through discipline and hard work, and then you won't need motivation.

Just start logging. Eat whatever you would normally eat, but log every damn thing. See where you are wasting calories. Make note of what foods fill you up. See where stress sends you running to the candy bowl every day. Then one by one, pick something and figure out how to stop the bad habit and replace it with a good one.

You don't have to go to the gym, you don't have to always skip fast food. You just need to be in a calorie deficit, the other stuff is a bonus. Start out with what is easy to change and work your way up. Don't make it to the gym? Take a walk around the block. Pull up to the drive thru? Get the burger, skip the fries, choose the diet soda. Most of us eat the same food the rest of the family eats, we just eat less or different ratios.

Everyone has days where they don't make the best choices. The people who succeed learn from their mistakes, focus their attention on the important stuff and skip the small, and just keep going and trying.

Check out the Most Helpful Posts threads pinned to the top of each forum, and good luck!