How to overcome distractions at home and still lose???

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jloscott
jloscott Posts: 2
in Motivation and Support
Hello All!!! I'm a newbie and I have been having a difficult time losing weight. I have three children, am a full time student, and a wife. I find it very difficult to stay on track with exercise and eating right because there is temptation all around me. I have a pantry full of snacks for the children. I also have to cook meals for the family. This makes it very difficult to not over eat because I have all this temptation surrounding me. In addition, I am a student and that feels like a full time job in itself due to all of the studying I have to do (finance major). So, I'm looking for some advise as to how to overcome these difficult obstacles. I am so ready to lose this weight and I have a big issue with consistency. Help please! Is there anyone out there that has gone through a similar situation and managed to lose your weight?

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  • NeuroticVirgo
    NeuroticVirgo Posts: 3,671 Member
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    This is my advice. Throw out all the JUNK! There are many women on here who don't want to feel like they are putting their family on a "diet", but think about it for a second. Your snack = 1 apple. Your kids snack = 1 package (or more) of fruit flavored sugar filled gummies. (just an example).

    Don't you want you family to be healthy too? In my humble opinion, the best thing to do is have your family eat what you eat. Stock your house with healthy snacks. Fruits, Veggies, Yogurts, Nuts etc. And the great part, if your kids are eating carrots, you don't have to monitor how much they eat because its good for them :)

    I struggled with "life" balance (and still do, but I'm getting better after a YEAR working on it). You can read my blog, I stressed a lot about trying to juggled diet, exercise, family, work, personal time, hubby and me time...there wasn't enough TIME!

    Other than just having everyone eat the same things, trying to pre-plan my weeks helped a lot. I take time on Sundays and I plan out dinners for the week. (usually dinner is the "big" meal of the day, so once that's planned everything else just falls into place). I also use my crock pot, A LOT. I love that I can throw all the food into it in the morning, and then not have to worry until dinner time. MFP is full of really good crock pot recipes. And also skinny crock pot and crockpot girls on facebook. There is also www.skinnytaste.com for all kinds of YUMMY recipes for dinners the whole family will like.

    Once you get into a groove with food, it will take a lot of the pressure off of you. :)
  • earthsember
    earthsember Posts: 435 Member
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    I'm in a somewhat similar situation - full time student, wife, and mother to a 2yr old.

    For school, I pack healthy food, and leave my money at home so I can't buy snacks (I carry an emergency-only credit card on me, I can't use that to buy food :) )
    Can you eliminate the snack pantry, to a degree? You don't have to stop giving your kids treats, but maybe encourage healthy eating for them to? Switch it up to things like air popped popcorn, whole grain crackers with peanut butter or cream cheese, etc, things you can eat too. Same for dinner. Healthy can taste good too - and then you'll be doing good for the whole family.

    Feel free to add me if you'd like, it sounds like we're in the same boat :)
  • babyblake11
    babyblake11 Posts: 1,107 Member
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    youre trying to change your life and become healthy... isnt it worth doing the same thing for your family? or arnt they worth it? think about it... you dont want them to make the same mistakes!
  • whisperingdragon
    whisperingdragon Posts: 334
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    I went through the same thing. I don't have children, but my husband loves junk food. I honestly had to tell him there was no way I could continue and stay on the right track with all that food around. I tried, I honestly did and I would end up eating it no matter how hard I tried not too. I had to find different recipes and purchase more healthy alternatives in order to stay with it.

    At first I thought my husband was going to complain about it, but he loves the new recipes that I have found online. He told me that his stomach feels better (he has crones disease) and that he does not have acid re-flux anymore.

    For me personally, I find it impossible to stick with a healthy plan if there is bad food in my home.
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    Definitely change the eating habits of your family. If you don't feel you should be eating junk food, they shouldn't be either. Don't do your children a disservice of allowing them to eat unhealthy foods, that just isn't fair. You need to teach them proper eating and healthy lifestyle habits. If you don't, how can you expect them to know any better?
  • ambern02
    ambern02 Posts: 8
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    Biggest problem for me and some of my friend was tossing food on the kids or my plate. The thought is waste. We didn't have much when I was growing up so throwing food away has always been hard for me. Don't clean your plate... or you kids plate. Repurpose, save for later or toss. As for snacks try to buy stuff that they like and you hate. :) I hate sun chips, my kids like them. Win-win. You can do it!
  • Kdrules
    Kdrules Posts: 49 Member
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    Yes. You are not alone. It took me awhile to figure it out but it can be done. I cook for my family and they are very picky. They only want fried chicken wings v.s baked small amounts of veggies however its been over a year of trying andnow they r coming around I can share some recipes with u and we can encourage each other to loose 10lbs by thanksgiving and 20 by christmas and enjoy ourselves while we r loosing weight
  • jloscott
    jloscott Posts: 2
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    Hi All, thanks for the comments. I think you guys misunderstand. My pantry isn't all junk food. Of course I care about the health of my children. I don't feel that it is right for me to deprive them of certain foods just because I'm on a diet. Also, I cook healthy...I bake all my foods and greens are included in all of my meals. My cabinet is not stocked with chips, cookies, or candy. I don't remember the last time I "fried" anything. I am the one with the weight issue in my house, not them. When I cook breakfast it's a regular breakfast consisting of eggs, turkey bacon, and oatmeal or grits. When I fix lunch it's something to the effect of a Turkey sandwich. So, my family all in all eats healthy...and if they want to grab a pizza on the weekend, I don't see anything wrong with that...I'm the one with the issue. I think due to having three children, the stresses of going to school, and the fact that everything I place in my mouth makes me gain 5 pounds is the issue. My biggest issue is consistency due to the stress. Each child has added 15 to 20 pounds (per child). I guess what I'm saying is I'm just ready for a change and I need something that will help me stay consistent until all the weight is lost. Thanks for the advice though...:smile:
  • Shannonigans84
    Shannonigans84 Posts: 693 Member
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    It does get tricky! My daughter isn't picky and will eat what I make, same goes mostly for my boyfriend. But he can eat 24/7 and not gain weight. He gets home late from work with gas station food and since i don't see him during the day this is when we spend time together. The food is so tempting but it got easier to ignore it. I went from eating nightly with him to not having a single bite. Will power takes time and I just remind myself I'll have what I want whenever I budget for it. Best of luck to you!

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