Dilemma

jlcampbell2008
jlcampbell2008 Posts: 37
First off let me say that I love MFP. I've been at work since 645 am and I have logged on every chance I get to check the boards. How active they are.

Second let me say that I see myself as a whiny butt and apologize from the beginning.

Now onto the dilemma, or what I call a dilemma.

I am 32 years old and have been battling my weight since I can remember. My mom has a picture of me when I was six and I am already starting to look chubby (which admittedly looks cute at that age). I have 4 children ranging in ages from 13-3, work full time and am a full time master's student. Unfortunately my job is sedentary for 99.9% of the day. See, I am a police/fire/ems dispatcher, so movement is very rare the 5 days a week I work while I am at work. Sometimes I pull double shifts so the movement is even less. I do try very hard to make it to a Zumba class twice a week and love it when I go. I did something to injure my right knee about a month ago, and the doctor is just now able to get me in on the 17th. I have no idea what she is going to say, but it scares me that I may have to have surgery and just know that it will throw me for a loop.

I do suffer from depression, which throws me into overdrive of not caring at times. Yet other times, I am so motivated it isn't funny. Case in point: I lost like 30 lbs last year. Was nearing 205lbs and a size 20. I fell of the wagon (don't remember how and it doesn't matter how), but I gained 14 lbs of it back.YIKES! :explode:

I'm sure the dilemma isn't clear, so:
1.) My day begins at 530 in the morning and I usually don't stop going until 9 or so.
2.) I have homework that requires a lot of attention almost all the time.
3.) I have 4 kids at home! And, they don't like it when I go do something for me.
4.) My job is mainly sedentary.
5.) What I like to cook that is healthy the kids won't touch. (PB&J is fine by me for them)
6.) My knee hurts after just about any type of movement. (Even sitting here is causing drawing just above the kneecap.)
7.) Finally, I don't have the time to sit and measure everything that I cook before I eat it. I end up losing track of my portions. (Hence a big problem.)


I know that I should make an hour a day for me; regardless of anything else, but it's hard.

*sigh*

Replies

  • cessnaholly
    cessnaholly Posts: 780 Member
    I dunno. That's hard. Really.

    Maybe just aim to eat more veggies (and not worry to much about portions)? Maybe measure portions by size, not weight - like see how big a portion of meat is (a baseball I think but not sure), then you can eyeball it.

    And do what you can exercise wise. Eventually something has to change, right?
  • azsuzi
    azsuzi Posts: 1,169 Member
    I also work full time (sedentary desk job), am a student, mother, wife and don't have much time for working out. I swore I would never keep a food diary because there was no way I could possibly log every little scrap that passed my lips. But let me tell you - the diary is the thing that finally did it for me! I always thought that my eating habits weren't *too* bad, but when I started paying attention to portion sizes, the weight started coming off. I now try to measure *everything* because that's the only way I can be accountable to myself.

    As for your knee - that's a tough one, but not impossible. Until it heals, you can work on weight training or calisthenics. Water aerobics is another possibility. The main thing is that you have to decide what you are willing to do to reach your weight loss goals. The choice is all yours.
  • GINAvsGINA
    GINAvsGINA Posts: 270 Member
    I face some of the same problems. Full time wife, mom, employee, student, and it is tough to juggle them all. My suggestion for exercise is maybe you can try chair aerobics I've never done it but one of my friends on MFP does it alot and she burns mad cals. Look it up on youtube. As far as food, on a day where your off or have quite a few hours to yourself pre-cook your meals for the week and freeze them in containers. That way all you have to do is pick your meal and go and it doesn't force you to eat what you make for the kids. This is what I do since my kids and my husband both don't eat what I eat (healthy). It's only my opinion but I think some of your depression can come from you wearing too many hats, you have to have some you time when you do absolutely nothing but indulge in what's enjoyable to you (reading, watching tv, surfing internet). Be more than welcome to friend me if you need some support. Your not alone in this race so many of us are right there with you living through the same struggles, it helps if we are there to encourage each other so that we stay on task.
  • MummaAimz
    MummaAimz Posts: 81 Member
    My mother in law has a similar issue with her knees...no matter what shes doing shes in pain. So she finally saw a specialist and is going in for knee surgery..problem is..shes more then 100 lbs overweight...so she has to loose weight in order to get the sugery..how is she supposed to do that when her knees hurt to much to even walk into the bathroom easily?!? So she saw a nutritionist whos key advice was DO NOT EAT ANY CARBS AT NIGHT..if you must have carbs..have them with breakfast and lunch..at dinner have your protein and as much veggies as you can stomach to replace the carbs..no rice..no pasta..no bread..no potatoes etcetc. Its working so far shes down 8 pounds in almost 2 weeks!
  • Thanks to all of you for the wonderful suggestions. I will definitely be looking into these. You guys rock!
  • First of all, I bet you are more active than you think with 4 kids...you also probably go grocery shopping each week, trips to target or walmart, etc. Every bit helps. But I hear you saying you aren't losing any weight. Perhaps drop your calories just by 100 a day and see what happens. Maybe because you are so sedentary your calories are set too high?? Small, frequent meals may accelerate your metabolism. You mentioned depression. Are you on medication? Some anti-depressants actually can cause weight gain. I also suffer from depression and my doctor put me on Buproprion. It doesn't cause weight gain. In fact, it actually has weight loss effects in many people. I drink tons of water and tea. Never drink regular soda's and minimize diet soda's as they tend to bloat. I very rarely drink alcohol because then I would have to skip part of a meal, and that's not healthy. I know how frustrating it is to be overweight and have a difficult time losing weight. I have had eating disorders in the past, and still struggle with restricting my food intake at times. It is a daily struggle. I have lost almost 80 lbs in the past two years, 60 since 5 months ago. I can tell you the calories in almost anything lol. Some of my favorite foods and snacks are sugar free jello with light whip cream, 100 calorie popcorn packs (I like the kettle corn), carb master yogurt at Kroger (I dont know if you have this grocery store), i like to mix the jello with the yogurt (yoplait has good light yogurts). I also enjoy chicken and don't eat any other meat. I eat a salad every single night. I put a few craisins and a little blue cheese or feta (just a little) with cucumbers, onions and celery, which gives a good crunch. lettuce is almost a free food...you can eat tons. I mix the spring mix with regular bib lettuce. Weight Watchers cheese sticks are good too and only 50 calories. Egg whites only 17 calories an egg. My treat is low fat wheat thins, or pepperidge farm baked parmeson crackers. I love mini rice cakes...the spicy chili ones are great!! If you check out the frozen aisle you can find brocoli and cauliflower in low fat cheese sauce...also the brocoli cheese and rice is not bad. I use spray butter, and never use oils, but baking spray instead. if a rice a roni calls for butter, I skip it and just use water to steam it...you can't tell the difference. I stay away from pasta and bread, chips and pretzels. If i am at a party and their is cake, I take a very small bite. like the size of a baby spoon...deserts aren't too triggering for me, so that may not work for you. I go online whenever I go to restaurants I look at the nutrition content of the menu before leaving the house..so no guess work. Most seasonings are calorie free and you can change things up with your meats. I miss bbq sauce, but it is mostly sugar, so I skip it. oh! and those veggie straws in the health food section are to die for!! Lots of crunch and you get 37 for 130 calories!! My hard time is at night after the kids have gone to bed, but I usually just grab a small amount of what I am craving and just go to bed. I hope you can use some of this...good luck!
  • First off let me congratulate you on your weight loss! That's an amazing amount! I only need 37 lbs or so to go.

    You know what, I LOVE those veggie straw thingies! I also love popcorn, but really shouldn't eat it for 2 reason, braces and it tends to fill me up with gas. As for my depression I am on 150mg of Effexor (which isn't working). I'm pretty sure that it does make me gain weight. I knew about the egg whites and love them! Especially with a tablespoon of salsa and a smidgen of cheese My vice is absolutely chocolate, especially when Aunt flow makes her appearance. I do need to get in the habit of eating more salad. It seems that when I want it, I buy it, eat it once and then it goes bad. It's a change I'm going to have to make. I notice how fast I can rack up calories during the day! I can always steam my veggies since I can't eat them raw right now.

    I'm not too much of a meat eater right now. Which is a good thing probably. I prefer to eat just whatever I make with the meat. I'm working on replacing one of my sides with a vegetable or a fruit. And, I will take your suggestion to drop my calorie count by 100 calories daily. When you put it in perspective, that's a whopping 700 calories a week!!!!

    I was driving to get my breakfast this morning and the thought occurred to me that Green Giant actually makes individual servings of green beans and corn and stuff. That would be a great way for me to eat something small before I actually consume my meal. Right now because it is cold outside, I'm loving making soups. I use all natural stock and stay away from Salt. Oh, and I got this new cookbook named the 400 calorie fix. It would allow me to eat at least 1200 calories per day and still leave me 500 left over for my snack, which I NEVER eat a 500 calorie snack.

    Thank you again. I am going to be making changes when I go shopping this next week. I just have to get used to feeling hungry. I just ate the Simple & Fit twoxtwoxtwo from IHOP, it's only 420 calories, and my body is "like hold up, wait a minute, where's the rest of my food." BUT, I know I'm satisfied.
  • Yeah, you shouldn't have to adjust to feeling hungry...that's not fair, YET, that is how I feel as well. I actually don't really get hungry much anymore unless I am getting ready to start. My problem comes into play when I get bored and don't stay busy (which rarely happens in my life). I save most of my calories for dinner, because I stay so busy at work, I don't have much time to eat anyway. Yeah I didn't have much fun with salads before, but now I have learned how to dress them up so they are good...plus knowing its almost a free food, i know I can fill up on them. In the produce section you can find the toasted almonds near where the lettuce is. They are 40 calories for a tablespoon. They have different flavors and so much taste and PROTEIN...i need to eat more...i have not hit my calorie goal since starting this program. I know that I have hit a major goal and can now shop for clothes in any store...not just the "fat" stores...so that keeps me motivated. Thanksgiving is already making me panic :(
    I plan not to go off my diet that day, like so many years before...it will be a hit to my confidence if I fall of the wagon...I think I will feel soooo good if I keep within my calorie goal for the day. I am already thinking of what I can eat, so I don't get to the dinner and just lose it. How are doing thanksgving? It's great talking to you ! Later :)
  • ps.. ask your doctor about wellbutrin ....its pretty safe unless you have a history of seizures, then you shouldn't take it...it really has made a difference I think....a friend of mine switched her antidepressant to wellbutrin a month ago and has lost 10 lbs...its not a diet drug, but it does something...
  • I have the same idea as you for Thanksgiving! I'm NOT going to fall off the wagon. I'm acutally alredy having visualizations of how I am going to handle things, what my plate is going to look like and how I'm going to respond to people. The only thing that I can think of is my absolute weakness for pecan pie. We shall see how that goes.

    I am feeling hungry a lot, but I am just forcing me to focus on something else and pushing through. Right now I am eating every two to three hours, well I'm trying to.

    I read on a blog somewhere: "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper." I'm going to try it!

    Nice talking with you talk to you soon.

    Goodnight.
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