on verge of quitting

my advice is for you to suck it up and realize that you can do anything, you just have to make yourself do it. There will always be SOMETHING going on that you can use as an excuse, the challenge is getting past that. good luck.

It sounds like you are definately under a lot of stress right now. Can you get some help with the festival? How about getting up a few minutes earlier and doing some exercise then instead of waiting until you get home? I know I do better about exercising if I get up and do it first thing in the morning vs thinking that I'll do it when I get home! This way it's out of the way and if I do end up working late, I don't have to worry about finding the energy/time to exercise when I get home plus take care of the house.

I say stick with it - even if it is baby steps. I keep reminding myself that I didn't put on the weight in two months so I shouldn't expect it to come off in two months!

Just remember that each day is a new day to decide how you want to live. If you mess up, don't beat yourself up about it. Just take it for what it was and move on. The next meal can be better than the last.

When people are constantly trying to take and take from you, don't feel bad when you have to tell them you can't. You MUST take time for yourself to relax and decompress.

I know how you feel, trust me. I have a husband who is stick think and a 3 year old that I have to feed and take care of on top of work and going to college. I feel your pain. It's extremely difficult to stay focused on dieting when you have a million other things going on. Especially when you have a spouse and child who are NOT dieting in the home that you have to prepare meals for.

Make sure you take time for you and plan! Plan your meals. That will help immensely!

I think everyone has shared good advice and I agree. If you quit now you will look back and say what if...what if I did not quit. You will regret it. Trust me I have been there time and time again. Just logging in and posting your food no matter how well you do that day is a start. Take baby steps.

Don't quit.

Don't quit.
It sounds like you have a lot going on right now, including some things that are out of your control.
But how you eat and exercise IS in your hands. you'll feel better about yourself and life in general if you achieve in this area of your life, and then probably all the other areas will then fall into place too
But if you can do something proactive to change the amount of stress in your life then do it. Maybe you need to change jobs or something? Being self-employed can really suck. Or ask for help from others.

Do not quit! You have no idea how lucky you are! Firstly, you have to LOVE YOURSELF FIRST and worry about others after that., secondly, THE MORE YOU EXERCISE THE MORE ENERGY YOU HAVE AND THE LESS STRESSED. This is medically proven. Listen, I care about people and that includes you. Coming on here to have people feel sorry for you solves nothing. I have a job, I do tons of things.3 different shift times sometimes all three the same week. I find the time!
YOU NEED TO PUT YOURSELF FIRST. Hey, we could have been born in a third world country. No food, no money, nothing. I am not rich either. Bills? Plenty! I also have plenty of streets, roads, stairs to exercise on. All free of charge! Lift milk containers for weight if u have to!
I BELIEVE IN YOU! NOW GET OFF YOUR BUTT AND BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!

Never quit...erase that from your vocabulary. The only advice I can give is suck it up, take all the stress, frustration, and negativity the world is throwing at you and unleash it all in your exercise. I tend to do it when I work out and it works well for me.

great advice here! I would add that many of the things you are dealing with may be out of your control, but one thing that is within your control, is how you eat, and whether you get up in the mornings and spend 20-30 mins exercising to start your day off right!!! You will feel better both physically and mentally in a week. You will have more energy every day to get those other things done on your list if you start the day with even a 20 min. jog or brisk walk (whatever your fitness level will allow). Once you feel in control of this portion of your life, it will be one less thing to stress about! Just don't quit - look at all the support that is here, just a click away! Good luck to you!

I so want to give you a hug right now, you seem to really need one! Someone suggested help, most festivals have a committee. You should delegate, delegate and delegate. Let the house go for a little while. Unfortunetly the chores will still be there when you are ready and honestly they may not seem that huge after a small work out. You will be so energized! Take a deep breath and jump in!

(((((big hug))))) :flowerforyou:

I can relate to you. In fact, I'm pretty sure most of us can relate in some way; the problem is that if you give up on your diet, you will STILL have all the other things going on, PLUS your weight problem. I agree with several of the other people who are telling you DO NOT GIVE UP, NO MATTER WHAT, because at the end of the day...YOU ARE SO WORTH THE EFFORT.

This weight loss journey that we are all on is just that; a journey, and it will at times, have mountains that seem to tall to climb, but that's where you (and all the rest of us) have to dig in deep, and just take one step at a time, even if it's baby steps.....

Comfort yourself with something you love besides food; maybe music or reading or anything that will give you a boost; just DO NOT GIVE UP.

Best wishes to you and don't forget that we are all here for you. :flowerforyou:

Becca

ONE meal at a time! Dont stress about the week or the day. ONE MEAL AT A TIME!

Someone suggested getting some help with the festival. I agree. There must be some people near you who would be willing to lend you a hand in planning and executing some of the tasks.

It really is easy for everyone to say don't quit (and they're right) but you need to decide for yourself what's most important. Sounds like you could use some help in other areas too, as well, as the festival plans.

Can you lean on any family members or friends for support (moral or otherwise)? May be there are alternatives to help you pay for the mortgage, too?

I would first, sit down with a pad of paper and write down everything that is stressing you out, then brainstorm ideas on how to make each situation (one at a time) better. Sometimes seeing it on paper makes it easier to categorize and come up with a plan. Also, can you take maybe half a day and do something for you to re-energize yourself - maybe just enough inspiration to push yourself to get this stuff done, in the most efficient way, with a clear mind?

I know you'll be supported here, if/when you decide to stick with the weight loss program. Look at all the concerned people already. :flowerforyou:

~katie

Don't worry about changing everything at once.
You've got a lot going on in your life... take a moment to breathe

And remember you don't have to be perfect, you just have to be better.

When you completely change your whole life at once, you revert to the familiar in times of stress.
And who doesn't have stress? Having tools to cope with stress is what's important.

For me that was small incremental changes, baby steps
A couple of small changes at a time, then a few weeks later when they've become habit another couple of changes and so on and so on.


Here's how I started:

1) tracking for a couple of weeks before I worried about losing.
(although seeing what I was eating I couldn't help but rein back a bit)

2) seeing where I could make small changes on things that weren't that important to me.
(Don't even think of taking chocolate out of my diet!!!)
--Reducing quantities where I won't notice it so much
--Swapping out things instead of eliminating them.

3) Look at my diary and started adding foods that had positive healthy effects specifically for the health issue in my family.
I found most of the things I "should" add were really yummy too! salmon, avocado, oatmeal, mango, red grapes....
(Sort of think of food as medicine to deal with family history of various health issue oatmeal is good for heart health, mango and red grapes lower cholesterol, tumeric and cinnamon good for arthritis)

4) every couple of weeks I see where I can make another couple of small changes.
If you completely revamp your diet, it's way easy to revert to old ways in times of stress.
If you make a series of small changes, food still offers you some sense of comfort.
sort of a comfort continuum, and after a while the first small changes will seem comforting in themselves.

5) also rather than being uberstrict with the target MFP set for me I did the math to find out the calories needed to maintain my goal weight and my current weight and...
I gave myself a range:
ROCK BOTTOM: 1200 cal,
TARGET: lose 1 lb/wk as my target (once that went down to 1200 cal I switched to lose 1/2 lb a week
HIGH END: maintain my goal weight

As long as I keep within in this range I'll lose. I tend to naturally zig zag my calories 3-4 at very close to my target and then a higher calorie day closer to the top of my range.

SAFETY VALVE: As long as I stayed under maintain my current weight calories I won't gain. So no need to throw in the towel, just pick-up where I left off.

REMEMBER YOU ONLY HAVE 1 POUND TO LOSE, THE NEXT 1!
Once I found ways to lessen the stress, I found it way easier to focus on the process and let the results follow. (It's what worked for me some people need the stress to get them motivated. Me I get scared and overwhelmed and don't see the big goal as achievable.)

Food is not the enemy.
Oddly enough on my journey here I've reduced guilt over food.
I have the occasional treat and I fully enjoy it with no guilt involved.
The thing is since I'm not eating crap all the time the occasional treat is just that a TREAT it's special and I enjoy it so much more than when I was unconsciously shovel junk food into my face.

I figure if I've got a good plan that I can actually maintain I can keep this off for a long time to come, without feeling deprived.

Good Luck

also stop calling this journey a diet...diets are destined to fail. call this a new lifestyle of eating right and good clean foods only.

I am feeling really down at the mo. Stressed with work and home and on top of that I am organising a festival and I feel completely lost. I really need time out but because I am paying the mortgage on my own and I'm self employed , I literally can't afford it. It feels like everyone wants a piece of me, but that no one really cares about me.
On top of that I'm failing and flailing with my diet! I've been trying really hard but the weight is barely shifting. I literally have no energy when I get home from work, so exercise seems like a mountain. So it all feels pointless. Plus I have to try and look after the house too.
So i have nothing left in me to keep trying with the diet, even though I feel so utterly disgustingly fat.
I don't know what to do

went through a time like this and gave in and gained 30lbs, DON'T SLIP you will regret it. I know you are miserable, but did you know that there are foods that improve your mood. Dr Oz has awesome tips about that I am so sorry that you are going through a rough time. I hope it calms down soon. I developed an ulcer bc of my stressful times. Trust me I wish I could go back in time when I was 30 lbs lighter and lose the weight then instead of letting myself go and adding 30 lbs to my already 40lb goal, now I have to lose 70! It happened fast. And it did not help my stress. At the time I felt like everything was out of my hands, I had no hold on my life and I felt deprived so I used food to comfort myself but it only made things worse. Please don't give up. People do care, I care and I don't even know you. The one thing you have control over is your mind. You can take a bad situation and decide not to let it take you down. You can do it honey, just tell yourself you can. Don't give up, those stresses will pass.