Just need positivity and support

the fact you are on the site and working through it is great. Kudos to you. It takes time, just keep working at it and making small goals. Don't always focus on scales, don't forget your clothes how you feel and look. Don't fell guity to eat, eat the right stuff, even if you went over a bit but is all good food is better than nothing. Learn from your days, think how you can improve, learn to enjoy the new healthy foods. It will happen and you can do it. Remember all of us are different and results vary.

It takes time to get used to a new lifestyle. I know I'm up and down a lot with my diet and exercising. but feel free to add me! I love to encourage people

Stay positive. It sounds like you have been down this road before and have succeeded. Snacking is alright also, it's what keeps you on track and prevents you from binge eating. Wondering if you have any support at home from friends and family. It sounds like you have dealt with a lot the past few years. I am glad you shared your feeling on this forum. Keep up the good work and please continue to post what you are feeling. It helps to vent.

sweetie, there is nothing wrong with eating. You can eat all the time. You just have to be smart about what you eat. When you wake up hungry, grab a few grapes or carrot sticks. Eat an ounce of cheese or make yourself a cup of oatmeal. You'll be amazed at how much you get to eat when you're eating healthier. And for those times when you do eat something that's not healthy, accept it. Try to work it off. But if you can't, you can't. All you can do is start again the next day. Every day is new. don't let what you did or didn't do yesterday, stop you from being successful today. You can do this!

Well your 2009/10 sounds as bad as mine. I lost my father to a pulmonary embolism in Dec 2009 (he was 58), lost my paternal grandmother in Feb 2010 and my maternal grandmother this past year (2011) after a long battle with Alzheimer's. So I can relate to having sucky stuff happening. Not fun!

Now on to the advice. If you are hungry when you wake up, eat. A bowl of cereal, a banana, frozen waffles, anything. Just eat. Not only is it generally good to have breakfast because it sets your body up for the rest of the day, but if you are really feeling hungry, then your body is telling you that it needs food. That's the sucky thing about weight/food management. You still have to eat to live. There is no going "cold-turkey" with it.

Along the same lines, don't feel bad about getting the munchies or eating. I get the munchies all the time. What helps me is if I take a second and listen to my body (sounds weird, I know). If I'm hungry because I haven't eaten in awhile or didn't eat enough, then I have a small snack. If I want to eat because I'm bored, sad, happy, tired, etc, then I don't eat and try to do something else. And, yes, drinking water can help if your body is craving water and you misinterpret it as wanting food. Been there. The important thing is to listen to what your body is saying. If the idea of having a snack scares you, then just make it a healthy snack like fruit or yogurt or something. I tend to have a low fat ice cream bar in the middle of the day when I get the worst munchies so that after I'm done eating the ice cream, I can gnaw on the Popsicle stick for awhile. It helps stop me from eating anything else. Might be worth a try.

One last thing: Don't stress over what might happen. Heart disease runs very strongly on my father's side of the family and many of the men on that side of the family died young. I realize that I'm not a guy, but it's still a concern. I have diabetes and skin cancer on my mother's side, not to mention Alzheimer's and who knows what else. But if I spent all of my time worrying over the problems that I could have, then I would be too scared to even really live. And from a purely weight loss point of view, stress can prevent your body from losing weight, not to mention causing a whole bunch of other medical problems. When you are stressed, your body releases cortisol, which in prolonged doses can really mess you up. I'm not an expert by any means, but I remember learning about it in my behavioral neuroscience class and decided that day to try and be less stressed. So if nothing else, try and relax. It may be just the thing to kick start your weight loss.

Good luck with everything and I hope this post gave you the encouragement you needed.

Just be proud of yourself for signing up on here and making the conscious decision to do better for yourself! I think really acknowledging that you want better for yourself is awesome in the first place, and a lot of people don't do it. It is a slow process because you're doing it the healthy way that will bring about lasting change. You -can- do this!

Don't feel bad about getting the munchies! I get them all the time. I was pushing 190 when I joined this site, almost a year ago, and it -was- due to over eating. When I took a step back and realized the junk I was eating, I had to "re-train" my stomach. I began to consume more water, ate less high calorie foods, and ate slower. Eating slower has helped me so much. When hanging out with friends, I would prepare low calorie/nutritious snacks ahead of time so I wouldn't fall into the social traps of eating garbage. You know what has helped me a ton and will seem like a pain at first? Making sure you eat every 3 hours. I started this a few weeks ago, but it has helped so much to ease the ping of munchies. And I eat less during my lunch/dinner because I have control over it now. That might help you. I found it amazing that I would get hungry around 3-4 hours of my last snack/meal, almost on the dot!

My gramps passed away 4 months ago. He really encouraged me to get myself into shape, for myself and for him because he wasn't able to due to his health (COPD, had a quadruple bypassy, diabetes, low blood pressure which all lead to liver/renal failure and his death). I keep that in my heart and head at all times, and it really pushes me to push myself. I think this is what our loved ones would want for us, so we don't need to experience the same painful chronic diseases/health issues as they did. I think your mom would be so proud of you for taking the steps to get fit. Set the example for your son of leading a healthy life too! Think of all the fun outdoor activities you two can do together once he's older. YOU CAN DO THIS!