I need encouragment!! I keep starting then stopping

Feel free to add me... I'm just starting up on here and I also live a hectic lifestyle!

I pack all my lunches for the week on Mon or Sunday. I then in the AM each day, record my weight and then all the food I have packed to eat that day. Then that is it. I shouldn't be adding to it much. I also find that if you use the app for this site on your phone, you can scan the barcode of what you are eating and be very precise about the calorie and fat intake.

feel free to add me. I am also a single mom

You have to do it for yourself. Encouragement is great. But people still cheat or go off their diet even with encouragement. So make a pact with yourself to stay on it. Once the weight starts coming off and you see a difference, I will assure you the motivation will get stronger. The first 10 lbs were the hardest and then I saw a difference in my clothing and especially my face. It made me work harder. Now i"m 18 lbs down.

I know that feeling of stopping and starting. It's plagued me for years! My only advice would be to maybe not try to do everything at once. Gradually incorporate things into your life and then when you get used to that add something else. How old is your daughter? Could you take her swimming maybe? Or take her out for walks. If she's young enough to need to be pushed around then you could go out and you'll burn extra from the pushing. Don't think that everything you do needs to be regimented. Think about how much exercise you get from being on your feet all day and then playing with your daughter. You're probably doing more than you realise. Your body might just be giving up because you're trying to do too much at once. I hope that helps :-). Good luck.

Hang in there! So many people have busy schedules, it makes it hard not to give into snacky temptations. Try planning meals a little better, maybe have some pre-defined meals that are easy to fix up, so 1.) you don't have to spend time thinking about 'what to cook' and 2.) You will know and control what is going in to your body.

If you can control your meals, then you can tweak the contents to prevent unscheduled hunger. Try adjusting the ratios of your 3 fuel sources: protein, carb, & fat. Everyone is a little different, so you have to find the combinations that make you feel energetic and prevent you from getting hungry. The thing is, when you simplify everything you eat down to these 3 levers that you can adjust, you will be able to majorly affect your stamina and energy levels. Intensity bears that name for a reason, it's not something you can dive into without the proper nutrition to back it up.

Quite often its the diet that makes us feel like we've failed ourselves and we throw in the towel, but making some beneficial, and impactful tweaks to what we eat can and will put us back on a good track. Also, in your case, it seems since you keep getting back on the horse, that you do have the willpower to succeed. Add me as a friend and keep me posted! :-)

-Dan

Feel free to add me also.

I'm 23 and am on Day 4 on the Insanity workout.

I hear ya sister! It is tough to get it all done, work, eat healthy and still get a work out in. Here are some suggestions that have helped me:
- Cook for the week on your day off. Many foods are less expensive in family sizes. Freeze cooked chicken in single servings for your lunches and in larger portions for family meal. We also freeze extra healthy pancakes, just microwave and go. Home made soups are really cheap and also freeze well. I make my own salad mixes instead of buying bagged salad.
And
- Yes, you need time to really get your sweat on, but mini work outs can be fun with kids. We have "crazy" dancing during commercials or do mad minutes of jumping or even push up contests. We laugh a lot. Also, fitting mini workouts in during house work is possible. I do squats while folding wash, or lunges while waiting for the microwave.
Good luck to you! Great job on setting such a good example of a strong, healthy mom!

I am doing the Insanity workout and trying to eat healthier. I am a single mom and on an EXTREMELY tight budget. I also work 11am-7pm so my eating habits are not to great. Granted I keep starting my workout up and then two weeks in (if that) I just stop. Even after seeing how much i changed my body in that short amount of time. I am 5'6" and weigh 195 and am only 23 years old. I used to be a dancer for 12 years and although it's been hard to be a single mom and I snack a lot because of it I want to get my stamina back. I want to be able to have more energy to play with her. Especially since I run around in heels for 8 hours at work I don't have enough energy for outside work. Really I am just looking for people to help encourage me to stay with the fitness program and to eat healthy. I want to do this for myself and for my daughter. so PLEASE HELP!!! lol :flowerforyou:

I can tell you what's worked for me in the past. It's helped me stop smoking (almost 10 years now) and helps when I'm in the zone to eat healthy and loose weight.

Just say to yourself....ok I started I've gone (insert how many days ) and I don't want to have to start over. Give yourself small goals. Hit that one then move to the next. Just take it one day at a time. Hit me up if you need anything!

I completely understand! I'm in the same boat. This time I am more determined than ever to keep up a great workout routine and take time to plan for healthy meals.

My downfall is that I give in to urges to eat something quick(and it just happens to be unhealthy when I'm stressed out with work which has been often lately. I've gotta slow down and be more intentional, disciplined and focused.

We can do this! Good luck!

I am new here and ready to help encourage you! I might suggest that you could be starting and stopping because you have set yourself up for a work out you aren't ready for. Maybe you should start off with something slightly less intense that you can get yourself to commit to.

Best of luck! Feel free to add me, I need as much help as I can get too.

feel free to add me. The fact that you started is a big step and are looking for motivation/support is another step. I understand about wanting to lose weight for you and your child - I am doing the same thing for me and my son. Maybe start out with doing walks with your daughter, even if its only for twenty mins - its a start. Sometimes it hard to continue after a few weeks but push through those tiring moment and tell yourself "You can do it"!

Same here! My user name is "back4good" - for good reason. To remind myself that it's time to get real and permanent in this effort to achieve a higher level of well-being and good health! We are all worthy!!!

Anything is possible with consistency and determination. Establishing one good habit at a time will move us in the right direction, especially if we've been trying to make progress for years (like me!). Here are basics that I'm personally working on now:

1 - Try to track food daily - no matter what - good, bad or ugly (I'm still trying to conquer this one as I tracked only 4 out of 7 days last week but I still lost 1.5LBs, so that was good!)

2 - Assuming you are cleared to exercise, try to do some form of exercise most days. Even if it's only a 30 minute walk, just get in the habit of doing something. (I took Sunday off and enjoyed knowing that I had done something every other day and really deserved it!)

3 - Try to plan your meals /snacks at least a day in advance (as others have suggested). I'm always looking for healthy and reasonable meal plans I can follow so I don't have to reinvent the wheel. Not knowing how to put a meal plan together nor taking the time to shop in advance to have the ingredients on hand is what has gotten me overweight in the first place... I'm also trying to eliminate proessed foods when I am able.

Even though my weight is not where I'd like it to be, I find that I'm not mentally beating myself up any more. I can rest my mind and feel empowered knowing that I'm taking steps for positive change instead of feeling bad/sad or a victim of circumstances.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

B4G

i have the same problem!! Its so hard to get into the routine!!

Feel free to add me. The more the merrier : )