2ChaCha Member

And again, as I'm sure I said two years ago, once I find an extra $200 every month, I'll start going to a therapist. But since my insurance keeps going up and my pay isn't increasing with it, I'm still kind of stuck on the whole counseling situation.

I see myself as what the mirror and scale reflect.

"On the age thing, I'm 45 and started losing at 44, and it wasn't a problem. I think it's MUCH easier to pick a number you can stick with consistently, even if it's a slower loss, than continually failing and getting discouraged, and you get there faster in the long run. And once you start losing it feels great -- you…

And TDEE? What is that?

Sorry, but I don't understand all the abbreviations everywhere. Hard to keep up when I don't know what's being said.

I need to lose as fast as possible. I'm 34, and the older I get the harder it's going to be.

I said I want to lose 2 pounds a week, but when I enter all the information it say I can only lose 1 pound a week at 1200 calories. Thanks for the encouragement, MFP!

Yep. 1200-1300 is my given goal for losing. Since I'm so damn short I'm supposed to weigh 95-115. Last time I weighed 115 I was 18 years old and worked out five hours a day. Sorry, I just don't have a spare 5 hours now to devote.

1200 calories total doesn't really leave a lot of room for bigger calorie meals. 400 calories isn't really my idea of satisfying or filling.

And I totally understand the whole calorie deficit thing, but it seems to me that now that I'm eating better and less and working out more, I should naturally be better than when I was eating more and worse and not working out at all. Right?

5'1, 160, I want to eat 1200 calories a day, but I never feel full. If I eat until I feel full I go way over. If I make myself stop, I eventually give in and binge. I eat small, low-calorie meals, but I'm hungry again in an hour. Tracking makes me insane trying to weigh every little ingredient in everything I cook and then…

...extra grease and fat out of there, as much as I can.

I have a scale and I use it a lot. But it's just me and my 7 year old, so I hate dirtying up a million measuring cups and dishes trying to figure out the calories in one meal for myself. That's all I'm wondering. I too am a perfectionist, because I know I will totally lie to myself if I estimate! But when I cook I don't…

And I can't afford a therapist or counseling. Last time I checked into counseling it was going to cost me upwards of $40 a week, and that's with my insurance. Even if it's still the same, I still have to reach a $1500 deductible. I'm a single mom, and though I do get child support, every dime of that goes to my son's…

Every area of my life is empty. I realize this, and it's something I've lived with for a long time and have pretty much just come to accept. The real problem, I believe, lies in that I don't think I will ever be able to fulfill any other part of my life until I look better. Until I'm out running 5k's and not spilling over…

I'm perfectly willing to try anything natural or herbal. I have a friend who swears by apple cider vinegar. She says she takes a shot in the morning and she feels great all day. So I bought an expensive bottle of organic apple cider vinegar. All it did was make me gag and then my stomach would make crazy noises for the…

I can eat tomatoes cooked in something, just not raw or by itself. My boyfriend, however, won't eat mushrooms, beans, pasta, or anything with a lot of cheese, so that cuts out a ton of recipes right there. The kids won't eat fish or really any veggie but green beans or corn. So many picky eaters in my house!

How is weighing and looking up and logging everything I eat not complicated? I have a food scale and I used it. All the time. When I make recipes and weigh everything by the pound, how do I figure out how much a cup of that is worth? I found myself spending hours at work looking up and planning meals by the calories…

I was. Was. Not at the moment. Not 1200 but not 4000 either. I would say closer to 2000, maybe 2500 on a weekend day.

I would love to walk with my son but we live in a neighborhood with no sidewalks and he is only 6 and refuses to listen to me and it would be a constant yelling battle trying to keep him from getting hit by a car. By the time I get off work, get him, he does homework, I cook and eat dinner, it's time for his shower and…

I said when I was eating 1200 a day and also said I wasn't doing my best lately. But I'm definitely not eating 4,000 calories a day. I also said constructive suggestions. Not everyone can be perfect, and we don't need the perfect people making us feel even more worthless.

Thanks for the tips. I cooked six nights of meals for myself tonight. Hopefully that'll help next week. I may try walking in place or doing steps on my wii fit board (can't find the game disc and the wii itself is in a disaster of a playroom!).

Sorry, should have been more detailed. Stairs kill my knees, even just one flight. My kid is a beastly 4'2 5 year old so he's too big for a stroller. I don't own a bike and can't afford one. By the time I get home from work I don't have time to take him to a track, walk while he rides, then still get home, make dinner, get…