Hello...I need motivation.

[mama2babies]

Hi. I am a SAHM of a 3 yr old and an almost 1 yr old. You might be thinking "she stays home, she should have plenty of time to exercise, diet, etc". I thought the same thing, but I don't. Or maybe I don't have the will power or energy to do it. I take care of my kids, clean the house, cook, clean up from cooking, laundry, clean up toys and messes...the list could go on. When I am finished with all of that, all I want to do is go to bed and sleep!
I am at a point in my life that if I don't do something now, I am going to end up with diabetes. It runs in my family. I had gestational diabetes while pregnant with my daughter, so its only a matter of time before I have it. Unless I do something to lose weight now. I have never been this heavy in my life. I was always thin and fit. I started putting on weight in my early
20's. Then I got pregnant with my son, and got very big. I was still very overweight when I got pregnant with my daughter, and now I am at my all time heaviest, 280 lbs! I lost about 15 lbs a few months ago, but put it back on, with an additional 5 lbs. My husband says he will support me in my weight loss efforts, but then he brings home fast food or ice cream.
I need advice on how to get started. I want to lose weight but I hate not seeing results right away.
Sorry for rambling on and on. I would appreciate any kind words or wisdom to get me started. Please tell me your story of success and maybe that will inspire me to do great things too!

 

[Phoenyx]

Welcome aboard!

My sister-in-law is also a SAHM with a 4 year old and 1 year old. I honestly don't know how she did it, but I watched her kick ass on taking off the weight after both pregnancies. So take heart in knowing it CAN be done.

You can draw inspiration from outside sources, but motivation truly comes from within. You have to want it enough. The question you need to ask yourself, and be fully honest with your answer... how bad do you WANT to lose the weight? I'm going to do a little shameless self-promotion here, but in my diary I wrote a post called 'knowing vs wanting' that illustrates what I'm talking about. You can read that post here.. I couldn't have done what I did this year without the 'want'... with or without external support.

You've joined this forum... that's a great start. There is a virtual ton of great information to be found in the stickied posts in each section of this forum. I highly recommend reading it. I'm sure a lot of your basic questions will be answered in those posts... and it will help inspire other questions to ask. I'm betting the New Moms section will have a lot of great info for post-pregnancy weight reduction too. I don't have kids, so I couldn't tell you. My weight gain all came from eating bad and being too damn lazy to exercise... and years of denial that I was getting fat.

For more inspiration, I would recommend reading through some of the diaries in the Diary section of the forum. Start your own if you feel so inclined. Its a good place for you to keep track of what you are doing, writing down your triumphs, your frustrations... it can give you a place to have your own accountability. Another good online tool is fitday.com where you can keep track of caloric intake, activity for calories burned (which is not JUST exercise, but even day to day functions... like chasing after active 3 year olds). It also helps you in figuring out what your daily caloric intake should be based on height and weight, and how much you want to lose.

The most important tool you have in losing weight is your own mind. There's no magic pill to give you motivation or will power... its all in you. The lack of energy, part of that comes with having the extra weight. You attend to the needs of the household, it wears you out, you don't want to exercise, so you don't, then cave in to the junk food and ice cream, which puts on more weight, which saps your energy even more... its a vicious pattern that you need to break. Its a vicious pattern that a lot of us had to break. If you can break that pattern of wanting to collapse and start doing a little exercise instead (and build up to more as your energy level increases) its a good path to start down!

Its all a matter of choice. Like with your husband's paying lip service to his 'support' of your wanting to lose weight. You can choose to call him on it and ask that he honor his saying he'd support you by not bringing that crap home, or you can choose to not eat it if he does bring it home. For me, wanting to lose weight has been able to override the desire for the ice cream and the cookie dough in the freezer. Occasionally I'll have a cookie or a couple bites... but not like the huge bowls I used to indulge in.

Ok, I just meant to write a few sentences... ended up with a book for you. I hope I don't come across as a complete hardass... I'm just sharing some of what I've discovered along the way. Hope it helps.

Again, welcome, and good luck!

 

[mama2babies]

Thanks for all of your advice. I will read the things that you suggested after the kids go to bed tonight. Congrats on all of your success! You dont come off as being a hard ass or anything, I like the truth however it comes across.

Thanks again!

 

[bikinibound]

I have to agree with Phoenix. It's all about how much you want it. I was in denial for years and said I couldn't lose weight because_______(fill in blank). As it turns out, the moment I decided enough was enough, I managed to lose weight pretty steadily. I lost 60lbs with a house that often had junk/fast food in it. The secret is to either avoid it altogether, or eat it in small quantities.

One thing that might surprise you is that exercising actually gives you more energy. There are plenty of times when I feel too tired to work out, but I usually do it anyway and feel so much better after I do.

Welcome, and best wishes that you find the stubborn determination you'll need to lose the lbs. Check out some diaries--there are some very determined people out there getting great results. And I know some single mothers who work full time and then still have children/housework to come home to. They still manage to exercise and diet (how, I have no idea), so Cinderelly (being one of those women) might be someone's diary to check out. She is rather sleep deprived though--which I don't recommend.