Starting fresh

ajoy

New member
Hello all. My name is Amanda. I am trying to lose about 63 pounds from having a baby. In the past two years, I have been pregnant twice and breastfeeding. I am so tired and mad at myself for letting my body get this way. I love my children and I am so happy to be a mother, but I'm not happy with the way I look. I have tried....well semi-tried to lose weight before. I am the type of person that lacks motivation. I want results, but I always come up with excuses as to why I can't work out, plus I'm an emotional eater!!!

I've decided that I am going to change my life and my body. I know that I can get back into an exercise routine, I was in the military!!! A lot of decisions I have made have been bad ones. I have let other people make some of my choices for me. I regret that. Now I want to make my own choices. I don't want to let other people dictate my life. Even if everyone else thinks that I can't lose weight, I am not going to let that discourage me.

I want to be confident again. I want to like my looks again. I want to learn to be me again. So I'm starting with one thing at a time. I can't get the support I need at home, so I'm hoping that I can get it here. Thanks for listening to me rant.
 
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Hey there Amanda and welcome to the forums!! Emotional eating is one thing I'm very familiar with, as well as no support from family members, though my Husband is very supportive, I wish others in my life were as well. These forums are filled with kind hearted people who are very supportive, so I hope you can find all the support your needing from here. You seem to have a good outlook on this new journey, and I really do hope these forums help you, I know it has helped me a lot. Please take advantage of the wonderful information in the stickied threads here, and also go ahead and start yourself a journal in the diary section, it's really good for accountability and support. Also, what's your plan? I love to hear how other's are going about their journeys. Hope to see you around, and good luck to you!
 
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Thanks

Thank you for your words of encouragement. It means a lot that someone cares enough to reach out to me. Right now my plan is to reach for exercise at least 60 minutes a day. That's what I used to do when I was in the military and I felt good after exercising. Plus that will be the only time that I get to myself everyday. Having three kids and a husband in the military leaves me with little time just for me. I know I need to watch what I eat, but right now I'm focusing on the exercise so I can make that a habit again. I'm going to power walk and jog but at a slow pace. I don't want to hurt myself by doing too much. I also want to start a food diary and emotions log. I know that I emotionally eat, so I want to write down how I feel when I reach for that whole box of oatmeal pies!!! I want to take it slowly so I can have lasting success. Plus I don't want to get overwhelmed. My baby breastfeeds like a little beast, so sleep is limited around here:willy_nilly:.

Do you have any tips on how to avoid sugar cravings? Whenever I get upset or frustrated I reach for a whole box or bag of anything sweet. I will eat until whatever it is is gone. That's one of my biggest hurdles.
 
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I know how you feel. Sometimes you get so caught up in being mom that you forget to be a woman too. Then one day you want to get back into being more then just ma ma and you realize your not the woman you used to be (more like twice the woman you used to be :ack2:)... All in all i think you'll find that this is exactly the support your looking for. I personally find a lot of motivation here. The kind that makes me get up every day and do my excersizes and not eat a whole giant bag of chips). I also find it hard to find support here. though my husband supports me, he doesnt always seem like he wants to hear about all of my thinking (I think about it a lot). Also maybe it's just me and maybe i'm strange but I get kind of embarassed to talk about losing weight to people i know. Anyhow Welcome and good luck :waving:
 
I can totally relate. My husband doesn't understand how hard it is to balance everything. Most times he only has his own things to worry about. He gets tired of hearingme complain about my weight. He feels like I should just lose the weight, like it's that easy. At least now I have an outlet to vent my frustration. I just have to believe in myself more and more evryday.
 
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He also probably doesnt understand because ill bet he's the perfect weight or is happy with his weight. Not to mention it can be easier for men to lose weight. my husband is a perfect size and yet he can sit on his butt 24/7 and eat nothing but junk all hours of the day.... I swear to you my husband lives on fast food when he's working (because he gets tired of the "same old sandwiches all the time") then he comes home with chocolate bars and chips and god forbid he does not eat some sort of junk right before we lay down to bed as we watch tv... Not only does it annoy the crap out of me that he can do that and maintain a normal weight but it also makes it that much harder to not fall into those kinds of habits... his habits are what got me fat in the first place when we first moved in together...
I must admit thought, even though he's a bad influence on my diet (and im afraid one day our kids diets), he does exress proudness(if thats a word) of how well im doing and that i'm sticking to it... i have always complained and never made an effort, and now that i am it's showing, so he's a little more willing to listen now. and he swears he cares, i just dont feel i'm getting the reaction or input i expect...
 
Yeah it's the same here. He makes little comments though that sometimes hurt my feelings. I try not to let it bother me, but it's hard sometimes. It seems like he eats more junk when he knows I'm trying to lose weight. It might be too that I haven't really given a 100% effort either. I think that in some ways he might be trying to test my level of committment. This time I'm not gonna let him get to me though. I am determined to really get back to my pre-baby body. I know that by coming here I'll be able to find support and motivation. Just reading the other posts help me a lot. I avoided eating a whole bag of cookies today just by coming on here and venting.!!!!
 
I'm sorry to hear that, I hope you've let him know how he's making you feel. I do know you'll get plenty of support here though. We've all been or are in your shoes and we know how hard it can be. :grouphug:
Now you just need to have a goal, a plan, and a way to stick to that plan. (WLF can help you with all of those :) )
 
Yeah, I've told him and he always apologizes. I honestly don't htink that he does it to hurt me. That's his way to try to motivate me. I told him I need more compassion, not snide comments. He says he'll work on it. I find myself caring too much about what he thinks, when I need to focus on my own emotions and thoughts right now. That's why I've found this site so great. I've already stopped myself from emotionally eating by coming on here and trying to give support to others. Also writing in my diary does help. I am so glad that there are people like you on here to help me and give me advice. It's nice to be able to chat with people that can relate to you and not judge.
 
I know how you feel and I find that I can lose motivation quick (especially when my 2 toddlers were eating cinnamon buns this past weekend). But I'm a quote person and it helps me to search online for motivating quotes. I'm kind of a dork about it but I have a Word Document where I cut and paste quotes to and when I'm feeling like giving up or cheating, I read through the quotes. Then I feel like I really CAN keep going.

Alison
stuckat180.blogspot.com
 
THat's a good idea. I'm gonna have to try something to keep me on track. I lose motivation quickly too. I'm determined this time though to push through it. I can't stand the thought of failing this time. I can't stay fat any longer. Coming here and reading other people's journey really does keep me focused. Whenver I feel like I'm gonna slip, I log back on and resist temptation. I don't know why I didn't think of joining a support like this before. But you live and learn.

Today I have had a bowl of cereal with almonds and milk.
Water and a Georgia cafe au lait(42 kcal).

Lunch: water
celeste cheese pizza for one
1/3 cup dried cranberries

So far so good. I still need to cut back on carbs and portions. But one thing at a time. I will get overwhelmed if I try to do everything at once. I still haven't tried any exercise. This whole proper eating thing is really hard. I still haven't had any junk food(cakes,pies,cookies,etc). I'm so proud of myself because our cabinets are full of junk. I am trying not to think about it and stay strong. I almost slipped last night, but I came on here instead. I have a feeling I'm gonna be on here more that I thought. As long as I don't slip up, I'll type until my fingers fall off, then I'll use my toes!!!
 
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Amanda, just so you know... The hubbies sometimes have to deal with similar issues...

Thats one of the reasons I'm here, this is my little space to vent sometimes. My wife (whom I love more than anything in the world), does not always want to hear about what I'm trying to do to lose weight, etc. She's usually very supportive, but I'm finally pushing myself down this road hard, and I think there is some occasional jealosusy even? Maybe even some sabotage? So I come here and get involved because it helps motivate me, lets me vent, and takes some pressure off.

Oh yeah, and it's pretty good for support too.
 
Yeah my husband does try to sabotage me sometimes. I am still shocked by this. I hope I didn't offend you, I know that there are a lot of husbands out there struggling with their weight too. I'm glad that we can all come to a place like this and find support.

I'm just venting a little. I thought that when I started this journey my husband would be the one person that I could share my frustration with. When I found out that wasn't the case, I felt so alone. I just assumed that he would support me. When his reaction wasn't what I thought it would be, it really hurt. Then I got mad and now I just want to reach my goal even more. I know that he loves me and I know he wants me to be happy. I think that me getting my weight under control scares him a little. He has some insecurities maybe. At least we can all help each other while we help ourselves.
 
OMG, Of course you didn't offend me! I was just commiserating with you! BTW have you started a diary yet? I look forward to posting in it when you do.. I'll have to check now to se if you already did...
 
Mmmm, sweets... one of my biggest down falls... I try to fit my sweet cravings in to my daily food stats. The only difference between me now and me when I ate a whole thing of delicious grasshopper cookies in a days time period, is now, I only eat a serving, eh, maybe two, but no more, and only if I can fit it in to my stats for the day, though I still can't trust myself with those grasshopper cookies... mmm. Hope that is helpful in someway. When it comes to the whole Husband and sabotaging thing, I feel you, sometimes I feel like my Husband is doing everything but what he needs to do to help me with this... including leaving bags of smart food popcorn next to me... mmm.... lol. Oh, and as Cabbie said, can't wait to post in your diary to and watch your progress along the way!
 
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