i am glad this came up. i'm in the same spot. i can't get motivated to exercise, i'm always so tired with 2 kids. more about me-i'mm 22. i gained 40 lbs in my last pregnancy)my daughter is 3 months old). i have lost 15, but now i'm stuck. i have been depressed lately too, i don't think my pills are working. i have manic depression and a chemical imbalance. i have been institutionalized twice for suicide attemplts. i so often feel like no one understand. i feel like we should talk more, maybe be phone or email buddies. i do have some good weight loss tips. my email is crazyfool111684?yahoo.com. hope to hear from you!

I'm glad this came up too. Depression is beast of an illness! For me, it feeds on isolation, and being a new mom can be inherently isolating. I don't have a lot to add here besides my support for any of you who are suffering out there.

Depression has crept into my life several times and I take what measures I can to fight it, such as acknowleding it, seeing a doctor, getting outside, moving. Mine hasn't been post-partum related, but more recent bouts have certainly been related to my new, unwelcome body and flesh that seems determined to stick around even though everyone said it would come off. Sometimes each day is a battle - please don't think that you are alone out there, you're not!

Hi.
I know I am not on here much, so people really don't know me. But I have to shot it from the roof tops. I stoped drinking Pepsi on June 4th. I have been eating better too. I have lost almost 5lbs!
It's not every much. But I am happy. I can't really tell my family cause I am not sure they would be happy for me. I know it's a little amount but its a start. Only 95 more pounds to go! haha.
I am proud, but now I am getting to the hard part. I wanted to focus on fixing my eating habits slowly so I didn't overwhelm myself. I have done okay so far. It's getting harder though. My family still wants to eat out all the time. I keeping thinking that I have done so good for myself that i deserve a reward...but that is dangerous. I am actually think more about bad foods now that I did in the beginning. Why is that?
I need to incorperate exercise too. I am not sure where to start because I am too big to do something and I don't want to work out for the sake of it and hurt myself, or do things wrong. What's a simple way to start? Something even big people can do? Anyone have ideas?

Thanks so much!

What I would say is don't look at food as a reward because doing that is like saying, "Don't look at the naked man behind the curtain!" You'll focus too much on what you think you are depriving yourself of. Instead rewards should be things like new clothes, new cd, anything that doesn't involve consuming calories. Eating out isn't that bad if you make the right choices. And while i"m sure everyone here has been guilty of caving into the pressures that come with social dining, you can't let that ruin it for you. You don't have to tell your family what you're doing if you don't want to, but six nights out of the week find an excuse to eat a homemade meal. Or better yet, get your family rolling on the same ball.

Something else that is starting to work for me is focusing on nutrition or some element. I've become more concentrated on my protein intake due to some hairloss and while I'm most certainly eating much healthier than I have in the last few months, instead of saying. "I can't have that... it's bad for me.", I look at everything and thing. "Is this high in protein without adding a ton of fat?" Shifting the focus can make a big difference. Good luck!

Hi there. I was doing pretty good. I am at almost 10lbs lost. I was on a really big role and things were going great...Then I have a bad week, went out to eat more and ended up gaining back a pound. The next week after wasn't too bad, managed to lose that pound, so I am back to were I was two weeks ago.
I feel like I have wasted two weeks! Although it didn't help that my birthday and my daughters birthday (and two parties) were all in the same week. That is three different cakes! Agh! I know 1 pound sounds silly, but its mentally freaking me out. I have never lost more than 10lbs. I have got 100 to lose, so I can't get stuck at just 10!! Its kind of deflated my success.
Worst of all..I keep thinking about food. mental I don't know whats going on. I keep thinking I am hungery, I need to eat, can't i have just one day to just eat! But that is not good thinking, and I was doing so good at keeping tempting thoughts at bay. Now they are flooding my mind. I have lost ground but I still have so far to go..Now what?
I am feeling stuck and I dont want to feel stuck. I want to feel excited about eating better again. How can I get myself back on track after a week of birthdays and meals out? I could use any good tips, or advice.

Hi Raeofhope,
First of all congratulations losing on 10 lbs, that is great!!
I am no expert just telling you what worked for me. I had trouble at the beginning too and the only way I found to deal with it is this: don't worry about yesterday, that is too late, look forward to tomorrow. When I lost some weight i felt good about myself and did not watch what I ate for a couple of days and oops the pounds crawled back. Also I realized that I am human and can not be perfect (eat only the right things at the right time at right portions..etc) all the time and there will be days or weeks where it is going to be harder to lose or not lose at all. Just pick yourself up and go on and you will see more pounds coming off. Don't be too hard on yourself!! Look what you have accomplished so far!!
Have you started exercising? Walking is a great way to start, I walked for months on even ground and increased to hills and such. Exercising is a great way to take food off of your mind. Are you thinking about food because you are bored? Get up and get going doing whatever you like!
What helped me to say no to "no-no foods" is this : I started tracking how many calories I burn by walking. Let's see I walked 3 miles that is roughly 300 calories. Then I started looking at the labels of different foods for calorie content and started tracking that as well. Boy I was in for a shock!! 1 slice of cheese-cake(my favorite) can have 600-700 calories. i know how hard it was to burn that 300 calories and there was no way I was going to mess it up.
The other reason I was thinking about food a lot : I did not realize but I was not eating enough and my body was starving for nutritients. Do you eat enough? Have you started tracking your food intake ? Fitday.com is an excellent site to track your food intake and exercise routine.
Hope it helps, again I am no expert just sharing what worked for me.
Good luck to you, and I know you can do it. Just stick with it even if it seems hard, you will see the reward in the mirror in time.
Hajni