How Can Busy Moms Lose Weight?

Weight watchers, and planning. If I know what I am going to have for dinner, we do not eat out. eating in, is less sodium and way healther. I love those make ahead freezer meals that you just toss into the crock pot.

Eat smaller, healthy portions. I've got 4 kids (so very busy) and I lost 65 lbs without exercise. It was all in diet control - which takes no additional time. I did weight watchers.

Less calories and exercise. Forget all the fad diets etc. count calories.

Portion control. exercise. Stop drinking soda. drink water. Lots of it.

cut white/sugar carbs out of your diet. This means fruits too...it's called eat in moderation.

Instead of a sandwich at lunch - do a soup or even a lettuce wrap.

I use the Total Gym as well as walking the dog.

No junk in the house. No one needs cookies, chips, crackers, etc. If you do pick up a treat for your child then make it a single service package and buy something you don't like.

When you buy things like apples, pears, peaches at the store wash them when you get home so they are a grab and go snack.

It's all about mindset. In the end, it's diet and exercise. I did Weight Watchers years ago and lost. I kept it off for a long time but put on a bit of it last year due to a lot of stressful life situations. I'm now using MyFitnessPal (free app), which is a lot like Weight Watchers' online version. It tracks all of my food and exercise. My calorie allotment is realistic and not crazy low like SparkPeople.

Another big thing is not eliminating anything. If you start depriving yourself, you're less likely to succeed. Keep in your favorites, but just have them in moderation.

Find an exercise you actually like. For me, that's walking, weight loss yoga and the exercise bike. All suit my plantar fasciitis, which severely limits what else I can do. If I had to do classes like zumba, I'd never exercise. I hate classes. So, what works for one person may not be great for you. Find what YOU like and you're more likely to stick with it.

When my kids were younger I took them to the YMCA childcare while I worked out or went to an exercise class. Childcare was included in our membership and it was high quality care. I didn't really lose all of the "baby weight" until I had to make some lifestyle and diet changes for a medical condition. I was successful in losing about 15 pounds once it was a lifestyle change and not a "diet." Weight training has also been very helpful to me, better than just doing cardio. I try to fit in some weight training, cardio and stretching (yoga) each week. I also walk the dogs, weather permitting. Can you walk with the kids, weather permitting. One thing I really liked about the Y is that they took the kids to the gym so they got exercise too.

I buy a lot of the prepackaged salad (dark leafy greens) and I mix it with the prepackaged broccoli slaw then put a little olive oil and vinagrette on it. it's super healthy and super fast. It's also so high in fiber that it keeps me from eating a lot of other stuff. if you want some protein with it, you can add pre-packaged chicken strips. When I'm on the go, I'll pack a quick salad in a tupperware container. It's faster than eating "fast food".

It's also about what you eat. I learned that if I cut out sugar and carbs and focus on eating lean protien and nuts and veggies and fruits (strictly for a week) it kicks my metabolism into high gear. Good luck and enjoy what you are doing - it's great if it's working

Hi J.,

If your are not overeating and you are not a couch potato then your body is simply not absorbing nutrition. The body only holds onto weight when it thinks it is starving. Ironic, huh? Overweight and starving but it's the truth. I was tired of cooking for my husbands diets because he would lose weight and gain it back with a vengeance. I finally put my foot down and said I wasn't doing it but I was going to get him healthy...148 pounds later and feeling great, he's happy. He lost 110 of it a few years ago and has kept it off and now wanted to lose more as he got older. He looks great too.

I'd be glad to walk you through what I did for him if you're interested. Hate seeing people diet and diet and diet. Life is supposed to be fun!

God bless,
M.

This may seem off-topic, but consider getting your thyroid checked. I went with undiagnosed hypothyroidism for years and tried every diet in the book too. This is the first time in years I have felt really good and been able to lose the weight. Your TSH should be 3 or lower.

Weight Watchers is fantastic.

It takes a conscious effort to make it a priority. You need to find the time to workout and you need to make the effort to watch what you eat.

I have had so much 'static' going on in my life lately that I haven't been successful in making it a priority. Once shorts and bathing suit weather comes, I'm in serious trouble!

Weight loss was not a problem for me. I didn't put much on with baby, and it easily came off. I did miss the exercise though, and had the hardest time finding room for it in my schedule. I would work out at the gym during lunch when I worked at the office, now that I telecommute, logistics/ lack of a gym underfoot made it harder. I've since gotten some work out videos the 10 minute fit series by crunch and a cheapo whisper quiet exercise bike that I ride after DS is asleep. Its giving me a decent cardio workout, and hey, it feels good.

Best,
F. B.

Anything that you enjoy, that proves easy and workable is the right solution for you.

hi mama!
i've struggled w/a healthy weight since i had my boy 5 yrs ago, ARGH! so i know how you feel!
i'm glad you found something that works, that's the first step to success, took me awhile to find something that would stick.
our local rec ctr is $20/month for unlimited classes like zumba, turbo kick, yoga, and boot camp. There's childcare provided during each class. I've been going there 3-5x/wk since December. It's for an hour, kicks my butt, and i LOVE it. After it's over I'm so relieved of stress, it's truly been a Godsend for me. On the days where it's just not feasible to go, I use the 5 Mega Miles DVD at home. 15 min miles and it's not as weird/boring as it sounds. She does other little exercises in the routine but they're really easy and 15 minutes flies by so I end up walking at least 2-3 miles each time I do it. Since my boy's 5 he sometimes does it w/me. The DVD I bought also came w/a resistance band so we do resistance training on arms and such while we're walking, which is so neat.
I don't know how old your child(ren) are but I know when mine was 3 and under it was REALLY hard to get any exercise in, much less for 30-60 minutes. I've stopped being so h*** o* myself for just now figuring this out and just being thankful for his age & independence so I can do this. I only have one child, but am a single parent ALL THE WAY. No babysitters, spouses, even ex or family to watch the child, so when I exercise, it's up to me to plan an activity or arrangement (rec ctr childcare) for him.
I've released 18 lbs so far and a LONG way to go, but I'm so proud of myself for taking the time to do this. It's VERY important for me to get this weight off and KEEP it off, so even when I'm tired or maybe my house could use more cleaning, child more play time, I choose an increment of time to focus on my health b/c if something happens to me prematurely b/c of my unhealthiness.....who can fix that and who's to blame?? :(
Sorry...went on a rant, but that's also b/c I continue to adjust and have to continue to tell myself (daily!) how important this is. This is not about looks for me or to look good in spring/summer, it is to have my weight at a reasonable number, my waist at 34" or below and of course to show my son the importance of caring for that body of ours that does SO much for us everyday. I did not used to think this way and I'm just thankful everyday that I do now, hopefully before it's too late. :)
good luck w/any & everything you do. I hope at least some of what I said was of some help to you. :) hang in there, don't give up, it is worth it.

Exercise is important, even if you can only squeeze in 20 minutes a day. As for eating, the thing that takes weight off and keeps it off is eating less. Most "diets" leave people feeling deprived because they can't eat this or that. What I did when I was actively trying to lose was was what I called the "quarter plan." What I did was eat everything I normally would but cut the portion back by 1/4, thereby cutting out 25% of calories and fat. That meant I could eat anything I normally did. If it was burger night, I'd cut the burger in quarters and only eat 3. If I was having my weekly Samoas with my tea, I'd break the 2nd cookie in half and put it back. Always ate sour cream on my baked potato? I'd still eat it but instead of 2 TBSP, I'd use 1/2. I'd of course also take away 1/4 of the potato, and anything else I ate. But you have to be careful when you do this not to take it to mean that you can start eating cookies, sour cream, cheeseburgers, as long as you put some back. That's not it. But if you normally eat them, you still do. You eat your normal diet, just only 3/4 of it. Good luck