I want to lose weight.
I have many reasons for this. I am unhappy with the way I look and how limited my wardrobe is. I want to feel confident in myself and I want to please my husband better. But most of all I want to be the best me I can be and I know that extra weight I carry around stops me from reaching my full potential. Well even though many people will probably disagree with me or feel like my reasons not enough, I just want to be happy.
So this is my plan.
First I want to start the fast 800 tomorrow. I want to stick with this until I get to 150. Sometimes it’s hard and I fall off track, but I want to do my best with this.
For exercising, I want to go jogging everyday. It is difficult because I am a homeschooling mom and I’m really busy and always with my daughter. So it is hard to really jog and give it my all because I have a little girl running behind me that I have to keep my eye on her. But I think I have found a way to use the local track and still get to jog to the best of my ability while being able to watch her properly. I also want to include strength training into my routine as soon as possible.
I also need to get the sleep that I am lacking right now. I am always staying up too late and that makes it so difficult to fulfill my responsibilities as well as. I want to try to start going to sleep by the latest 11 p.m., but I really need to sleep by 9 or 10 to get the most out of it.
My goal is to wake up by 7 a.m. right now but once I get used to it, I would like to wake up at 6:30 like I used to do so I can get to my workout right away.
I’m constantly failing and giving up and struggling, but please let me know support with well wishes and encouragement. I always wanted to reach my goal of my healthy weight and I really hope that this time I will succeed.

Hi Panda, when you have a big, full and responsibility-laden life, adding in a big diet can be hard. I believe that a “step-down” approach works really well (and for some people can be easier than starting cold-Turkey) so perhaps you can start “small” with just cutting out refined carbohydrates, breads, pasta, rice, potatoes, baked goods, any sugars (in all its forms), sugary fruits, and try to get your carbohydrate intake down to 40-50 grams per day. That will give you a good start and will make it easier to start adding in the lower calories and then a bit of extended fasting.
When you have to be “mom” and especially “home-schooling mom” (that is a BIG job, which I have also experienced) it can be important to not get too hungry or you might become “hangry” and develop a bad mood, which as all moms know, is a disaster for family life and good parenting and teaching!
The research is in your favor though — cutting down on the carbohydrates for the whole family is healthy and desireable and so you can ALL embark on this new healthy eating pattern, including Dad. Then as time goes on, you can gently bring down the calories for yourself by eating less and skipping a few meals.
I would try to embrace this as a healthy future for the whole family and try to just keep adding in healthier, low carbohydrate choices.
If you have some free moments, try to listen to Dr. Bikman’s podcasts — he is a researcher on insulin resistance and weight loss — he has a family and a lovely attitude on how to combine the two — his children eat low carb, prioritizing protein and eating more fat.

Hi PandaMomma – not sure if I’ve seen you on the forum before, but a warm welcome to you if this is your first visit or glad to see you still here – which ever is appropriate. The reasons you give for wanting to lose weight are as valid as those of any of us and I completely understand that you want to be the best you can – and why not!

CaliforiniaGirl’s advice is really solid. I have to say reading your post, I was concerned by how much pressure you are putting yourself under and wonder if this is why you find yourself struggling and giving up. Like CG, I also think you would be better advised to take things step by step and ease yourself into your new regime, rather than try to tackle all fronts at once. Sounds like you have a way to jog regularly, so for now why not leave that as your exercise and for now focus on cutting the carbs in the way described by CG. As she says, there is no reason why the rest of the family can’t eat low carb, but if there are protests and it becomes too difficult, cook meals that can be adjusted by simply cooking the children/partner a carb element to go with it. My OH eats what I eat most of the time, but occasionally has a carb hit later in the evening, by having some ice cream or chocolate.

Getting your sleep sorted is probably a good idea, as good sleep helps with weight loss and this is something that should hopefully be quite easy to adjust, but again, if you struggle with this why not do it in increment – pulling your bedtime forward little by little. Remember your body is used to your current pattern and will need time to adjust and this goes for diet, sleep and exercise.

The BSD is a steep learning curve and as you say, there will be days when things go badly and the secret is to forgive yourself and get right back on track, but we’ll be here to support, encourage and congratulate as appropriate. It’s important to make good use of the forum as it is a great resource and many of us – including me – would not have reached our goal. Feel free to join any thread you feel appropriate and I recommend joining a challenge thread – there are weekly and monthly ones – these help to keep you focused and accountable. These threads are populated by people at various stages of the BSD process, so there’s lots of wisdom, knowledge and support to tap into.

Wishing you success and hope to be reading of positive results from you soon.