I need some help re. eating habits and exercise, thought I'd start with you guys!

[NatalieJane]

I am 5ft 5, 10.5st, size (large)10/12 on top, and a 14/(small)16 on bottom.

I seriously eat the wrong foods, drink too much wine, and am completely and utterly unfit like you'd never believe.

However, I have lost around 3st in the last two years (the last 6 months I have been lucky to lose a lb a fortnight though, except for some odd freaky weeks where I'll lose 4/5lbs?), through doing nothing but cutting down on the amount of shit I eat, and skipping meals. I very often don't eat anything until tea time (around 9-ish in our house), but then end up with something like chips/pasta/rice or just snacky crap out of the cupboard because it's gone 10pm and we CBA to cook. And I don't skip meals intending to shift pounds, but because I am genuinely not hungry.

Apart from the usual running around after 3 boys, I take no real structured exercise.

Now there are lot's of reasons (and excuses) why this is the way things are, without going through them all, I am not lazy, I/we are up at 6am most mornings and literally do not stop or sit down until 9pm most nights, sometimes 10pm. We both work, however I have just cut my hours from full time to just two days a week, and so now, for the first time, I feel I have some time to start getting into shape and doing something about my weight/fitness levels. To back all this up: my SIL came to stay with us at the end of last year and she was truely shocked as to how much we do V how little we eat V how we're not tiny skinny minnies!

I have lot's of wobbly skin (especially belly/bum/thighs) from pregnany/weight loss, and ideally I really would like to try and get rid of at least some of this at the same time as losing the weight and gaining some fitness - well that's the plan anyway.

So there, I have painted the very grim picture of myself, and I really want to turn this around. Where do I start? Does anyone want to be my coach?

Am going to press post now, before I wimp out again...

I am preparing a shopping list, (while I should be working!), am determined to do this the right way.

lovely as it is, you don't want to look like this

where as this is what you could look like

print them out and put them with your shopping list or on the fridge door.

Stir fry is your friend, with noddles = pack of stir fry and packet noddles
chicken noddle soup = noddles, chicken breast, stock, carrots, sweetcorn, spring onion
smocked haddock, with grated cheese and omani salad = smoked haddock, cheese, cucumber, two beefy tomato, onion, lemon all chopped and added together with lemon over (microwave ish with grated cheese ontop under cling wrap for 6 minutes)

Went to WOW last night and we had a tutorial about food labels. MAN ALIVE it is frightening what some 'healthy' foods have in them :( So, in the first 2 weeks I have lost 5lbs, 1% body fat and doubled my hydration level. My main aim is to get body fat down to a 'normal' % more than anything. ATM I'm clinically obese, which gave me a huge shock as I'm active and look relatively slim (according to other people). Anyway, I am sticking to my 3 meals and 2 snacks a day since that is what the nutritionist has told me to do and it seems to be working. Just had a slice of wholemeal bread with natural peanut butter on it for my afternoon snack. Yum yum :) Good luck with the shopping. SS milk is fine but skimmed is better and has more calcium content which us ladies need .