Don't think that you have to change it all at one time. Start with one thing and once you get back into that routine, pick up another. Don't bring junk food into the house. If it's not there, you won't be so tempted. Granted, I don't know your work situation but if at all possible, I hope you could knock a couple hours of work off each day. I've seen too many people you let their job rule. Good luck!
ITA with this. take baby steps. when i moved back to the us from cairo, i was heavier than i had been. i had my son in november 2006 and just never really focused on losing the weight. i knew that when i came back to the us i would lose the weight again, but i had to do it in baby steps. for ex, all of the sudden to start eating healthy and working out was too overwhelming for me, and if i had a FT job it would not have happened at all. so i just started doing weight watchers without doing any working out at all. doing WW alone helped me re-establish my healthy habits again gradually, and i lost all of the extra weight and then some. it's a great program. i won't go into it here, but it allowed me to still have yummy food and lose weight. then when i did all i could do on ww, i started working out. first, i worked out only on saturdays. i know that sounds odd, but that was all i wanted to do, so i promised myself that every saturday i'd go running. i did this every sat for months and it helped. i was surprised how much i enjoyed it and missed it. when i started to feel more energetic, i added more days of cardio. i continued to take baby steps after that. my focus went from losing weight to losing body fat and gaining muscle, so for christmas i asked for a personal trainer. the PT showed me a couple of workouts and i added weights to my routine. now i have a new healthy lifestyle, i'm thinner and more muscular than i have been in a long time and i'm really happy. if i can do it, anyone can. baby steps are the key!! don't feel like you have to do everything all at once. you could even start by just drinking more water, do that for two weeks and see if you notice a difference (you will, you'll be less hungry for one thing and you'll have more energy). then maybe pick up a good book on the subject, then maybe join WW or try to diet or eat healthier, etc. just remember that you didn't gain the weight overnight and you won't lose it overnight. it takes time and consistency but you can do it!
I understand how difficult and daunting it can be to get started on a healthy eating plan. Ten years ago I used to be about 50 pounds heavier than I am now. It took 2 years to drop the weight completely but I did it and have keep it off ever since. But it takes daily work.
I agree that dropping sweets completely is unrealistic and will eventually backfire. Like NC Shopper wrote, knowing when you crave sweets will help you reduce as well. Personally, I need something sweet each evening with my coffee or tea. If I don't have it, I spend all night thinking about eating it. It will drive you crazy. So what I do is find something low in calories to eat. Instead of a brownie, I will have a 100 calorie chewy granola bar (Quaker makes great ones that are like desert- chocolate chip, peanut butter, smores, etc.) If I want a couple of cookies, I'll have a 100 calorie pack of the Chips Ahoy or Oreo (a pack will last my entire mug of tea.) This way I don't feel deprived and am still able to satisfy my craving.
The other thing I do is to really think about what I'm putting in my mouth through out the day. Ask yourself if you are really hungry or if you are just eating because the food happens to be there. I do this a lot when I see a open bag of chips or some other snack. I'll also ask myself if what I'm thinking of eating is "worth it" to me. Personally, I prefer fresh baked food so I'll choose the occasional home baked chocolate chip cookie over some random store bought cookie. And because I only have the fresh baked cookies once in a while, I don't feel guilty about it. It also helps that I try not to keep these sort of things in my house, but I think that you have kids (?) so this may not be an option for you.
Mainly what I'm saying is that you have to get into a certain mind set of realisticly thinking about the way you eat. Focusing on what you can do that is good for your body will only make you want to do more to benefit your health.
Good Luck! I know that once you put your mind to it you can do it.
-- Edited by Boots on Tuesday 26th of May 2009 11:23:10 AM