Well shit, woman, we're living very similar lives so I think I'll try to tell you what I do and have done to get out of the rut I was in that is much like yours and got me to the breaking point last fall.
I want to lose weight. I want to lose a LOT of weight. I just have no idea where to start. For starters, I'm addicted to soda. I've found that Diet Mountain Dew is really good, so I've been trying to drink that instead of regular soda, and I've been trying to drink more water (but I know that I still don't drink as much water as I should).
When I did Weight Watchers, they counted certain beverages as water substitutes beacause they were low in calories and sodium (and everything else). I think one of them was Crystal Light, and diet soda may be on there as well. The only thing is that you probably want to switch at least sometimes to something caffeine free. I just don't see diet caffeine free soda as being that horrible for you and it's hydrating you like water does. That's one of the compromises I made because
I hate water.
I don't eat out very often, but I don't cook either. Everything we have here is all quick meal stuff. Mac 'n Cheese, hamburger helper, spaghetti o's, etc. I always match those items with fruits and veggies, but I know that's not enough. I absolutely hate cooking, I can't stand it. My mom kept telling me to start eating more fish, but I hate fish as well. I've tried several kinds of fish cooked several different ways, but I simply don't like fish.
I'm the same way as you are. Lots of kid food in the house that I can whip up in a few minutes and throw on the high chair or choke down while standing so I can get back to being mom. A lot of these things you can eat (though most of them are packed with sodium) if you eat them in the right amount. A packet of Easy Mac is 230 calories. Have that with an apple and you've got a snack or a small lunch.
There are a lot of things you can cook that are just as fast as throwing mac and cheese together. Omelettes are easy, and if you can't get the flip right, sacrambled eggs with other stuff in them. If you really want to go allout health wise, make the omelette with egg whites or egg beaters. Egg beaters also have the advantage of storing well. You can put a lot of things in eggs that add flavor-- spinach is a good one. A good spinach and feta (or other cheese) omelette takes a few minutes to make. I also make a lot of quesedillas with beans and cheese-- you just have to go easy on the cheese because it has a lot of fat and calories in it. Thin sliced cold cuts are surprisingly low in fat and calories. Turkey bologna, bacon, sausage, etc. are a lot better for you than their pork counterparts and taste the same except they aren't so heavy and greasy. I've found that I prefer them. If you can get your hands on a grill, chicken breasts are great for you, and you can season the heck out of them. If your son doesn't like them, make him a hot dog or a burger. If you want to get fruit in your diet, make smoothies. A bag of frozen fruit will keep forever, add some yogurt and a small bit of fruit juice to sweeten it. Just make sure you're measuring the calorie content. Baby carrots are great too-- eat them like you would popcorn with the light version of your favorite dressing.
And, if you don't like fish, don't eat fish.
Really, for me, it's all been about portion control and keeping track of calories and nutrition info. It's a pain in the ass at first, but it gets easy once you're used to it.
I also don't get enough exercise. I'm home all day long with my son, our dog, and our roommates dog. I just sit around. I do housework, but I never get OUT of the house, unless it's to run errands. It's hard to leave with the dogs here. My roommates dog is a pup... if I leave him running around the apartment, he eats everything, but if I put him in his kennel, he whines, howls, and yaps. I know that has to be annoying to the neighbors, so I try not to leave too often because of that reason. My dog is good... I can leave him here and he won't bother anything.
Get your son and those dogs out of the house! You all need it! I do the same thing that you do, and I annoy myself that I don't do the obvious thing, which is take the kid and the dog to the park so we can all get rid of that excess energy. If the dogs are impossible off the leash, see if there's a dog park in your area where the dogs can run off-leash. Also, are your neighbors home during the day? They may not even notice the yappy puppy even if they are. Still, the dog needs to learn to stay in its crate, and I bet if you do it consistently for a week, the dog will stop making so much noise. Puppies get used to their crates even though it's never an easy project. Still, the most important thing is getting you and your son outside. Kids learn at an early age to be sedentary (I sure did), and you want to keep them as active as possible so they like being outdoors.
We have a gym here in the apartment complex, but it's at the clubhouse, and I'm not on the lease so I can't go up there for fear of getting caught... same with the swimming pool.
Would anyone really notice that you're not on the lease? If the complex is big enough, I doubt the employees know all the tenants, and they may not care. How close is the clubhouse to the office? I don't know, I get the feeling as long as you are paying your rent and being decent tenants, they aren't going to care who is on the lease or not. I'm not sure though. I'd take that risk, but I can't say whether you should.
My only option really is to walk... and leave the dogs here to their own misery. The dogs are impossible to walk together. Neither of them are really leash trained. I can't join a gym because I can't afford it. So I basically have no idea what to do.
So you have a roommate whose dog you care for every day, right? Can the roommate watch your son and the dogs for an hour a night so you can go walking? If not, as I said before, I'd bring your dog and your son, and the puppy will learn to live in his crate. Getting your dog leash trained is going to be interesting, but they get it pretty quickly and I'm sure your vet or the per store can give you advice on what kinds of training collar will work best with your dog. I never walk my dog enough. If your son doesn't want to walk, get him on a bike and he can go with you that way. Also, you are mom, and I think once you got into the routine of walking with him, he'll complain less. Make it one of those things he has to do like brushing his teeth or doing his homework. You don't have to walk an hour every day. Just walk 15 minutes. Sometimes I'll throw my son in a wagon and pull him with me. Honestly, though, I like walking without the dog or the kid. See if you can lean on your roommate or a friend for an hour or so a day.
The other thing I've done is gotten a workout DVD and a balance ball. It's something I can do in front of the TV at home at all hours of the night to get the workout in. At this point, I don't care what it is as long as it gets me moving.
I see so much in what you're saying that's so true for me. Step by step, I'm trying to improve it, but it takes time and you can't do it all at once. That's my missive on what I've done, and I said I wasn't going to give advice, didn't I? Oh well, take it for what it is-- my big mouth opinion.