How to keep motivated

Tonimb77

How do ya'll keep yourself motivated? Not only to lose the inital weight but also to keep the weight off. I have yo-yo'd back and forth for the last few years....losing 30 gaining 20 back, etc... and am finding in it harder and harder to get myself motivated to begin the whole weight lose process again because I feel like I'll just fail again and gain it back. I know all the reasons that I need to lose weight....to be healthier, feel better about myself, and to be a good example for my children but I still cringe at the thought of being on a diet for the rest of my life. Reading others success stories does help but I would really like to know what the real turning point was for some of you. Thanks.

jessie9584_

I had the same issue. I've been up and down for years. This time, I "thought about" starting for about a year before I finally JUST DID IT!! It gets so much easier once you're on a roll, it's just that you have to force yourself to start and not look back. You will feel better almost instantly! My turning point was when I got on the scale and realized, in horror, that I was only 10 pounds shy of my pregnancy weight. I realized that if I kept going on like I was, I would be really big. Time is going to pass, and we can either get closer to our goals or further away...I hope that helps.

jweluv

Right now I've lost the most I have ever lost and the longest I've been on a diet since high school. For me wanting to have a baby was my turning point. I didn't want to be over 300 lbs and pregnant and no one being able to notice. I have to be under 300 to try so it's getting close for me. Another thing I did this time was set up rewards not just based on weight lost. In the past I would quit because I stopped losing weight for awhile. So I have monthly rewards that I can only have if I'm still trying to lose weight each month. Good luck on your journey. You can do this!

Tlbrown1985

What keeps me motivated at most times is remembering how bad I felt about myself when i weighed 240 lbs.. how much it took an impact on me mentally and physically.. I dont even want to go through that again.. and after loosing 50 lbs when I see how hot i look in jeans... and when other people tell me.. theres noo way I could let people down... you can sooo do this girl.. and this isnt a "diet" this is a lifestyle.. you cant loose weight and then sit around and expect not to gain it back.. this is a lifestyle.. oonce you loose it.. you still have to go to the gym.. u still have to eat healthy...

farrahcampbell3

This sounds like me 100%. I have been the same way with losing and gaining. I find now that I just try something different when I get bored. I was doing Zumba every week, now going back to hot yoga. I just try not to stay with the same routine. Its so much we can do to keep excerising and try not think of eating right as a"diet". Its a lifestlye change and you can eat what you want, if keep excersising, so not really a diet. Stay around people that are equally motivated, this is a big one for me. If people not willing to keep up with my workout I dont workout with them. Sometimes I find myself alone, but self motivation is the key!!!

EmmieBaby

I give myself goals to keep me in check,

I want to run the 5k Color run this year
I want to run the Spartan Sprint next year
Run Tough Mudder next year (or year after if clashes with Spartan)
I want to get a new tatttoo to celebrate my journey
I want to buy new jeans in a smaller size
I want to squat my old bodyweight (190lbs)
I want to deadlift my old bodyweight

these goals is what keeps me going, even though I gain or lose weight I have to keep looking straight and keeping running towards what I want to achieve.

keep at it hun!

xinit0

I've heard the question before, and it's not one that I really understand... think about it this way - what motivates you to be obese (or overweight - I didn't look at the OP's stats)?

I'm correcting a problem, and that is the sole motivation.

st0dad

I always remind myself that it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle change (and I know everyone always says that @_@) so I need to figure some things out. I need to get over my addiction to sugar and oil, and find sweetness in other things (oddly enough, romaine lettuce) and begin turning the word 'diet' in to 'habit'

What motivates me is when other people do it who've previously said "it was a struggle at first"... seeing those who really did have addictions be able to overcome them. Food can be an addiction, especially bad food, and the way I see it, if my friend can overcome her addiction to prescription pills, and my coworker can remain a nonsmoker for 2 years now, I know what I have to do is possible, too. ^^

dangerousdumpling

At this point it's not really about motivation for me anymore. I feel like I've created a new normal and I'm resigned to the fact that I have to eat differently and view food differently if I want to look and feel better. This is just the way it is now. I don't feel like I'm on a diet. I'm not eating celery and carrot sticks all the time and that's how I used to think weight loss is done. I'm losing it the slow and steady way now. No starvation this time. I'm making healthier choices but for the most part I simply eat less of what I want to eat. In a way I feel like this is practice for maintenance. I need to learn how to eat reasonable amounts now or I will never learn how to maintain and keep the weight off.

120mustdo

Oh, this is mindful thinking, thanks!

kara2

What got me started was a diabetes diagnosis. I have struggled with my weight since I was a toddler. I can't remember ever being thin. I used food as a way to cope with my feelings whether they were happy or sad. I read a book in January of this year by Bob Harper called "Are you ready?". The writing excercises in this book changed me forever. I changed they way I looked at food. When I changed my relationship with food it no longer soothed or brought comfort when I was feeling sad, angry, depressed or happy. Food finally lost it's power over me.

I am trying to make this a permanent lifestyle change. I have finally learned what a portion size is. That has made a ton of difference. I eat my favorite foods not just celery and salad. I just eat the correct portion for the food. I don't feel deprived and I have had success. I have been at this journey for 133 days and I have lost 73.8 lbs. I started at 402.6 lbs so this might not be typical for everyone. I have reversed the diabetes diagnosis. I have completed three 5K's(walking for now), a one mile race and I am planning to do three more 5K's before the end of the year.

I feel after trying and failing so many times to get this weight off this time is different because I have changed my way of thinking. I am not on diet. I am trying to add back years onto my life so I can stop living on the sidelines for the second half of my life. I have stumbled and had to pick myself up and begin again. It's not easy to change yourself from the inside out but I believe and have read others stories on here that no matter how many times they have stumbled. They pick themselves up, dust themselves up and keep going.

In my second 5K I had to literally do this. I was at about mile 2 and I started believing all the people who don't think I can do this. I hit a mental wall and I sat down and cried for 15 minutes. These two sweet ladies sat by me and let me cry. When I knew the only way I was going to get off the trail was either by my own feet or in an ambulance I dug deep into my reserves and got up and finished the race. I was last but that wasn't the important thing. I didn't quit. I picked myself up and finished.

Our lifestyle change is like this. No one else can do this for us. No magic pill exsits. We chose what goes in our mouths each day, we chose whether we are going to be active and exercise. If we love ourselves enough then we get up each day and make the best choice for us. My little successes keep me motivated but each person has to motivate themselves. MFP is a great tool and I love the support from people all over the world but I know that I am the only one that's going to get myself out of bed to exercise, eat the food that helps my body to work properly and continue to make this lifestyle change permanent.

endoftheside

I have my calorie level set at my TDEE for my goal weight. I view eating at near this level while losing weight as a practice run for how I need to eat indefinitely to be at a healthy weight. I get grumpy about how I cannot eat whatever, whenever, and sometimes I am hungry, but this is my new normal and I am learning how to fit in treats, how to eat out and eat at parties, how to recover from a bad mood or a bad day, and how filling (or not) reasonable portions of different foods are. I make small changes, not huge ones, and I expect this to take a really long time with plenty of mistakes along the way. This may not sound motivating to some, but letting go of the perfection and realizing weight is something I manage every time I make a food decision (not something I can conquer and then forget about) has been key.