How do you all stay motivated?!
eringrace95_
Posts: 296 Member
I'm nearly halfway through my journey (5 more pounds to the halfway point) and I know there are times where I have become very impatient with the process.
So, what are ways you all stay motivated?! I find progress pictures very helpful.
So, what are ways you all stay motivated?! I find progress pictures very helpful.
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Motivation is just wanting something badly enough to do what it takes to obtain it. There isn't a single thing we do that we aren't motivated to do.
I want to be healthy, feel better and look better (in that order), so I watch my calories and exercise. I even do resistance training, which I hate.
I want the Healthy more than the Sit On My *kitten* Eating Oreos.
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Motivation is good, but patience is key. It didn't go on overnight and although It can come off faster than it went on, it still takes time. Just tell yourself that you are better off today than you were yesterday and much better off than you were the day you started. That works for me! I don't want to lose my progress, so I keep on truckin'.
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i dont want to be fat anymore.
thats all the motivation i need.0 -
callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »i dont want to be fat anymore.
thats all the motivation i need.
Hahaha I seriously was about the post the same thing! I'm tired of my clothes fitting too tight- that's my motivation!0 -
"Train like your ex is going to see you tomorrow. That way if/when that happens, they KNOW that they f***ed up." One of the many things I tell myself when I'm too lazy to get to the gym0
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I need positive motivators, something to draw me in the right direction. I envision myself being fit and active on dream vacations, healthy well into my old age along with the usual physical appearance wants.
For me to just say I don't want to be fat isn't enough. I met that goal and my motivation waned.0 -
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I know it may seem like semantics, but to me commitment is doing something whether you really want to do it or not. Motivation is hard to find when you don't want to....commitment (at least for me), is less so.
I think you're right, but I find commitments to others wind up overriding commitments to myself. Probably wrong of me, but it's my default. For weight loss this can be used to my advantage, as even commitments to people on weight loss forums work for me.
Osric
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motivation is a fleeting emotion...nobody is 100% motivated all of the time...we all do things every single day that we aren't necessarily motivated to do...but we do them. you don't need motivation...if you're simply relying on motivation you are in for a world of trouble. you need discipline...discipline leads to consistency and consistency is what will ultimately aid you in crushing your goals.
motivation will always be fleeting.
it's like going to school...you aren't always motivated to go to class...it's highly likely that you will struggle at some point along the way...you're not going to ace every test, etc...so do you just drop out because you don't find some class particularly motivating? or do you practice discipline and stay the course with the knowledge that eventually that will pay off...eventually classes will end...semesters will pass...years will go by, and you will graduate into real life...where again, discipline will be necessary for you to continue to conquer your goals.
motivation works for things like getting up for a race...it is a beneficial emotion in that RE...it isn't a long term solution to achieving your goals.0 -
Motivation has very little to do with why I've stuck to it for 7 months so far.
This is just something I do now. About the same time as I started here, I also went back to university ... that's also something I do now. Meanwhile, I'm working full time. That's something I do. These things are all just part of my life.
Focusing on the weightloss aspect for a moment ... I have to eat. So now I'm eating a somewhat wider variety of delicious food ... in smaller portions. That's OK.
I have to get to work, and between university and work, so I walk. Plus I love to exercise anyway, and have done since I was a child. I'm climbing walls if I'm not active pretty much every day. So that's OK too.
I'm not planning to give either one up, although at some point, I will likely stop logging my food.
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cwolfman13 wrote: »motivation is a fleeting emotion...nobody is 100% motivated all of the time...we all do things every single day that we aren't necessarily motivated to do...but we do them. you don't need motivation...if you're simply relying on motivation you are in for a world of trouble. you need discipline...discipline leads to consistency and consistency is what will ultimately aid you in crushing your goals.
motivation will always be fleeting.
it's like going to school...you aren't always motivated to go to class...it's highly likely that you will struggle at some point along the way...you're not going to ace every test, etc...so do you just drop out because you don't find some class particularly motivating? or do you practice discipline and stay the course with the knowledge that eventually that will pay off...eventually classes will end...semesters will pass...years will go by, and you will graduate into real life...where again, discipline will be necessary for you to continue to conquer your goals.
motivation works for things like getting up for a race...it is a beneficial emotion in that RE...it isn't a long term solution to achieving your goals.
+1
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I try to never forget how awful I felt physically and mentally at 301. I never want to go back there again. Ever. I love the progress I've made in fitness, strength, and appearance, and health. If I'm not going forward, I'm headed back there. That's enough to get me moving, eating properly or whatever.
SW 301
CW 196
GW 150
15 months0 -
As soon as skin pinches skin i go into crazy mode. I have two speeds. Crazy fast and crzy slow. Im doing crazy fast this year.0
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I don't. To me motivation comes and goes. I focus on my goals....my commitment to them and the plans in place that I have to make those goals a reality. I focus on commitment and determination and let motivation come and go...while I take little notice.
I know it may seem like semantics, but to me commitment is doing something whether you really want to do it or not. Motivation is hard to find when you don't want to....commitment (at least for me), is less so.
This. 0 -
I woke up frumpy, fat, and fifty+!!
'Bugger that' I thought, and made a commitment to change me and my life.
1. my before pic.
A year of serious cico, and actually exercising for the first time in my life, produced the me I want to be.
Here are some pics for feeling great at 60+.
Hope they inspire you, and sorry there are so many.
Weight isn't a problem anymore, but trips like these keep me going to the gym.
2 mud baths in the the Caribbean.
3 beach, Goa, India.
4 love life blooming, again, Vegas.
5 slinky dress, Med? Cruise.
6 rappeled down waterfall in PV.
7 elephant ride, India.
Cheers, h.
5'1, 62yo, 100-105 lb, maintained 6 yr.
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I start again the next day. I try to stick to my deficit even if I don't want to. Sometimes I cry, but then I move on.0
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Health. Eating the way I did before helped make me sick.
I also like my way of eating so I don't have issues with wanting to stop. That helps a lot.0 -
I don't. To me motivation comes and goes. I focus on my goals....my commitment to them and the plans in place that I have to make those goals a reality. I focus on commitment and determination and let motivation come and go...while I take little notice.
I know it may seem like semantics, but to me commitment is doing something whether you really want to do it or not. Motivation is hard to find when you don't want to....commitment (at least for me), is less so.
So basically you are determined to keep a commitment to yourself..that's motivation to keep your own promise. Definitely semantics haha. No matter what car you drive as long as you get to the right destination it doesn't matter0 -
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middlehaitch wrote: »I woke up frumpy, fat, and fifty+!!
'Bugger that' I thought, and made a commitment to change me and my life.
1. my before pic.
A year of serious cico, and actually exercising for the first time in my life, produced the me I want to be.
Here are some pics for feeling great at 60+.
Hope they inspire you, and sorry there are so many.
Weight isn't a problem anymore, but trips like these keep me going to the gym.
2 mud baths in the the Caribbean.
3 beach, Goa, India.
4 love life blooming, again, Vegas.
5 slinky dress, Med? Cruise.
6 rappeled down waterfall in PV.
7 elephant ride, India.
Cheers, h.
5'1, 62yo, 100-105 lb, maintained 6 yr.
Thats some crazy 2/3rd life crisis you had. You only live once, live it while you still can.
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middlehaitch wrote: »I woke up frumpy, fat, and fifty+!!
'Bugger that' I thought, and made a commitment to change me and my life.
5'1, 62yo, 100-105 lb, maintained 6 yr.
That's excellent!
I sort of had a moment like that too.
Just before Christmas 2014 I decided I had enough of being plump and relatively inactive, and started to exercise and eat better.
January I had a pair of unrelated cancer scares ... two surgeries a week apart. One was all clear, the other was "probably OK, but keep monitoring".
February, when I had recovered, I started here.
I'm in my late 40s and before I turned 50, I wanted to try to get down to my early 30s weight again. And I've done it!!
Now that spring is here, I want to start building up to my early 30s activity level again too.
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Our commitments to others fare poorly if we die young. Just sayin'! But I digress....OsricTheKnight wrote: ». . . I find commitments to others wind up overriding commitments to myself. Probably wrong of me, but it's my default.
For me, as with others, ongoing motivation is kinda irrelevant. I've been cheerfully fat for *decades*. Back in April something snapped. I got fed up with conditions and diseases that would be less likely if I were at a healthy weight: Breast cancer, sleep apnea, torn meniscus/knee pain, high cholesterol, borderline blood pressure, most recently adenomyomatosis of the gall bladder.
A switch flipped in my head, and I decided to lose weight. Now I'm doing it: 42 of 60-some pounds gone, and in normal BMI range for the first time since the 1980s.
Seriously, I wish I knew how to make such a switch flip: I have other stuff I'd kinda like to accomplish. Don't want it enough, for serious, I guess?0 -
I personally have no effective external motivators. I don't see things or read things and go "YEAH I'm back on track!" I do think "wow that's so awesome for them, what a cool person!" and for that, progress photos are awesome and I love seeing them! It just doesn't affect me or my decisions.
What has felt cool is my clothes fitting differently and seeing a new number on the scale. That's encouraging and makes me want to continue and keep learning about health.
Mostly, I just don't want diabetes and heart attacks like my mom and my grandpa. I'd like to not hurt all over all the time anymore. I'd like to be less tired. I want to care about myself, and I'm hoping fake it till you make it applies.0 -
My Garmin Vivofit and I like to try on my skinny clothes.0
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upgradeddiddy wrote: »I don't. To me motivation comes and goes. I focus on my goals....my commitment to them and the plans in place that I have to make those goals a reality. I focus on commitment and determination and let motivation come and go...while I take little notice.
I know it may seem like semantics, but to me commitment is doing something whether you really want to do it or not. Motivation is hard to find when you don't want to....commitment (at least for me), is less so.
So basically you are determined to keep a commitment to yourself..that's motivation to keep your own promise. Definitely semantics haha. No matter what car you drive as long as you get to the right destination it doesn't matter
Meh. To me they are significantly different. I have never been, nor will I ever be remotely motivated to get up at 5am on Tuesdays and Thursdays to go running. However, I am committed to my running and so the alarm goes off and I put my shoes on and head out the door....sadly now in the dark.
You are motivated. That's why you do it.
I think people are confusing motivation with "feeling like doing" something.
You may not feel like going to class, but you go because you want to pass and graduate. You may not feel like going to work, but you go because you need the money. You may not feel like getting up and running but you do it....for whatever reason you have.
The graduation, cash and whatever it is you want - that's the motivation.
Motivation is what carries you when you don't feel like doing something. You cannot be determined or committed unless you're motivated to be determined and committed.0 -
Learn to enjoy the process. Enjoy yoru diet. If you are not enjoying it, then you need to tweak your methods and by that i do not mean eat more crap. I mean improve the quality of the food you are eating and eat enough.
Second, the way i keep myself motivated apart from thsi is by being committed to the idea that i do not want to be fat ever again. So far so good. I believe this will work as it has for hte last 20 months.0 -
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My biggest motivation is seeing the results - however small. Weighing less one weigh-in than previously, seeing my measurements creep down, liking what I see in the mirror, building a long log-in streak (so far, each streak has been longer than the last).
However, @MommyL2015 has it right in saying that patience is key; I've just come from a two week stall where I was UP and now my weight has dropped to below pre-stall weight! Without the patience and knowledge I have, that would have frustrated me so much!
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I don't. To me motivation comes and goes. I focus on my goals....my commitment to them and the plans in place that I have to make those goals a reality. I focus on commitment and determination and let motivation come and go...while I take little notice.
I know it may seem like semantics, but to me commitment is doing something whether you really want to do it or not. Motivation is hard to find when you don't want to....commitment (at least for me), is less so.
Well said.
Motivation isn't some blinding flash of light that fixes everything for evermore. No, we will always have doubts and reluctance.
To me, progress is about goals, and my goals are fueled by my data: my Happy Scale app showing my downward weight trend; My iPhone 6 Health app counting my steps and my wish to improve my personal best at least once a month; MFP's Reports... all this data is showing me how well I'm doing, and I just want it to continue till I'm seeing a long, flat line from years of maintenance. 1
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