How to stay committed?

callsitlikeiseeit

when you want to lose weight bad enough, you will do it.

no one can motivate you other than yourself.

misspersiphone

Thanks everyone!

cw106

i find it easier to set myself future goals and join in with challenges,which keeps me honest and motivated.
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alittlelife14

Keep a self made calendar in my kitchen where I put red stars on days where I meet my goal and highlight obnoxious in yellow when I make mistakes and do not meet goal.

bspringer544

Think of counting calories like a game. Find ways to make it fun and try to enjoy the journey as much as the destination. Mini-goals seem to work for some. Others swear by pre-logging. I find weighing myself every day is highly entertaining. I don't care about the numbers but it's fun to see them fluctuate throughout the day depending on what I'm wearing, if I've exercised, what and when I've eaten. You could try setting up a piggy bank in your kitchen/living room. For every healthy meal choice, successful day, or finished workout put X amount of cash inside and at the end of the week/month take it out and buy yourself something nice.

Honestly, though, if you log even one day over your deficit and watch when MFP tells you you'll GAIN in 5 weeks instead of LOSE... That's about as much motivation as you're going to need. I felt so bad that day.

QueenofHearts023

Try not to think about it, don't see it as something that's going to end. Think of it not as weight loss, but as new habits you are establishing permanently.

jlc102980

Discipline, really. Motivation gets you started, but discipline keeps you going. And building discipline doesn't happen overnight.

So be realistic. This means:

(1) Don't expect immediate results. You'll disappoint yourself. Set realistic goals and known it could take weeks to see the scale move and longer to see results in the mirror or in how your clothes fit.

(2) Don't force yourself into an all or nothing approach to weight loss. You know what I mean - the whole I must work out and constantly watch what i eat. For many people, this is just setting yourself up for failure.

Instead, start by making one small change - and it can be whatever you want, as long as it is manageable for you and healthier than what your are currently doing. Cut down your soda intake, replace your snack with something healthier, exercise once a week (even if it is walking 10 minutes). Then, once that one small change becomes easy for you, make another and another.

Don't beat yourself up for your transgressions. It's life. It's not cheating. It's not failure. You can have cake. You can eat out. So what if you had a bad day or week? Get over it, don't waste the time you spent building healthy habits, just get back up on the horse. Don't let it drag you down. Move on.

Finally, remind yourself that even though you are only making small changes now, you are still ahead of all those people doing nothing. Eventually each of those small changes will add up to results.

cnbbnc

We all have to find our own motivation. As far as staying with it, it is a pain in the *kitten* in the beginning because it's change, and it's different. However, the longer you do it for it gets to be routine. It DOES get easier, but....you have to be willing to stick it out for a good month or more for the newness to start sinking in. It's hard but you just have to commit to it. It's soooo worth it once you start feeling better and seeing the results of your hard work.

GsKiki

My first advice is to find strong inner motivation to change your lifestyle. Be focused on getting healthier and fitter, and weight will come off.
As far as calories goes it will be a bit harder in the beginning, but once you get into it it's really easy. You will know most used items of by heart and entering and following will take just couple of minutes of your day.
Just don't give up and good luck!

mccoyt85

I too am overwhelmed, but all of these replies have been helpful. Thank you all.

I've only been here a week and I don't really recall what gave me the motivation to make a lifestyle change. But here I am!. For me the whole eating thing comes down to I don't like to eat. I don't want to have to think about it or make a decision about food. Honestly, at 50+ years ol age I'm still a picky eater. I don't like most vegetables. Fruits are fine but it is easier to grab a cookie than peel an orange. I have gone days without eating more than a handful of crackers. Why am I 40lbs overweight - I drink a lot of Coca Cola ( not diet either). When I feel like I want or need something it is so much easier to reach for a Coke. I would say at minimum I drink 3-5 cans a day. Then I wonder why I don't feel well and have no energy. This week I started out with just 2 day, then one and yesterday none. Last night I was wanting one so bad that I started thinking, who am I kidding? I'll never be able to do this, what's the point. Because there was none in the house, it was cold and rainy and late I didn't have one. The struggle is real.
I used to go days if not weeks without drinking a drop of water. This week I got out my wonderful water bottle and started drinking and tracking my water intake. I've had 64-72 oz. a day. Insert "happy dance" here.
The food tracking hasn't been too hard but the nutrient values freak me out. Especially the fat. Seeing any numbers in red scare me and I think I won't be able to do this. But from things I am reading from the community I see that those will just need to be adjusted to my needs. That being said, the tracking has been very useful in showing me what my eating habits are and what areas I need to give my attention. It has been very eye opening to actually "see" what I have been eating.
I'm grateful for this website and the ability to read so many of these journeys. There is wonderful advice and encouragement. I hope at some time I can offer the same support and encouragement.
BTW... I'm Tory, living in North Carolina.

tara_means_star

I go to mybodygallery.com and look at people my height at my goal weight or even a mini goal weight i've set for myself. Sometimes I look at people who weigh what I weigh now and people who weigh 10 pounds less to see what I've have to look forward to in the shorter term. I feel very motivated after that

bspringer544

Thanks for the link, Tara. It was pretty cool to see what I can look forward to with this year's goal.

TheBeachgod

shadowfax_c11 wrote: »

I was a little overwhelmed at first too. What I have learned over the past 9 months of CICO lifestyle.

Don't jump into this right away trying to lose as much as possible as fast as possible with the lowest calorie goal allowed. Get used to using the tools. Start with a slow loss/small deficit or even no deficit at all, and just get used to the aspect of thinking about what you are eating. Get a scale, learn to use it, get used to it. Get comfortable with using the App and logging your meals. Once you are comfortably logging every day and doing it correctly and accurately you can start playing with the numbers. This really won't take that long but go at your own pace. For me that process took about a week.

Once you get through those steps consider your activity level. What degree of deficit can you comfortably sustain for the long haul? That means without feeling like you can't control yourself around a piece of cake or that you become afraid of going out to eat with friends. You need to chose goals that will still allow you to live your life. That means weight loss won't be fast. But you will have success.

Remind yourself that sometimes you will make mistakes and that is okay. Some days you will overeat and that's okay, as long as you don't let it derail you. Realise that some weeks you won't lose, some weeks you will gain but the trend over the long term is what you need to focus on.

Allow yourself to take a break sometimes but don't "cheat" or get in the mind set that you are cheating by eating something yummy or a bit over your goal. You are not being "bad" you are being human.

There are NO BAD FOODS.
You don't "have" to eat "clean".
You don't have to give up food you love you just need to keep calorie dense foods in their place.
Sugar is not the devil
Fat won't necessarily make you fat but it will help keep you full(satisfied).
Bread is perfectly okay
More veggies means bigger meals for smaller numbers, but you don't have to become a vegetarian or go vegan. Neither do you need to become an obligate carnivore.
Eat real food
Learn to cook and use spices and herbs
Water comes in many forms. Coffee counts.
Salt will make you gain weight but it's only temporary and it isn't fat so don't stress.
Macros are goals to be met not necessarily maximums to stay under.
Red numbers do not mean you failed.
Pay attention to your daily NET.


If you eat it log it.

I like you.

tara_means_star

bspringer544 wrote: »

Thanks for the link, Tara. It was pretty cool to see what I can look forward to with this year's goal.

No problem! I go there a lot when I just need the reminder that whatever it is I'm feeling discouraged about or overwhelmed by is totally worth it.

4aces61

Francl27 wrote: »

Eh you have to want it badly enough. That's pretty much it.

The app does help.. if you log everything... and don't stop even if you go over... it stares at you right in the face that you're just going to get fatter if you don't do anything about it.

This, right here. Plain and simple. A person will never change unless they want to. I started here 2 years ago and haven't missed logging 1 day. This app has been a tremendous help. But you gotta stick with it.