I lose motivation after the first week

gins251

I've started (or better tried to start) a weight loss journey so many times now. The first few days I feel awesome, eating clean gives me energy, excercise clears my mind out and I'm so happy with myself that I don't even think about cheating in any way. But after the first week of "excitement" the motivation gats lost: i start giving in to more treats, exercising less etc.
Do you guys have any way to keep in mind your goal throughout the long period of time? What helps you keep yourself focused?

queenliz99

Keep your eyes on the prize! You have to want it bad enough.

reyes91583

I have the same problem, I try to keep on track!

ninerbuff

You're NOT committed. Basically it's not important enough for you to stick to, so you cede. Till you really FEEL you want it MORE than anything else (besides air, family, and bacon) then you'll always lose motivation.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

brianpperkins

Motivation is a short term thing. Success in anything requiring work takeso discipline.

always_smilin_D

SMART Goals - research it... clear and concise goals, can't just be the I want to lose weight - you have to pin point the exact reasons and concentrate on the NSVs such as the burst of energy and how the mindful eating makes you feel... remind yourself of the WHYs, HOWs, by WHEN's on a regular basis - small goals work better than overall goals as well - you should have 4 week, 2 week, 1 week, and for every morning write out the goals for the day - it takes work, dedication, and the only one who can motivate you is you and your core reasons for wanting to do what you have set yourself to do.

JeromeBarry1

I have not started a weight loss program. Despite that, I've lost 14 pounds in the past 31 days. Despite that, I've exercised, sort of, 5 days each week of the last 4. Despite not having any weight loss program underway, I had to swap belts today for a shorter one because disaster had threatened several times this week. So, you may ask, How am I managing to do all THAT? Using MFP, I put my food and exercise in a log. That made me think about what I was eating and doing. That cause me to make adjustments to things I ate and did. It turns out that I have been eating about 1200-1300 calories a day for the past week and it doesn't seem to be any harm. I learned that when I get close to or above my MFP target for sodium intake, I retain water and gain weight. I observed that following such a day with my normal eating the sodium intake falls and the weight falls away dramatically. So, now I'm remembering what I had to eat on a low-sodium day and I'm having it more often. I remember what I ate on a high-sodium day and I'm having it less often. MFP is the tool that giving me all this brain power. You lose weight by eating less. You build strength and tone by exercising. Be moderate in both and you'll be ok.

tomteboda

I wasn't motivated, either, until it well and truly became a matter of necessity. For my health, I had to make smart decisions and push myself.

ninerbuff

always_smilin_D wrote: »

SMART Goals - research it... clear and concise goals, can't just be the I want to lose weight - you have to pin point the exact reasons and concentrate on the NSVs such as the burst of energy and how the mindful eating makes you feel... remind yourself of the WHYs, HOWs, by WHEN's on a regular basis - small goals work better than overall goals as well - you should have 4 week, 2 week, 1 week, and for every morning write out the goals for the day - it takes work, dedication, and the only one who can motivate you is you and your core reasons for wanting to do what you have set yourself to do.

I actually made a thread about this for New Year's:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10305529/new-years-resolution-have-a-plan-of-action-to-succeed#latest

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

giantwisdom

If you can't even last a week, it is not you that's the problem, it is what you're doing. And what you're doing is probably too much.

Simplify things to their bare essence and introduce changes to your life one at a time. Each change should be so unobtrusive that you barely feel like your life has changed.

For weight loss, always start with diet first. That's going to deliver the vast majority of results, not exercise (exercise has a place, but never above diet). Make a small change each week. The compounding effect of these small changes will deliver dramatic results within a few months, but day to day, you'll barely feel like anything has changed. That's the magic of a program that both works and is sustainable.

peanutsbuddy

I agree with giantwisdom. Start small. When I saw a nutritionist she told me to change things slowly or you lose interest. I went from 2% milk to 1% milk to Skim milk. This may sound small but it was a big change for me. Once in a while I like to treat myself to a Coke Icee but instead of getting the 32 oz like I use to do, I buy a 16 oz. It's not a diet it's a life change. Do things you can stick with. Also when you exercise don't make it an all or nothing issue. I use to think if I can't exercise an hour then I won't exercise. If I don't have the energy I get on the bike for 5 minutes (you can always do 5 minutes of anything) and I usually end up doing more then the 5 minutes. My health keeps me focused. I am no longer borderline diabetic, my liver numbers are in normal range now. This is the benefits of all the hard work I have been doing and by seeing these health changes it keeps me going. Good luck.

wendsg

If you're losing motivation that quickly, it may be that you're taking things too quickly, like giantwisdom said. I know that when my mother started her weight loss journey many moons ago, she started hard and instantly burned out. Me, I started very, very slowly - at first, I changed absolutely nothing except I began to 'ballpark' what I was eating and log it. The next week, I started to weigh myself every morning to get into the habit (I'm logging on Fridays and Mondays - before and after the weekend - to gage my results). Then I started, still 'ballpark'ing my food intake, to stay under my calorie goal. That's when the scale started gradually going down.

Now I've finally broken down and purchased a food scale. I'm finally at the point of taking this food logging thing seriously (especially after today's Girl Scout Cookies - it made my stomach feel badly enough that I skipped dinner and didn't feel bad about it!). Also, now that I have access to my food diary at work (even though I don't have decent access to the community and I do have to do some odd things to log in my food diary as the military insists on using ancient IE browsers and not allow us to update to something better), I'm finding myself more dedicated towards logging.

I've been subconsciously changing what I eat - it's not that I don't love a bologna, cheese and egg bagel sandwich, it's that I look at it and go "Hm, I can either have that now and waste all my calories, or I can mix that egg with that half a cup of leftover steamed rice in the microwave and splash on some hot sauce some hot sauce for half the calories and it'd be just as filling. Let's do that instead." I'm seeing more food options and enjoying the exploration to see how much I can fit into my daily allotment (1330-ish) without having to rely on the calorie burn from my Striiv to keep me under my goal.

I took over a month to start a very, very mild workout program, too. I've been doing some random 30 day challenges - nothing too time-tasking, but definitely muscle-taxing (and when they get too tough, I take nice multi-day breaks and then throw myself back into them). And I've been walking more and more because it's pleasant to see that additional buffer on top of my allotted calorie intake. My fitbit knockoff was the best present my hubby could've bought me.

Just keep it up! If you need motivation, get some good chatty friends that you don't mind nagging you. (you can add me, but I don't leave messages often - as said, working onboard a military vessel limits my access. I can only really post in the middle of the night when I'm at home, prior to crawling into bed like I am right now)

ironhajee

It's like marriage isn't it?

Keep going. You can do it.

Buy yourself fitness clothes or toys that will keep things interesting and fun.

For example when I bought my foam roller I was inspired to workout and self massage after workouts.

Then I bought some really nice Under Armour running clothes and I was excited to wear them

Suddenly I found out this:

It's like a marriage if you don't buy her cute things then you get no rolling of the hay.

Just don't buy everything at once ....