What is keeping you successful??

Tonica0720

What's keeping you motivated? I do before & after pictures every couple months so that I can actually see that I am making progress & getting somewhere. When I do those pictures it helps me see my progress that I can't always see in the mirror. It helps me know I am closer to my goal.

mnmchangy

What keeps me motivated is my results. Im seeing bone structures that I never knew I had. Felt muscle I never knew was there. I'm going over at family reunions and Im not hearing the dreadful "oh, you've gained weight!" From my aunts and grandmother. My boyfriend says I look great. And it just feels better, Im not as tired as I used to be, I have more energy, I can run farther and lift more. I mean, who doesn't want that??? It makes me happier and honestly, that happiness is an addiction. It keeps me going back to the gym and working my *kitten* off for an hour every day and its worth it.

Tonica0720

mnmchangy wrote: »

What keeps me motivated is my results. Im seeing bone structures that I never knew I had. Felt muscle I never knew was there. I'm going over at family reunions and Im not hearing the dreadful "oh, you've gained weight!" From my aunts and grandmother. My boyfriend says I look great. And it just feels better, Im not as tired as I used to be, I have more energy, I can run farther and lift more. I mean, who doesn't want that??? It makes me happier and honestly, that happiness is an addiction. It keeps me going back to the gym and working my *kitten* off for an hour every day and its worth it.

Yes it definitely makes you feel better about yourself when people ask you are you losing weight and stuff. It always makeseems me feel great. I also just love the gym. I love the amount of energy I have after I'm done working out.

JessiBelleW

Progress - seeing the scale go down, feeling my jeans get loser. I think it helps that I've found a way of eating that is satisfying and then some times what keeps me successful is just not giving up - recommitting when I fall off track and being determined to get up tomorrow and get back on track

Tonica0720

JessiBelleW wrote: »

Progress - seeing the scale go down, feeling my jeans get loser. I think it helps that I've found a way of eating that is satisfying and then some times what keeps me successful is just not giving up - recommitting when I fall off track and being determined to get up tomorrow and get back on track

Yes you are definitely right pants sizes and inches are huge for me too. It makes me feel so good to see inches melting.

nwd1976

The results

tltmom

Feeling like I'm in charge, and I'm making healthy choices. The cravings used to be in charge. It may seem strange but for me, craving sweets used to pretty much be a constant thing. It was awful.

I also enjoy when I see someone I haven't seen for a while and they're surprised by my progress.

surprisethekids

How much better I feel, physically. My acid reflux is gone, I don't struggle for breath when I exert myself, and I have much more energy than I used to.

I am also extremely motivated to get out of the plus-size section at the stores and see how many new choices I have!

snowflake930

The alternative.
I will never go back to where I was before, morbidly obese.
I have been maintaining at around 130# for 31 months today.

SkunkOnARug

How much better I feel and results keep me motivated. No only the weight loss results but also results from lab tests where numbers are coming down and the fact that I've gotten off of medicine for diabetes. I don't ever want to go back on that medicine and I'm working hard to stay off of it.

hypodonthaveme

What keeps me motivated? Th constant desire to keep going. Seeing the scales go down is nice. Buying new smaller sized clothes is nice. But knowing that I can do 1 hr of elliptical ( for me that is 12 miles) a day is exciting. Who would of thought I could do that. Walking at a faster pace than when I started out. I was walking a 32-35 minute mile with a stride of 16" . Now I average 17-18 minute mile and my stride is 24". The fact I am no longer the one falling behind when walking, but the one that is gaining speed. That's what is motivating me.

sappermuff

Good old fashioned discipline.

neldabg

Great work!!!! Aren't before and afters just the best?

snowflake930 wrote: »

The alternative.
I will never go back to where I was before, morbidly obese.
I have been maintaining at around 130# for 31 months today.

This. I just can't be obese again. Nothing feels as good as healthy does. I've come to love movement now.
Also, logging exercise, weight, and food is key. It's way too easy to slip into a mindset of, "Yay! I can eat whatever I want now!" after reaching maintenance.
Being active on MFP also keeps me in check.

AmandaLawter

Like the OP, before and after pics keep me motivated! I may not have a big change on the scale, but looking at monthly pictures really shows my progress.

PBWaffleCakes

Completing fitness goals I set for myself. When I first started I could only walk 1 mile and now I am on my way to walk a marathon.

Carnhot

Everyone has been so great about my weight loss that there can be no going back - though next term I start at a new school where they don't know the old me. Still not going back, though.

Shana67

Refusing to start my 50s (next April, dear god) as an overweight person. I REFUSE. I'm not technically overweight now, but yanno. 22 pounds to go!!

goldthistime

Just want to jump in and say well done OP! I'm not all that strongly motivated anymore to be honest. I exercise but I rarely have killer workouts, I eat junk on occasion, and I go over my calories on occasion. But this whole process has become my new normal, my sustainable lifestyle. I'm losing slowly, but still losing.

ForMe2No

So many things are keeping me motivated. My doctor took me off meds for Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, and High Cholesterol. I don't want to ever have to take those meds again. So many new clothing options now that I'm out of the plus sizes. Increased energy and stamina, classes at the gym. And a really big one.... I read the success stories on MFP everyday since I started and seeing the amazing results from all kinds of people from all over just makes me so proud of each and everyone of them cause I know how hard they have worked to get where they are...keeps me going.

Also like poster 2 above me said. I refuse to start my 50's over weight (2 years)...well technically I will still be considered overweight as I don't think I want to be as small as the charts say I should be. But I won't be obese.

motivatekait

Honestly for me it's just been how much better I feel about myself. I've been a yoyo dieter my whole life, and then just a couple months ago I had this paradigm shift and I realized that eating junk didn't align with who I wanted to be as a person. So I started tracking my macros and for once in my life I fell in love with the process and stopped caring about the results. Ever since I made that shift, I have no desire to eat poorly. I love my food so much and making macro-friendly substitutions for my favourite foods makes me never want to go back. And naturally, once I stopped caring about the results, I've dropped four pounds in a couple of weeks after years of being unable to consistently stay below 130. So definitely just trust the process and love what you do, that's the only way it'll stick.