How do you motivate yourself?

lovejenny333

I'm one of those people who always starts a diet and working out and then stops a week later. How do you stay motivated? Looking for any ideas to help me stay with it this time! Thanks!

Chokis

Clothes? Pictures of yourself in a bikini.
The best way to stay on track is to plan and schedule your workout and plan your meals.
For the exercise I make a schedule for myself for 1 month and print it out, and then I check off the days I workout.

megsi474

Little goals. I started strength training a little over four weeks ago. I knew it would be hard and I'd be sore and that the results would be slow to come thanks to this sweet body cast of flub I've managed to put over my muscles. But each week I have a little definition in my calves or a nice bulge in my shoulder that wasn't there. I'm not winded going up the stairs or can walk ten times as long carrying my 45 pound four year old than I could a month ago. My scale isn't budging for ANYTHING but I'm stronger, I'm losing body fat, my clothes are fitting better and I have more energy.

The way I see it, it took a LOT of bacon cheeseburgers and 700 calorie ice cream sundaes to get me here- I can't put a week into reversing that and expect a miracle. I WANT this.

Dechant63

^^^^ That last paragraph is SOOO TRUE!! I don't think I can beat the motivation in that paragraph.

Imanido

A lot of times reading the profiles of people that have managed to do it, their before and after pictures in MFP and also in Bodybuilding.com it makes me feel like "if they have made it, I can" It keeps me being consistent and trying. I also add to my list of friends people I find inspirational in one way or another, some of them are already were I want to be and there pictures remind me everyday where I am going, but all of them have a positive input in my mind everytime I open my profile or log my meals.

04hoopsgal73

Log in daily at MFP, shoot for a successful continued number of days logging in and maybe hit up a friend to
a log in challenge.
Make some friends here, support them and lean on them, too.
Fill out the profile and the goals section here.

Make a workout schedule and stick to it by having it pop up on calendar wherever you need to see it.

Pictures of myself at worst weight.
Clothes that I bought and barely wore, but now can wear…recycling and rethrifting old clothes.
Make a weekly meal plan, shop by that plan.
Plan your day out and prepare for it.

Remind myself that I’m important
Remind myself that I deserve to feel well and l don’t want to be sick with Diabetes, HBP, etc.
Remind mself that I deserve to look great!

I have poor days but I have more good days since I came here April, 2012.:flowerforyou:

BSdevon

Workout Plan, Nutritional Plan, Cardio Plan, Sleep Plan - Check

How to stay motivated?.. Plan an event, holiday, participate in a sponsored run, friends reunion etc.. Which is end state goal.. Having an incentive to work towards will give reason for you to not stray.. Will put importance and value on today for tomorrow

Take pictures Before and After. Take a photo and put your stats down.. Thats the last time you'll ever look like that person

Take pics weekly. -> every friday. Front, side and Back shot.. See the progress..

Everytime you feel discouraged look back.. Keep a blog/diary. Video. Document your journey.

Have a visual board of things you want to achieve and do.. Sometimes seeing our goals, workout plans, food etc reminds us of why we are doing it

Thats all I can think of at the moment.,. Its quite late and Im sleepy. I hope that helps in some way!

AllyCatXandi

Motivation is a finicky thing. Sometimes you'll barely be able to wait until you can hit the gym, and on other occasions all you'll want to do is lie around and eat chocolate. At least, that's how it is for me.

So what I do is simply take choice out of the equation. Every week I look at my schedule (work, university, and so on) and figure out when - not if - I will make time to exercise. Typically I wind up going to class first thing in the morning, then straight to work, and from there to the gym. And by the time I get home it's dinner time. I inform myself quite simply that I will be exercising 4 times per week, and that there is no point in trying to talk myself out of it because the decision has been made regardless of how I feel that day. There are things I want to achieve, so I remind myself what it is I want and what it is I want MORE. Plus, considering how I turn into Miss Crabbypants if I don't get that time just for me, it's probably just as good for other people's well being as it is for mine!

With food, I prepare a week's worth of meals, portion them out into tupperware containers, and don't have to worry about cooking until I run out. I'm someone who HATES wasting food, so the idea of grabbing a cheeseburger and letting delicious home-cooked meals go bad is just not happening. I pack and log my food for the day the night before (since I'm always on the move), and that keeps me away from most temptation. I'm also finding that I prefer my own meals to, say, take-out pizza. Not because it's healthier or because I don't like pizza, but because it tastes better. And because now most fast food makes my digestive system feel like it's in purgatory. I would have no problem fitting a McDonald's cheeseburger into my diary every now and then, but without going into too much detail the consequences are not worth it.

Motivation is what gets you started. Routine is what keeps you going.
I have no idea who said that but it does ring true.

Best of luck to you :flowerforyou: