How do you stay positive?

rumbaimom

How do y’all keep your patience and positive attitude up? I often feel frustrated with how slow it is to take off weight vs how darn fast it seems to pile on! 😂 I need an attitude adjustment!

ElizabethKalmbach

The time will pass regardless of my weight, so I try to make the overall experience as *enjoyable* as possible. I look for things I *like to eat* that fit within my caloric goals. I look into fitness options that are *fun*. I look forward to my day *every day* and just maintain steady movement toward an eventual goal, one good day at a time.

denjan333

You are not a waste of time. You are progressing, becoming a better version of yourself. As the person above said, time is going to pass anyway. You could make progress in that time, or you could not change at all. The choice is yours!

Shortgirlrunning

I set small goals. I just focus on 5 lbs at a time.

And I set non-weight related goals. My biggest one was to run a half marathon (which I did in September, yay!) now I’m doing a three week exercise program that has daily workouts. So for three weeks my goal is to not miss a workout. When that finishes I’ll pick a new goal.

I like to give myself lots of little reasons to celebrate and feel proud of myself on my way to my ultimate goal weight.

OkieFitness

Realizing that we have NO idea what our bodies (and minds) are capable of achieving. That’s a GOOD thing! Because we don’t know that potential? It means the positive possibilities are endless! I just read a story about a 70 year old gent playing RUGBY and kicking the *kitten* of guys 1/3 off his age. Or the elderly swimmer (with asthma) that swam from Cuba to Miami ! Now those are extraordinary examples but wouldn’t you be happy to accomplish 1/100th of what they’ve done? Guess what....YOU CAN! And Maybe even more. You just have to decide to get going and keep going - through the ups and downs, through those split second decisions - positive or negative - that when added up? Make a huge difference down the pike.

cwolfman13

rumbaimom wrote: »

How do y’all keep your patience and positive attitude up? I often feel frustrated with how slow it is to take off weight vs how darn fast it seems to pile on! 😂 I need an attitude adjustment!

I didn't let weight loss and the scale be the be all and end all. I embraced the process and losing weight was only a singular element of that process. I embraced learning about good nutrition. I embraced creating and maintaining good and healthy habits. I embraced becoming more physically fit with regular exercise, etc. I wasn't focused on one singular thing and had other goals beyond just losing weight...actually, the losing weight part was more of a positive bi-product of changes I was making in the way I lived my life.

Beyond that, the process goes into perpetuity...it doesn't end when you get to some magical number on the scale. Other elements of the weight loss process have to translate to long term maintenance success...so really, there is no finish line.

ETA: from a time standpoint, losing weight was a lot faster than gaining it. It took me 8 months or so to lose 40 Lbs...I put those 40 Lbs on over the course of about 8 years. I think it only seems faster to put on the weight because you aren't thinking about it.

CSARdiver

I compare how long it takes to let things go compared to how long it took me to get back to square. It took me 14 years to get out of shape, but only a year to get back to into it.

I established discipline so I don't have to rely on being negative or positive. I'm just following a script of continued progress.

I embrace the suck of the bad times knowing this will only make the good times seem just that much better.

rumbaimom

So much wisdom ! Thank you!

LyndaBSS

I set 5 pound goals. They're easy to reach and it helps keep me positive.

I also look forward to my meals. I eat tons of seafood, which makes me a very happy girl.

Between my weight loss and inches lost so far, how could I be anything but happy?

I also don't care how long it takes to get to my overall goal range. I didn't put this fat on overnight. It won't come off overnight.

88olds

I’ve lost 100+ lbs. it’s unlikely you’d find anyone who took longer to reach their Goal Weight than I did. It doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is I’m still maintaining at GW.

Here’s a thing about positive thinking- we can’t stop our brains from sending out negative messages. But a couple of things- first we don’t have to act on them. Be aware of negative thinking and do what your plan calls for anyway. Actions are more important than words.

Second- push back with facts. You might be disappointed by a .5 loss for the week when you worked hard at the gym and hit all your numbers. But it’s a fact that a .5 lb loss is hard evidence that your plan is working.

And this- if we can just neutralize the negative thinking we can end up net positive. We don’t have to defeat negativity, just fight it to a draw.

lorrpb

Set other goals as well, like trying new ingredients or recipes, new exercises, new walking or running routes, etc. That way you are always succeeding in some areas whereas others might be more challenging.

PTA4LYF

rumbaimom wrote: »

How do y’all keep your patience and positive attitude up? I often feel frustrated with how slow it is to take off weight vs how darn fast it seems to pile on! 😂 I need an attitude adjustment!

set a long range goal and then some short range goals each time you achieve the small goal reward your self somehow. establish a system to reward yourself based on how challenging the goal was
for example one time when i entered a weight loss challenge and won i rewarded myself by going out and buying some new workout clothes. hope this helps

maureenkhilde

I learned to quit looking at it as just losing weight, just getting from here to there. And being realistic about the weight gain. It did not happen in 3 months or 6 months it was a number of years.

So first thing I did was I joined one of the monthly challenges on MFP that is to lose 5lbs per month. I still have lots to go so works for me. We hoorah each other on.

I set up goals of 8% weight loss, and each time I hit one, I set aside some me fun money. Cannot be spent on food. Saving for fun vacation money.

I kept one pair of the biggest size I was wearing, and have already donated everything else from those sizes. I have lost 65 lbs. So those big clothes donated, or tore up and use as rags. And when I get to goal I will do again.

I love to cook and bake, but the old ways, have to be changed. So I try a new recipe every week. Some are keepers, and some I think how did they get 4 stars bleh.

It takes time, no doubt about it, but I think the key is we slowly change our mindset and goals. Good Luck.

mitch239

Imo one of the best ways is to make friends on here, people that you can actually interact with and make a difference along side. I have lots of people on here that I've never met in real life and probably never will, but seeing as we are all attempting the same thing then it means that we can help and motivate each other. Being on here means its no longer a solo mission and there are millions of people that are willing to give you a helping hand and a head up on the things to be doing. This place is great for this type of things.