How can I stay motivated and stick to my weight loss goals?

Eclecticandworn

I lost a lot of weight years ago and managed to keep it off for six years until hashimoto’s hypothyroidism hit. After nearly a year and half of not being on the right dose, I’ve finally back in March managed to stabilize my levels enough to lose some weight. I’ve lost around 12-13 pounds since March, but I’m finding it hard to stay motivated and stay on track. I ideally want to lose 18 pounds to get to a bmi of 24.

I think I’m still really angry at the fact that I have to lose weight again after maintaining it for so many years without any issues, and it’s wrecking havoc on my weight loss goals. How can I stay consistent?

AndreaTamira

Well, first: Dont feel it, just do it. - You dont have to be "motivated" to be "consistent".

Log everything every day, get on that scale once a week, do exercise even though you are tired and really dont want to. What is needed for that is not motivation but a certain amount of stubbornness.

Second, make those things routine. Like, if you know "Every morning just after breakfast and before work I go for a walk." For a while that is something you may force yourself to do, but then it just us part of your life the same asbrgshing your teeth, or having your morning coffee. - So, look at the changes you want to make which will help you lose weight and make them into routines.

Third, don't be a perfectionist. Or, at least not the type who freaks out and gives up when things dont go 109% as planned. Life happens. Maybe there is a day yougo over calories, maybe your alarm does not wake you one day and you miss your morning walk because you have to hurry to work... That's ok. No reason to feel like "this day is ruined anyway", or worse "I can never stick to anything anyway." . It's just a blib on the radar, a tiny imperfection on the way. Pick yourself up and continue.

Also, it is ok to not eat perfectly healthy if it is generally in your calorie goals. It is ok to have fun. So, dont forget to enjoy your food.


Fourth, set realistic short term goals AND clarify to yourself what your path is to reach them. That way you know what you are doing and you get a little boost of happiness when you accomplish a goal. Those little happy boosts are what then will drive the emotional motivation.

Ok, fifth, motivation. Motivation is not really the first thing you need to keep going, but it is nice. Sadly, you may need to keep going for a while before getting it. But here is the thing:walked every day n the morning for a week? Hey, you feel you have done well, you are happy with yourself, and there it is, added to your stubbornness is a bit of motivation to continue not because you are forcing yourself, but because you want to. - Managed a day within your calorie goals? Hey, well done. You are proud of yourself. And there is that motivation to continue, again. - Now, if you continue you can ride that wave of motivation for a while, adding small successes to carry you further. But, at some point you will crash. You will be tired, or hungry, you may have made a mistake and feel discouraged, or the scale does not budge. And the motivation is gone. Then it is back to just being a stubborn *kitten*.

You can somewhat engineer the successes that drive your motivation. If you set small goals for yourself you can easily reach you may often get that high. Or if you pep talk yourself that may work, too for a bit. Also, reminding yourself of the goals you HAVE reached already can get you back going if there is a small stall.

You can also get some external motivation going. Friends who cheer you on when your food diary shows you were below calories, people who tell you nice things about yourself. That feels good, plus nobody wants to disappoint those who cheer for them, so it may not only creatd motivation, but a certain social pressure to continue on.

But in the end there will be stretches of time where it just comes back to "just do it". Even if you dont feel motivated at all.

threewins

That's a good question and whoever develops the secret sauce to motivate people will be the richest person alive. Anyway, you'll need to know what works for you, but grab some out of this list and see what works and what doesn't:

Weighing daily
Avoid refined sugar
Increase protein intake
Write a journal on *paper* of your weight loss hopes, dreams and progress, update daily
Give someone you trust who has more money than you $1,000 and ask for 1/3 at goal weight, 1/3 at goal weight after 1 year and 1/3 at goal weight, 3 years
Exercise with a backpack containing a weight of how much you need to lose

Most of these won't work, but maybe one might, or something else might work. You just have to find out what works. If I had one specific suggestion, choose a challenge from the Challenges forum. Might I suggest my challenge, post your weekly weight until at goal weight? Give me 10 days is a great challenge, aim to lose every 10 days (averaged). Some have done that over 11 rounds.

I wondered why I was bad at weight loss, after some contemplation it's because I am good at half-naughty-word things, that's my style apparently, not just weight loss.