Big Guy, Big Goal, Little Motivation

Options
fkgmk2b5ck
fkgmk2b5ck Posts: 1 Member
in Introduce Yourself

I’m 6’4”, 395lbs, and would love to get to 300lbs but have absolutely no motivation to put in the work for it. I am trying to watch my favorite fitness people, and do it for my daughter but I can’t keep the motivation there. How does everyone do it?!

Tagged:

Replies

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 37,129 Member
    edited July 26

    Make the easiest-to-follow possible plan. That takes less "motivation".

    Make a small positive change. Repeat it until it's a habit. If it's still unpleasant or impractical after a couple of weeks or so, drop that and pick something else. If instead it settles into your routine, pick another small positive change. Repeat. Keep going.

    Small changes add up. As long as you keep chipping away in a positive direction, you'll succeed. Does that take a lot of time that way? Yeah, maybe. But that time's going to pass anyway. If you can eat a little less fried food, drink fewer soda pops, have an extra serving of veggies, go for a ten minute walk at lunch - not all of those things, just one at a time - you'll make progress.

    Even if you can only lose half a pound a week, and even if that doesn't kick in right away . . . once it starts, you'll lose 26 pounds in a year. That's better than zero pounds in a year, right?

    Only giving up the effort results in failure. Make small, manageable changes you can continue long term. That'll work. And it doesn't take much "motivation".

    Three bonuses:

    1. You'll learn and cement in habits that will keep you at a healthy weight long term.
    2. You'll learn some skills with planning, persistence and patience that can be applied in other parts of your life to good effect, in things like education, career development, saving for retirement, general financial stability, and more.
    3. You'll be an amazing model of health and strong character for your daughter. It may take some time for her to internalize all of that, but she almost certainly will . . . and doing so will improve her quality of life long term, too.

    This doesn't need to be some miserable course of major deprivation and extreme exercise.

    Figure out how to eat foods you enjoy that keep you full and reasonably happy most of the time, that add up to the right calorie level for slow loss, and that ideally deliver decent overall nutrition. Think about to move more - daily life stuff in addition to or even instead of official exercise.

    If possible, add some manageable, fun exercise - at least something tolerable and practical. It doesn't need to be some miserable gym-y thing unless you like gym-y things. If your daughter's young, play with her. If older, or you just enjoy it, play some active video or VR games instead of sedentary ones. Go for a walk after dinner as a family. Play some games. Go dancing with your partner. Anything that gets your heart rate up a little is cardiovascular exercise. Anyhing that challenges your current strength is strength exercise.

    Don't blow this up in your own mind to something you can't do. Keep it easy, and keep going, step at a time. You'll do fine.

    The quality of life improvement for you and your daughter will be more than worth the effort. Betcha.

    Best wishes!

Categories