Motivation

scoleman6377
scoleman6377 Posts: 4 Member
in Introduce Yourself

Hello, I have been part of several online weight lost plans. I am getting older and am seeing how hard it is to lose weight as a woman over 40. I know how I should eat, but do not always do as I should. Now I am trying to focus on more "real" foods and shy away from the processed foods. Some days that is a struggle!!! I would love to add exercise to my life, but time is not on my side. I'm tired when I get home from work and am working on getting up early in the morning to get my exercise in. I need MOTIVATION!!!! Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Replies

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 38,154 Community Helper

    Motivation isn't my strong suit, so my strategy is to make a plan that requires the minimum of motivation (or willpower, or discipline - also things I'm not good at). For me, that was logging my food, and gradually remodeling my routine eating habits to dial in the right calorie level while staying mostly full the majority of the time, and - once that was going OK - gradually working at improving my nutrition one aspect at a time.

    That worked great for me: I went from class 1 obese to a healthy weight in just under a year - at age 59-60 BTW, and severely hypothyroid (medicated) besides. Using pretty much those same routine eating and activity habits I learned during loss, I've stayed at a healthy weight for 9+ years since. That, after around 30 pre-loss years of overweight/obesity.

    I'm a big fan of an easier plan, enjoyable (yet calorie appropriate) eating, and fun ways of moving more (daily life or exercise). If fun exercise seems out of reach, tolerable and practical is the minimum. For someone busy like you, I'd point out that fitting in 5 minutes of home exercise here and there is better than zero exercise. Also, moving more in daily life - that "park further from the door, take the stairs" stuff - helps, too.

    Routine daily habits are the power tool for weight management, IMO. That one day when I eat too much cake or work out for 5 hours is a drop in the ocean. The things I do on repeat day in and day out are the ocean. The majority of my days determines the majority of my results.

    IMO, too many people arrive here wanting to lose weight fast, so they adopt some extreme, restrictive, totally novel eating plan; then maybe try to stack a punitively intense daily exercise plan on top of that. Revolution! That doesn't usually end well, but it does end quickly.

    That's why I'm suggesting a more gradual approach, manageable changes in a positive direction. Two steps forward then one step back is overall forward progress. Perfect every day isn't achievable, but maybe pretty good on average most of the time is. Weeks and months are going to pass anyway; the only question is how we spend that time. Small, manageable changes add up to surprisingly big improvements over a period of time.

    Best wishes!

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