My Magic formula for sticking to it. What's yours?

titianwasp

While I have started many periods of healthy, low calorie eating since having my children, it seems like the stars have to align just so for me to stick it out and achieve my goals. These stars are:

a) Start the day after your period starts (if you are a girl, obviously). PMS = diet saboteur!
b) Start on a week when you do not have major weekend or work party plans. You need at least a week to get your head in the right space before temptation arises.
c) Get good, solid sleep for a night or two before you start. Lack of sleep will also destroy your willpower.
d) For me, reading MFP forums, googling success stories, and even picking up cheesy celebrity magazines to keep my focus up really helps. When I lose focus, I fall off the wagon.
e) Hit the gym. Endorphins and your fitspiration colleagues there really keep your brain in the game.

What works for you?

Via_14

1) Thought/Feeling of being light on your feet, moving quicker lol as i once did.
2) Healthier mind, body, soul relation.
3) Looking at slimmer photos of myself.
4) Getting on the scales and seeing a lower number every time.
5) Exercising with music in my ears love it the most!!!

chezjuan

For me, the overall motivation is the realization that if I don't do it, nobody will.

One thing I do to make sure I am motivated to work out is to change into my exercise clothes right when I get home from work on gym days.

rockstar53

I have been on mfp for just over a month now. I have been exercising minimum 5 days a week and going strong. This may not seem like a long time but for me to have stuck with it is great! Since I started, there has been many changes in my day to day schedule...work, kids school and activities, weekends out of town...these are events that usually get me to fall off the wagon! But not this time...these are some little things that I have found to keep me going:

1. workout early...6am before the family gets up.
2. allow myself some quiet, " Me" time everyday, even if its just a half an hour or so. (my morning coffee!)
3. make lunches, the night before...to allow for that "me" time in the morning.
4. Slow cooker is my friend!
5. MFP everyday...even if I don't manage to log in all of my diet, I read success stories, posts that are of interest to me, tips, etc.
6. don't be too hard on myself. If I miss my morning workout...try to eat really healthy that day, walk more at work... and just carry on.

rosieknowsme

I've started a blog about the diet I'm following (and designed myself).

The diet is basically based around having reserve calories you can save weekly (not any longer, because that would defeat the object!) for events, drinking, time of the month or unexpected moments so you never have to feel guilty. It's based around a weekly calorie goal (and a guideline daily calorie goal) so in total for the week you are never going over.

Here is the link if you want to have a look! http://rosiesreserve.wordpress.com/

So far I've lost 30lbs :-) (Jan-July 2013)

ninerbuff

Doing this for 30 years, the one main reason for success is CONSISTENCY. I may a bad day, a bad week, a bad month, but staying consistent, I've NEVER had a bad year. CONSISTENCY is the difference between a true champion and an occasional winner.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

beachlover317

Doing this for 30 years, the one main reason for success is CONSISTENCY. I may a bad day, a bad week, a bad month, but staying consistent, I've NEVER had a bad year. CONSISTENCY is the difference between a true champion and an occasional winner.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

This. Success means that you keep going - not keep starting over.

EDollah

This isn't my whole formula, but it's a new variable I've added in the last month: If you've got a nagging ache/pain, it's ok to take a day off, or two, or heck even a week.

We glorify the athletes that "play through pain" and that sentiment seeps into our workouts. You can easily find tons of motivational posters online that emphasize that sentiment.

However, we're not professional athletes. Taking a day off to mend your pain is better than taking a week, or month, or longer to deal with exacerbating that pain.

My testimonial: When I restarted my squat routine, to get more depth, a persistent pain hit me in the upper thighs. I kept on with my routine to "tough it out" but the pain never subsided and I approached squats with a sense of reticence. A trip forced me into about a week off and that fixed everything, now I can do squats fully focused on the task at hand.

I have a similar anecdote for running that I'll spare you the details of, but my point still is that you'll better stick to your workout routine if you mend your aches and pains with rest rather than being Mr./Ms Tough Guy/Gal.

Notes: I am saying this from the perspective of a middle aged man, whose recovery takes a little longer than you younger folks.

cwolfman13

Doing this for 30 years, the one main reason for success is CONSISTENCY. I may a bad day, a bad week, a bad month, but staying consistent, I've NEVER had a bad year. CONSISTENCY is the difference between a true champion and an occasional winner.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Well said...I see way too many people here who simply have a bad day and all of a sudden they let that dictate what they do going forward...when you fall down, you just get back up and keep going. When you realize that you're not 100% perfect and that you're going to have bad days, weeks, months, etc ...I think it makes it easier to get back up...

ticklepocket

I have a trick that has helped me get through times when I have been tempted to cheat and go off my diet because of boredom or because of craving a treat...

What I have learned to do at those points is to indulge myself by wearing special perfume! The sense of smell is a huge part of what we think of as taste so this can be very like a feast. For this, I recommend a chocolatey scent like Angel or a fruity scent like Tresor (peaches) or a spicy scent like Opium. If you are on a tight budget you can get the imitation fragrances very cheaply. If you don't know what to look for ask the sales clerk to recommend a gourmand (food inspired) scent. Here is an interesting article about gourmand scents: http://blog.shesaidbeauty.com/2012/02/11/why-gourmand-fragrances-are-the-sweetest-treat/

Via_14

ah consistency... long lost friend - now found! lol