Sticking With It???

purrypants01

I have been using myfitnesspal for a while now, but every time I decide to use it and start a diet, I give up in a few days. My goal is to loose 15 pounds by June. Does anyone have any tips on how to stay motivated and stick with it?

Capt_Apollo

you just need to keep logging in an counting calories.

summer bodies are made in the winter. you can either suffer the pain of discipline or suffer the pain of regret.

nitag

I have the same problem... I started a 100 day challenge with myself. This morning when I was sitting doing nothing, my husband "Hows your challenge going" ... I didn't have an excuse.. I got up and did 30 mins on the treadmill... I felt great after...

Good luck...

astrampe

You won't stick to it if you try and starve yourself on 1200 calories and/or deprive yourself of all your favorite things....It is not a diet with an end date....
Make sure you eat enough, set your calories at a moderate to small deficit and make it a lifestyle, not bootcamp.....

seltzermint555

Honestly for me it is sort of like an addiction. Once I started seeing the number on the scale change after I joined and began logging, I did not want to stop. I don't have a desire to quit and give up. It is less about feeling urgently motivated to lose lose lose, and more like "this is a habit I have now and it's bringing me positive results" so it's a WIN.

I've been on MFP for 10 months and have missed 1 day of logging (my wedding day, which I actually went back and logged later). I don't find it that challenging. Maybe you can become the same way? Best of luck!

Recipenut

Be accountable for the amount of calories you consume in the day, Exersice! excercise! excercise! Do this every day and weeks will pass, you will start feeling better, more in shape and next thing you will see your clothes will become looser!

Invictus000

To be honest, everyone has different ways to keep with it and one way won't work for everyone so it might just be a matter of finding something that works for you.

For me, I had to just force myself to do it (and still do many times). I try to keep in mind why I'm doing this and what I want to achieve and that helps a lot for me. I also have planned out rewards, so I find small goals and decide well if I meet this goal then I can buy X that I've been wanting that I don't get otherwise. Sometimes that's all the motivation I need. For example, I have another 7 pounds to lose before I can buy "Thor: The Dark World" when it comes out at the end of next month and boy do I ever want that movie! Lost 2 pounds this week just thinking about needing to make it in time. That's all it takes for me.

Surrounding yourself with a support system helps a lot, too. Having people around you that keep you on track and give you the support you need is always nice. Some days I feel like I really don't want to do anything and someone either on MFP or in my family will ask about it and I'll really have to man up and get moving and exercise because, gee, I just really don't have any logical excuse to tell them for why I didn't. Realizing that I really have no excuses helps keep me on-task and motivated, too. Plus all the small wins and when you start seeing that weight coming off or the inches going down is nice, too.

I wish you the best and I hope you can find a way to keep sticking with it!

natalienicole417

I'm there too! I just wrote a long journal as if I had already reached my goal. All the things I let get in my way (not enough time, feeling too embarrassed to work out) I wrote as if I had already overcame them and what I did to over come it.

Here's an example:

"The hardest thing for me was to control my eating. With all the extra exercise, it's really hard to not over eat. I have found that I really eat out of boredom, anxiety, or sadness. To help myself out, I've been listening to music to make me feel calmer and drinking tea. I even will brew it at work. It takes just a minute and I have hot herbal tea in minutes with my electric tea kettle. Yoga helps too, I do deep breathing when I'm feeling anxious and listen to podcasts or music to curb my boredom."

I know it's just writing but I already am feeling empowered and following though on all my "future" advice.

You can do it! The first steps are the hardest.

DallasSusan

Honestly for me it is sort of like an addiction. Once I started seeing the number on the scale change after I joined and began logging, I did not want to stop. I don't have a desire to quit and give up. It is less about feeling urgently motivated to lose lose lose, and more like "this is a habit I have now and it's bringing me positive results" so it's a WIN.

I've been on MFP for 10 months and have missed 1 day of logging (my wedding day, which I actually went back and logged later). I don't find it that challenging. Maybe you can become the same way? Best of luck!

Lesa_Sass

Make small changes at a time and strive to make good choices, even after a bad choice, it all starts over again with your next right choice.

I started this journey 6 years ago by giving up alcohol, then after a year or so I gave up diet soda, then started doing a little walking, then started running, cut out processed foods, added way more fruit and so on. I did this a little at a time and have made it a part of my lifestyle. Had I tried to do it all at once, I would have failed.

So instead of giving up, just strive to make better choices. I can promise you that next year, you will not regret getting healthier. I can promise you will regret not doing it.

Good luck

DallasSusan

Sorry. I'm new and messed up. I just tried to quote another member: "This is a habit I have now and it's bringing me positive results." Same here. For me, logging in every day and planning what I'm going to eat the following day has become merely another small routine. It's very much like tracking my daily expenditures of money to keep my finances in order, something that I've been doing for decades. I was fortunate in that I never had a weight problem until middle age. This is the first time that I'm actually counting calories. I am so glad to have a site like this to relieve me of the tedium of having to tally up all those numbers manually. Funny. I didn't expect this to actually work. I just started doing it to get an estimate of how many calories I actually was consuming every day. Before that, I had no idea. I didn't weigh myself for at least two weeks after I started using MFP. I was astonished when I stepped on the scale and saw that I actually had lost 5 pounds. So I'm sticking with this because it works. It gets easier after a while. I think most of us eat the same foods on a routine basis so logging those foods becomes less of a hassle (you don't have to search the entire database and choose which entry to use). Bottom line: what's my motivation? This approach to weight loss is working for me. Best of luck to you!

daw0518

I feel you. This is my 3rd or 4th time trying to commit to getting healthy. I'm a graduate student & am usually really busy working and taking classes and doing lots of other things. I suck at time management, so my healthy living is usually the first thing to go when I feel like I'm falling behind in life. Also, being a college student/graduate student for the last 5-6 years, my income has never been stable & there have been many times when I just couldn't afford to go fresh-food shopping every week, so I've had to find ways to handle that.

For me, a few things work. I try to take it one small step at a time. Like right now, I'm trying to focus only on my healthy eating & staying under my calorie goal. I don't hold myself to regular exercise. I walk to class, I do random other things that could be considered exercise, but I don't stress about not doing any extra workouts, because that's one of my triggers for stress that have caused me to give up in the past. My hope is that once I have been eating healthy & successfully staying under my calorie goal for awhile and it becomes more habit & less having to consciously tell myself what I need to eat, I will add in exercise & it will be less stressful. I figure if I want to make a lifestyle change, it's better to add in little bits of change at a time & easier to get used to them.

I also think it's important to learn from your past mistakes. What has worked for you & what hasn't? Look especially at what hasn't worked & tweak it a little & see if that helps. That has been my #1 take away from failing in the past. I've learned a lot about what works for me & what doesn't - & I'm still learning. Good luck!

emboslice94

Maybe kind of generic, but just take it a day at a time. And instead of cutting out calories, try changing the calories that you eat. Drinking 0 calories of a soda is much more unhealthy than drinking a 200 calorie smoothie that has spinach, fruit, chia seeds and greek yogurt in it. It'll also make you feel way better!

Once you start eating well, you'll notice a change in how you feel and you'll prefer eating the healthy stuff to the cakes and cookies and stuff. Now that being said, still enjoy cookies and cakes in moderation :P.

acogg

For me, it is for the rest of my life so there is nothing to get in a hurry about. Small changes daily is my mantra. I am determined to be my best for the rest of my life. Every day I try to be just a bit better than yesterday.

astronut96

I thinking having a "why" is so important. If you don't have goals, even short-term goals, and good reasons for wanting to achieve them, it is really difficult to stick with any weight loss plan, no matter how good the intention.

ImtheOnethatsCool

stop trying to diet. It makes most people miserable.

Try just logging your normal foods, and in the portions you normally eat them, for a whole week. Log everything. EVERYTHING.

Then take a close look at your logs - it quickly becomes apparent where you can get the most bang from minimal changes. You will be surprised.

nancybuss

Life style change
Decide you want it
Commit to a workout program you Love!
keep logging
Have motivating friends you have to check in with

You will succeed if you stick with it.
Choice is Yours

I'd love to help... you or anyone

purrypants01

Thanks everyone! You've all been a great help. Good luck to you!

DallasSusan

stop trying to diet. It makes most people miserable.

Try just logging your normal foods, and in the portions you normally eat them, for a whole week. Log everything. EVERYTHING.

Then take a close look at your logs - it quickly becomes apparent where you can get the most bang from minimal changes. You will be surprised.

Doing minimal changes works for me. Each time I make a small change, I ask myself "Am I willing to do this indefinitely?" Example: I'm eating lunch in a Thai restaurant. I choose a dish with lots of veggies, moderate amount of protein, and light on the soy sauce. It gets served with a full cup of mounded brown rice. I look at that rice and realize if I cut in half, that'll lower both the calories and the glycemic index a lot. "But will I be happy with 1/2 cup of rice?" Well, I tried it, felt perfectly full eating half the rice, so now I'll be doing this indefinitely. Same thing with my juice glass at breakfast. I now use one that's half the size of the one I was using before.