Motivation - Or rather lack of it :-(

BettyBeth14

Hi All

Can anyone help...im suffereing from a lack of motivation once again!!! I keep getting on the diet wagon every mondya, but seem to fall off by a Wednesday :-( I seriously want to lose weight as im not happy with my little pot or my thighs, but just can't seem to be good for more than a couple of days.

Can anyone suggest any motivation tips please :-)

xx

Mamoonie

Hi,

take a look at all those success stories with those many many before/after pics.
Don't you just wish to post similar pics of yourself in there?
Dont' you think, if they can do, so can you/I?

That's what helps me stay motivated!

MM

fthoodbaby

I personally have never been good at sticking to a "diet". I go more w/trying to make it a "lifestyle change". I eat more along the lines of that old food pyramid. I weight and measure the foods and then try to make a point of eating those foods each day. When I want "junk" I make sure I have only one serving of it. Also for me, on days I workout, I do better at eating healthy. Maybe becuase I put for that extra effort?

audiophile

I'm also stuck on this! About a year ago I seemed to be able to do it with ease, but nowadays... Ugh.
I find I'm really good during the day, but when evening hits I go overboard.

The only thing I used to do was pin up pictures of my ideal body (eg. from magazine cutouts) everywhere and keep one in my purse. It sounds a little lame but it really does help! Especially if you put one on the fridge.

Also, I pinned photos of my least favourite part of my body (eg. bumpy, wobbly thighs) and put them next to the ideal body images. It really did help!

stella77

What helps me is not focusing on the big picture and not doing too much too soon.
For the moment, I only focus on logging all my calories and eating within my calorie goal for the day. And I take it day by day.

I don't try to exercise much (I have set one single goal for myself which is to do 7 sit up in 3 repetions a day). I don't have a gym subscription or try to do anything else. I squeeze in a walk when I feel like it, usually in the morning before work pushing my baby in a stroller.

When it is not a MUST it is much more enjoyable. And my goal is to lose my excess weight by June 2011, which gives me plenty of time to indulge from time to time. I have lost 3 kg (around 7lbs) since I started 4 weeks ago, and I think that is great and way more than I expected, eps. considering that I was away on a business trip for a week of the 4 weeks and haven't really tried to follow my calorie intake.

I think more is less and in my case it certainly is, because I do lose motivation very quickly if I have to do what I really hate - which is exercise as a chore!

Good luck.

Beebee78

Everytime I feel like quiting I just go watch this....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SbXgQqbOoU

robynrae_1

I guess my first question is what makes you stop or mess up. If your like me once I start eating sugar I can't stop myself, that and my husband's not helpfull. Is it the conveince of fast food, or are you not motivated to workout, are you so hungry by Wed that you want to eat your arm off?

Finding out why might help you "fix" what is causing this.

Also start with only making one change in your life style at a time. When you try and do to much at a time it gets overwhelming. And when that happens you get to a point where making one mistake makes you quite because your frustrated, I know I have been there.

Best of luck and feel free to friend me

HealthyJess88

Rope a friend into it too, and put something really awesome at stake.

My best friend and I both needed to lose about 20lbs. So we plan to put away $100 for every pound lost, so we will have $2000 by the time my friend's birthday rolls around at the end of Jan. Then we go to Australia (we're from NZ) and we take pictures of our bikini bodies. It's up to each of us individually to determine how hard we work, as to how much money we'll have to have fun over there and how good we look individually in that all-defining photo moment of "look what I can achieve" - you want to know you gave it your all when you look at that photo in later years. It's support and competition and high stakes and ultimate reward all in one!

StuAblett

Like forthoodbaby said, it has to be a lifestyle change.

We are all on a diet, that willowy little size zero from Hollywood and all of the plus size gals out there, as well as the super low body fat weight lifters and the large and in charge guys who sit on the couch and drink beer and watch the game, we are ALL on a diet.

What you need to do is to change your lifestyle, YOU have to do it because YOU want to, no one else can do it for you, no one else can lose the weight for you, but I'm telling you that YOU can do it, how do I know...? Simple, I am doing it, and I'm nothing special, I'm just a regular guy that has been making lousy lifestyle choices for too long. I've been on every diet you can mention since I was in high school, I'm 46 now, so that is getting on to 30 freaking years :noway:

It is not rocket science, eat good healthy food, and get off your *kitten* and move :drinker:

Sure going to a gym or doing one of these 30 day shred things is great, fantastic even, and while that might very well be a goal to reach, the journey you are on starts with taking the stairs for just one floor instead of the elevator all the way to your floor, even if you start by taking the stairs DOWN just one floor. If you eat lunch at work at your desk, pack a good healthy lunch, but DO NOT eat it at your desk, figure out where you can go and eat it in peace, hopefully somewhere that is a short walk away, walk there, sit down and eat, veg for a few minutes and then walk back to work.

Does eating healthy cost more, does it take more time, you bet your *kitten* it does, but you know what....? YOU are worth it, hell yeah, YOU are really, REALLY worth the time, the money and the effort.

Some things I do, just to give you an example, I buy some carrots, or things like yellow bell peppers when in season, I slice them up into thin long pieces, put them in some Tupperware and take them to work, during the evenings, while I sit in the shop (we run our own business, a retail liquor shop) from about 8 PM to 1 AM I used to snack from the shelves of the shop, junk, junk and more junk, no more, now I snack on what I bring, healthy veggies, and they taste good!

I do my best to eat NOTHING that comes from a cardboard box, or a foil bag :bigsmile: am I 100% successful, no, I'm not, but I try really hard to keep it up. One exception I have with my rule is Quaker Oats :happy:

I'll share something with you about motivation, I'm going through a bit of a rough spot, I just had a melanoma removed from my back, hurt like crazy too, and they will have to go in and remove more as well as possibly one or more of my lymph nodes. Sucks yeah? Well what I could do is plop my *kitten* down with a big old bag of chips, have a pity party with a bucket of icecream and some KFC but I won't, I'm pissed that I can't run for the next week or two, or ride my bike, I'm POed that I have to sit on my fat *kitten* at home and do NOTHING for a couple of days, so there is no way in HELL I'm going to add to that by trying to solve my non-food related problems with food, like duh, how stupid would that be :bigsmile:

Tell you what, if you fall off your lifestyle choices by noon on Wednesday, do this for yourself, try to make it to 2PM on Wednesday then try to 4 PM etc, in no time at all you will be on Thursday, then Friday, then.....?

I hope this gives you some motivation, but in the end it can ONLY come from you, I know you have it in you, but YOU have to find it and run with it (metaphorically..... unless you do like running )

Cheers!

Bearface115

Everytime I feel like quiting I just go watch this....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SbXgQqbOoU

MY GOD! Thank you for that video! Totally Inspire me! :-) :-)

Ellem86

I'll have to check that video out when I get home, you can never have too much motivation. StuAblett - that's a really good, helpful response, thank you and I hope you are up and running again soon x

championnfl

Your young and you don't think about 50 years down the road![ years go by fast ] Once you hit 25 the decades fly by. Seems just like yesterday Clinton was running for president. [18 yrs a go ] Was 38 then ! See what I mean?
When you get in your late 30's and start to realize your not moving as quick, can't do things you use to be able to do,[party all night,drink,& do what ever you want] you will be glad you started a "healthy lifestyle" NOW and not in 2030.
Start to look at this as new way of eating and not a diet. Wanting to take care of your body, go ask differant people if they wish they would have focused on there lifestyle sooner, answer will always be the same "YES"! You have a choice now to do something about it.[ can't go back ] Life is all about the choices you make that determines how successful you will be.
Finally, pay the price now OR pay the price later, you choose! Always better to learn from others mistakes then to learn the same mistake the hard way, Learn from others!!!! Good Luck:bigsmile:

Smart enough to come to MFP,ARE YOU SMART enough for a "healthy lifestyle"?????

clahut

I started putting on weight when I left Uni and started work. I didn't realise that my lifestyle had changed (moving to sitting at a desk for 8 or 9 hours straight rather than hiking around a hilly campus every day) and I didn't change the food to match. I tried various diets on and off and had moderate success with WW years ago - but I just put it all back on along with another 20lbs!

This summer I realised that I am now in my mid 30s and if I didn't sort out the fact that I was clinically obese then my health would suffer. I looked at my grandmother, who has always been overweight, and saw all her health problems, most of which can be attributed to that fact. I don't want to be that. As it stands, I already have problems with my knees and my fitness levels are very low.

My motivation is easy - quality of life. If I have joint pain and breathlessness and blood pressure that is a little too high now at 34, what would it be like at 44, or 54, or 64. And any time I feel like calling Domino's or the local chinese, I think of that. I look forward to when I am another 40lbs lighter and I can afford to get the occasional takeaway.

At this moment in time, it feels like it is an easy choice - but it took me more than 5 years to get my head in the right place to be committed to doing this. You have to really really want it to stay motivated

C

StuAblett

I'll have to check that video out when I get home, you can never have too much motivation. StuAblett - that's a really good, helpful response, thank you and I hope you are up and running again soon x

That video is great!

Thanks, I too hope I'm running again soon, got to keep it up, I'm halfway through the Couch to 5K run plan, and I'm not happy to have to take a break from it. :grumble:

Cheers! :happy:

dmklinke

Hi! I'm new and my name is Diane. I can't even say how many times I started a diet and failed. I am always very motivated for a few days. Then I just loss it. I wish I could stick with it. So I am looking for help. I like walking and riding my bike. I do excerise, but I also like to eat (the wrong foods). I really want to do this, but I am so week. Well that video was a good example of motivation. I know I will look at that quite often. I started 2 weeks ago. I visited a relative over the week end, and that was the end of my diet. I am so frustrated, I stopped doing my exercise. I want to get back on track with this post. Wish me luck. Diane

StuAblett

Welcome Diane! :drinker:

Luck is not what you need, you need a plan, you need to plan to succeed.

Plan out what you are going to eat today, or tomorrow, plan out all that you will eat, you make lousy choices when you don't plan, it's late in the day, work sucked, it's raining, the kids are not happy and oh what the heck, I'll just eat that stuff I know I should not....

Been There Done That :bigsmile:

Like in life, you got to have a plan. Arm yourself with the right stuff to eat, I like to snack on carrots, I can just about eat them until I turn orange and not really hurt my eating for the day, and besides that they are really good for you. Find a good produce store, some supermarkets are better than others, is there a "Farmers" market in your area?

You have to plan this, the way you have been living, just going by ear, well it has not worked out that well has it?

Yes it takes some time and effort, but so what, the only place in the world that "Success" comes before "Work" is in the dictionary, go get some work done, YOU are worth it.

Stay off the "Diets" they are temporary fixes, change your lifestyle, make good eating a habit, you can do it, many here have, I know you can, because I have, and I'm just a regular guy who has been fat most of his life, round is a shape I don't want to be anymore, so I'm working on it, and yes it can be hard, but so what, I'm bloody worth it!

Get off your *kitten* and make a plan, then follow it, then do it again the next day!

Cheers! :bigsmile:

howardrw

First thing you should do is take a picture of what you look like now.
Put the picture someplace where you will always be looking at it.
When you are about to get off the diet plan, just look at that picture again and again.

Dieting is one step at a time, and to stay motivated you need something either to look at to stay focus or think about something.

The weight isn't going to come off overnight, jus like it didn't come on overnight.

It is very tough to stay on a diet, but just try and stay focus, "You can DO IT".

Use something to try and keep the focus on losing weight, it could be a picture like I stated or something else, but just remember that you are in it for the long haul and you will have peaks and valleys just like life itself.

Stay strong and focus and you be able to do it........