Secret of weight loss?

lidenalex

Hi, my name is Alex and I'm from Sweden. I weigh 15 kg (33 lbs) more then recommended. They say that the secret of weight loss is eating less and exercising more. That I know and that I believe, but how do you get the motivation to do that? When I read a good book (like Eat to Live) or watch a good YouTube video (like Fat Sick and Nearly Dead) I get motivated and for a couple of weeks I have no trouble eating less and exercising . But then life happens with all its turmoils and stress, and I my focus shifts from health to something else. Soon I begin to eat the convenient junk food, and before long I'm back where I started. So it seems to me that I would need something to constantly force me to focus on health, until it becomes a habit. Some people like Joe Cross got sick, and that sickness forced him to focus on his health. But if you do not have any acute sickness that is weight related, then there is not something nagging there always reminding you to keep the focus. And that makes it almost impossible to loose weight . Any thoughts on the subject?

asciiqwerty

I think habits are harder to break than good intentions

so I built up a set of good habits for myself and so far so good:
- regular excercie (book it in advance or do it with someone that you will be letting down if you don't)
- get support (in real life or on mfp - people who notice and encourage your effort, but pick you up when you slack)
- track what you eat *accurately* TODAY
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide
- set healthy reasonable targets and review them every 6-8 weeks (put it int he diary if that helps you)
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1175494-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
- work out why you're doing it? weight or health > the answer may well change your approach

you may like these: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/asciiqwerty/view/ten-steps-to-a-healthier-happier-you-651215

GiveMeCoffee

Stop labeling food as good or bad, or junk. When you begin on a overly restrictive diet especially with the programs you mentioned, it makes it that much harder to sustain for a long period of time.

Log your food accurately and honestly within a REASONABLE calorie deficit
Do some activity that gets you moving that you enjoy
Rinse and repeat

It's not difficult unless you make it that way by getting overly restrictive. And read the logging accurately and sexypants links above they have great information!

heavenlyb14

It is hard but you have to make you and your health a priority every day, after a while it becomes second nature.

Make some friends here and make yourself accountable to them.

Find a 'lifestyle friend' at home to do something active with on a regular basis.

Start by keeping an accurate diary for a week and then decide on one or two changes that you will make. It is much easier to make a number of small changes over time than overhaul your entire lifestyle at once.

Feel free to add me if you wish.

10manda86

i bought a fitbit, counts my steps and motivates me to try to reach my calories outputs... combined with this site calculating my inputs I have been on trackfor a while... not perfect mind you

Annie_01

Hi, my name is Alex and I'm from Sweden. I weigh 15 kg (33 lbs) more then recommended. They say that the secret of weight loss is eating less and exercising more. That I know and that I believe, but how do you get the motivation to do that? When I read a good book (like Eat to Live) or watch a good YouTube video (like Fat Sick and Nearly Dead) I get motivated and for a couple of weeks I have no trouble eating less and exercising . But then life happens with all its turmoils and stress, and I my focus shifts from health to something else. Soon I begin to eat the convenient junk food, and before long I'm back where I started. So it seems to me that I would need something to constantly force me to focus on health, until it becomes a habit. Some people like Joe Cross got sick, and that sickness forced him to focus on his health. But if you do not have any acute sickness that is weight related, then there is not something nagging there always reminding you to keep the focus. And that makes it almost impossible to loose weight . Any thoughts on the subject?

It only lasts a couple of weeks because your trying to find your motivation and inspiration through someone elses story....IMO.

What motivates and inspires must come from your own self...from deep within...from your own life...your own story. While we might feel inspired by others most often that inspiration is short lived. It is hard to maintain an emotion that comes from outside yourself.

You need to turn inward...find your own passion and motivation...find what inspires you to want to lose weight...get healthier...live a better life. You can't survive very long just holding on to the motivation of others.

When I started along this path some 8 1/2 months ago...it was different this time...unlike my other attempts to lose weight. It wasn't about how I looked at 246lbs...what size of clothes that I wore...it was ALL about...living my life...finding me beneath the pounds of fat.

My inspiration and motivation...LIFE...living it...being a part of it...no longer living behind the walls of fat that I had built. Those same inspirations and motivations have not faded...they are still what keeps me going...even with my ups and downs. Maybe they perhaps have grown now that I have a taste of the life that I had long forgotten.

It is a long story of how I ended up here...the 8 1/2 months and however long that it takes me to achieve my goals...to truly live the life I was intended to have...is small in comparison. To give up now would mean that I have wasted my time...and I have already wasted enough.

aka_Kamalevantis

Motivation only gets you started, it's dedication and determination that keeps you going.... Jwhited has pretty much said everything I would have said, so I won't repeat those things, but I will add....

You are the secret
You are the magic pill
You are the powerhouse
You are the hero of your own success story
You just have to believe in yourself

Food is good, if it wasn't the Food Standard Agencies would take it off the market, the problem is not the food, it's our inabilities to control how much, or how often we consume the high calorie, sugar, salt and fat foods that are on the market.

Good luck my friend xXx

CharlottesDK

My "secret" is to eat a little meat and pasta/rice/portatoes and a lot of fruit and veggies every day. And to exercise about 5 days a week. Im using Leslie Sansones YouTube videos. They are great! Im at the 2 mile walk, but let me know if you want a link to the 1 mile walk. Here is the 2 mile:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBgB_cqDiXs