100+lbs to lose - how do you motivate yourself?

newtothishelp

Hi all,

this comes at a time where although I have lost a great amount (12lbs) I still have a long way to go. When i look at my ticker, it seems like such a long way to go.

How do you motivate yourself? I have just realised that I have now achieved 10% of my goal, and this has made me feel great, as I have had little success in the past.

How do you keep yourself motivated with such a large amount to lose?

jec285

Lose weight -> become more motivated -> work harder -> lose more weight

JSE81

You need to set yourself mini goals. I've also set myself a pretty big reward for when I hit my target weight. You should get enough motivation out of seeing the weight drop and clothes become looser and your health improve. You need to want it bad enough, its tough, dont let yourself fail. That would be the worst thing for me is knowing I've failed at it.

Also, some people may disagree with this, but I weigh daily. I love seeing that number drop fractionally even if it's only half a kg/lbs. It's that little spur I need to keep going and a constant reminder that it's achievable.

tranquility17

Just take it day by day and make every day the best you can. Forget the total figure you have to lose and just focus on one pound at a time. If you have a bad day you haven't failed just draw the line and forget it.

cutSplut

In my experience, small lifestyle changes are key. say you're going to cut out something you know is detrimental to your weight loss one week, no matter how small, then something else the following week, etc. In this way it becomes A LOT easier and you also keep the often post-dietary binges away.
TL;DR small incremental lifestyle changes.

4aces61

Lose weight -> become more motivated -> work harder -> lose more weight

Bingo!! Determination. It's a long process. You have to really want it. Gotta dig deep w/i yourself. The more you lose, the more motivated you'll become. It does get easier.

_Zardoz_

Hi all,

this comes at a time where although I have lost a great amount (12lbs) I still have a long way to go. When i look at my ticker, it seems like such a long way to go.

How do you motivate yourself? I have just realised that I have now achieved 10% of my goal, and this has made me feel great, as I have had little success in the past.

How do you keep yourself motivated with such a large amount to lose?

I don't I never did. it is impossible to be motivated all of the time. you're lucky if your motivated 10% pf the time. What keeps you going is habit. Form good habits and you just keep doing them.

mnashp

great job!

first of all, it's important to see that you ALREADY ARE motivated, yes?

and from there, look into the fear that produces stories in your mind of some future you're afraid of. Then bring yourself back to the present to see the motivation you possess. Then ask, why is your mind predicting disappointment? Is that a common theme with your mind?

minds are very sensitive, powerful tools. But if we don't look closely at their stories, we may wander lost inside of them for a lifetime.

go into the mind and then bring it back a hundred times a day. That teaches your mind to respect the truth. Kind of like teaching a dog to heel...

it may be a good time to get therapeutic support, if possible. Cognitive therapy can work wonders for disciplining the mind to avoid the kind of sabotage the unfettered mind routinely commits against it's owner. And if you can't afford therapy, teach yourself. There's lots of self-help out there. But it is essential to break out of old patterns of thinking BEFORE you reach your ideal weight. That's excellent insurance against rebound. What we want is a lifetime change, not a temporary thrill.

one step, one pound, one day at a time. Then before you know it, you've climbed the mountain!

enjoy the view!

callas444

Accept compliments with grace, really enjoy them. Take pride in the little things that get better as you get smaller. Join stuff, get out there and enjoy life. Weigh loss is worthwhile. It's important. It changes your life. Try not to think of it as "when I get there". Think of this as your new normal. Your new life!

Jennvandemark

You will find that if you truly work hard about losing the weight and do it the healthy way it's going to fall off in the beginning. (Because you have 100+ to lose) that will be your motivation. The hard part is when your body slows down on the weight loss (mine was at 50 pounds lost) and you have to be very mindful of what you feed your body. The rapid weightloss in the beginning is what kept me motivated then. Today it's not wanting to be that size again and I love the way the body feels

lemur_lady

My motivation comes from seeing the positive changes I am making to my body, seeing my close getting looser, having other people compliment me, feeling myself getting fitter and more energetic and of course seeing the scale go down.

I also have motivation from seeing my 22 month old daughter. I want her to grow up with a healthy fit mum so she can have a positive role model. And so I can keep up with her as she is very energetic!

Although it seems rather contradicted I find having the odd day off helps my motivation. Not that I dont treat myself every day anyway, I definately do. But I just get those days where I just want to eat, im hungry and dont feel like counting calories. I allow myself these days as they help get my motivation back and keep morale up. I dont see them as 'cheat' days as I still try not to go over my maintainence calories. I just see it as a quick break for mind and body.

JaneWalerud

yes, this! Keep your thoughts under control and positive. This is your new life and it is a much much better one. This is the real thing. That is the main part of motivation.

I give myself small rewards in clothing. I sell or give away some too big clothes and buy something in a smaller size quite regularly. That makes me a good ebay customer. When my pretty summer dress arrived in the post the other day, I tried it on. It's really too tight, and I certainly didn't eat too much that evening. I even get to buy *shoes* one size smaller now. That's fun too.

lacroyx

For me it was never about the weight. Even though I was about 20ish llbs away from reaching the 500 lb mark, it never got me interested in getting healthier and losing weight. Instead it was the type II diabetes that got me going. I started taking 6 different things to help control all the health issues I had. I didn't want to take meds for the rest of my life. After losing a little over 100 lbs I improved enough that I didn't need any more meds. I however can easily become diabetic again if I slack off and go back to my old habits. I still don't focus on the lbs lost. I instead focus on other things like my fitness levels and how clothes fit.

JesterMFP

I agree it's impossible to feel motivated all the time. It just doesn't work like that. I think it helped me to realise that when I also realised that this isn't a process that ever really ends. Whether you have 10 lbs to lose or 200, it doesn't end when you reach your goal weight. It's a lifelong process, so however you do it, it needs to be a way of eating/living that you can sustain long term. You need to form lifelong habits so that you don't need to feel motivated to get it done. Eat foods that you enjoy; maintain a reasonable calorie deficit so that you don't feel like you're on a restrictive diet. Do exercise that you love (or at least, don't hate).

Get into the habit of exercising. Make it a priority, like brushing your teeth, showering, doing laundry. None of those are exciting, and I bet you don't feel "motivated" to do them, but you do anyway, because the results are worth it. Ditto going to work, studying towards a degree, driving children to and fro to activities... lots of things people do every day that they probably don't always feel motivated to do, but they do because the results are important, and because thy get into the habit.

So, work out what you need to do to be a healthy weight - for me it has been regular exercise and tracking my food accurately. I made those two things priority. Along the way, I've become more interested in nutrition and tweaked my diet accordingly (small, gradual changes, and not really necessary to weight loss per se). I've also made a point of not cutting out or demonising any foods, and still eating all the foods I love on a regular basis. Chocolate is a daily part of my life, for example. I found forms of exercise that I enjoy and that I can set mini goals with (run faster, run further, lift heavier, master free standing headstands etc). I never cut my calories too low, and I had a couple of diet breaks while losing where I ate at maintenance for a couple of weeks. I keep tracking my foods in maintenance, am more relaxed if I'm on holiday and don't beat myself if I exceed my goals on any given day. Just get straight back on track.

100 lbs is a lot to lose, no doubt about it. But, it is completely do-able, and especially if you relax about the process, stop looking at goal weight as "the end", and focus on creating a sustainable lifestyle that supports you being healthy. Don't put a deadline on it. Of course, it does help to have those moments of excitement and motivation, and a few things you can do to feel that are: take regular progress photos, track tape measurements as well as the scale weight, set fitness goals, plan little celebratory rewards for yourself at certain milestones. Enjoy the process - it gets a lot more boring when you've reached your goal and no longer seeing changes in your body, but still have to put the work in!

lovetoad

Break it down into 10lb or stone "blocks" then congratulate yourself each time you reach it. Ive a lot to lose too and by breaking it down it feels more achieveable, less daunting. Also, by rewarding and praising yourself you are feeding your self esteem and self worth. This is something we "biggies" often failed to do in our past - we fed/stuffed ourselves with food to try and make us feel better but of course it never works, we just get bigger and more unhappy. Be proud, love yourself and keep going! Good luck

Laughter_Girl

Congratulations on your success so far!!

I believe I was motivated the day I joined MFP, and since that day, it is DETERMINATION that drives me to being a healthier me. I agree with others that stated you should set mini goals. The final goal (whether it's losing 200 lbs, 100 lbs, or 10 lbs) can be overwhelming for anyone when the journey first begins.

I suggest you focus on eating healthier and exercising more. Also, I highly recommend taking your measurements and pictures along the way. Sometimes, the scale gets stuck, but thankfully, the inches can continue to decrease. Finally, enjoy this journey!! I am learning so much this time around, and I have befriended some wonderful people here, and you can do the same.

Wishing you all the best!!!!

Velum_cado

Weighing infrequently - every 4-6 weeks or so. Keeps me focused on what I'm doing rather than the numbers and makes it feel like a lifestyle change, not a temporary thing that I'm doing until I reach a certain number. Also, seeing losses of anywhere from 4-12 lbs is crazy motivating!

Inshape13

I lost 100 in a little over a year and I have been maintaining for about a year and a half now, I originally lost 102lbs. It was very daunting when I looked at how far I had to go so I gave myself fitness and scale goals that were small and based on percentage. I took it 10% body weight at a time and when the scale did not move as fast as I wanted it to at times, I still had my fitness goals to work on. Eventually I passed my goal, but decided I was not thrilled with my body at that number and started body recomp and put on quite a bit of muscle, but a few lbs as well, so I still have my fitness goals despite the scale number. You will get there, just look at it as a marathon and not a sprint.

katew221

Lather, Rinse, Repeat :flowerforyou:

shapefitter

Personally, I have joined groups on MFP. That way, I'm part of a network of likeminded people who support eachother. At the moment, I'm in the accountability challenge for May, and am tracking everything on MFP. I have an app, so I can logg into MFP on the go. Furthermore, my network of friends, are very supportive, and I do my best to be supportive in return.
Btw, how's the aquatics, swimming and pilates coming along?

newtothishelp

I love all of your replies, thank you!

I think my problem is that I don't actually feel like I have lost any weight as yet. People don't notice (or if they do, say nothing) my clothes don't feel much looser.

I think also, I always fail, so because I am actually getting results right now, I guess in my mind, I think maybe I will put back on or something - I don't always quite believe that I am going to succeed.

Also, I am not hungry, but am still losing. I am eating more salads, which I love, but every now and then I do still have chocolate. I think as I don't feel deprived that this is too easy and therefore too good to be true.

I am going to Weight Watchers. Weighing in weekly definitely makes a difference to me. As does talking about food.

JesterMFP

I love all of your replies, thank you!

I think my problem is that I don't actually feel like I have lost any weight as yet. People don't notice (or if they do, say nothing) my clothes don't feel much looser.

It's a head game. No one noticed that I was losing until I'd lost about 30 lbs. You know you have though, you know you're on the right track so just keep on keeping on. It will come.

I think also, I always fail, so because I am actually getting results right now, I guess in my mind, I think maybe I will put back on or something - I don't always quite believe that I am going to succeed.

You know what? Me too. I always failed (previously) and it takes a while to change that mindset and start believing in yourself. That will come too though. Read through the "success stories". There are lots of folks here who have tried and failed many times before, and then found that something clicked with this. It can happen, and does happen. You've got this. :flowerforyou:

newtothishelp

I love all of your replies, thank you!

I think my problem is that I don't actually feel like I have lost any weight as yet. People don't notice (or if they do, say nothing) my clothes don't feel much looser.

It's a head game. No one noticed that I was losing until I'd lost about 30 lbs. You know you have though, you know you're on the right track so just keep on keeping on. It will come.

I think also, I always fail, so because I am actually getting results right now, I guess in my mind, I think maybe I will put back on or something - I don't always quite believe that I am going to succeed.

You know what? Me too. I always failed (previously) and it takes a while to change that mindset and start believing in yourself. That will come too though. Read through the "success stories". There are lots of folks here who have tried and failed many times before, and then found that something clicked with this. It can happen, and does happen. You've got this. :flowerforyou:

Thanks JesterMFP