1st Post Need Motivation HELP

Dahliax3

I need to find ways to motivate myself to keep on this. I need to build a will power that nothing and no one can break. There have been situations where I have stuck to my regimen and not gone againist it but i have been alone. Once i have company and start to do more out of that "norm" i break out of it. what do you guys do?

jkoz050

I have the same problem! Over the past few days I have gotten out of my new routine of meal planning and eating better, and I am struggling to find the motivation to get myself back on track! I would love to hear some tips too

wellnessjunkie

What works for me is setting goals. Set a goal is that within reach, then write down some daily things you need to do to reach the ultimate goal. Follow through..see results...that's your motivation. Connect with your original intention to lose weight. What made you start in the 1st place? Think about that when you set your goals as well.

Look for new and exciting recipes. Pinterest is AWESOME for that!

Find like-minded people who will give you the support you need (like on here!)

Be mindful of how good you really feel when you eat healthy and exercise.

Dahliax3

Ugh! I start, get on this routine for 2 weeks and then I come across something I don't want to resist. I do not know hot to stop it lol.
Meal planning helped me for a bit but Lately I have been playing around with recipes, I recently learned i like lo mien right lol solo I ended up buying myself a little tool to make veggies into noodles called veghetti i think lol

Little gadgets for making meals and natural things for anxiety have helped me hun!


amazingly I have build up courage to go to gym on my own and a lot more often too !

eastbayj23

Meal planning is great I sit with my GF for an hour or so and we look through Pintrest and cookbooks for meals for the whole week. That was effective and we got to try a lot new recipes and had fun cooking together.

Dahliax3

I have tried these, and this is what has helped me so much so far.

I have set mini goals and bigger ones will deff check out Pinterest great suggestion thanks love!

Dahliax3

aww sweet lol what do you guys put in the search?

MKEgal

I need to find ways to motivate myself to keep on this. I need to build a will power that nothing and no one can break. There have been situations where I have stuck to my regimen and not gone againist it but i have been alone. Once i have company and start to do more out of that "norm" i break out of it. what do you guys do?

I did a post about motivation & encouragement.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MKEgal/view/2014-07-24-motivation-encouragement-680938

Here are the main points:
- Set small intermediate goals & celebrate every one.
- Take measurements.
- Take pictures.
- Weigh yourself regularly.
- Be flexible; forgive yourself.
- Celebrate the non-scale victories (NSV's)
- Don't make any food forbidden.

Also, go browse the "success stories" forum.
One gal described herself as a "not-quitter". Not a go-getter, not anything special in the motivational department, but she just did not give up.
Small changes eventually add up.

As for being around other people, you just have to stand up for yourself.
When I visited my mom a couple months ago, I told her ahead of time that I wasn't eating as much food as I used to, and I wanted to use the exercise room in her condo clubhouse every day. She didn't try to force me to eat more, and gave me her key card, which I used every morning while she was asleep, so it didn't cut into our time together.

Dahliax3

1st off Congrats on your success hun!

and thanks for replying great point and deff looking into the post.

I love the last comment you posted !

MKEgal

I start, get on this routine for 2 weeks and then I come across something I don't want to resist. I do not know hot to stop it lol.

So don't. Don't give food control over your life.
If you want to eat something, eat it. Enjoy it. Just don't go overboard & ruin your calorie goal for the day.
I have pizza, beer, chocolate, potato chips, peanut butter... all sorts of stuff people would probably be aghast at, thinking I'm ruining my diet.
Nope. I'm enjoying what I eat, in moderation.
Once a month my gym has pizza night, so I make sure to have a smaller lunch & save calories to have several pieces of pizza.

wellnessjunkie

YES TOTALLY! Eat what you love, in moderation. Life isn't about feeling deprived. Not lifestyle change or diet will be sustainable if you are not feeling good about it!

Maybe in the beginning you may choose to add a "treat" once a day. Do that for a week and then week 2 only have a "treat" once every few days and so on until it becomes something you feel comfortable sticking with.

shirleycatt

Motivation is tough! For all of us, in all things! I am reading a book right now about finding the real me inside this chaos called a body. One of the things I am focusing on, is positive self talk! If I don't have anything nice to say to myself... I zip it !!!!!! I am also using current words like.. I AM... IT IS.. !!! I also now have a mantra... I AM WELL.. I AM STRONG! I say that to myself every morning and when I feel weak! I have also picked out my own soundtrack. Rocky had one... so why not? I play it at the end of each of my workouts and when I need a little pick me up. "I am changing" by Jennifer Hudson is where I am at right now. It may change as I change. What I really need is a song called "I am going to kick this thing in the a**"

I know this whole idea sounds silly but in the end it seems to be the missing link. I know what to eat, how to eat it, when to exercise... etc... It's the "me" that I struggle with

Dahliax3

you're right completely !

Dahliax3

thanks Danna !

Dahliax3

does not sound silly at all hun !

love it thanks!!

findingmarina

I try not to concentrate on the big picture which is the total amount I am trying to lose, I take it day by day. Set small goals...example:
- this week I am going to incorporate more fruits
- today I will drink more water
- this week I will try two different recipes
- this week I will do at least 1 hour of exercise

do this until you have mastered each small "challenge/goal". I started with cutting sodas, and now I can proudly say I don't even think of them!

I find it that if you do EVERYTHING at once, you will surely fail! I can't go cold turkey all at once!! I have to slowly train my mind and body to make better decisions.

Good luck hun!

MKEgal

Here are some useful threads, especially sexypants.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819925-the-basics-don-t-complicate-it

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read

crzdirector

I truly believe that, for me, motivation and will power just aren't the key. I had to create habits and make eating better and exercising as easy and accessible as being fat and slovenly. I'm sure people will disagree, but it isn't goals or pure will but actually taking a couple of hours on sunday night to get juices made, meals prepared, and put a weeks worth of gym clothes in the car. Limits my excuses.

ThomasGinter

I agree with @findingmarina. We each have a finite amount of will power. So when we want to make changes it is better to make smaller changes that become habits rather than make big changes that use up our will power before we are done with the morning. For example, Let's say you decide you want to cut out your 6 pack a day cola habit. Instead of going cold turkey you are better off cutting out one can for the day for a couple of weeks and then cutting out another can for a couple more weeks until you are only drinking one can a day. If cutting that out still seems onerous then cut it to half for a couple of weeks first. That way at the end of 12 to 14 weeks you are free of that cola habit in a much more sustained way. The same philosophy applies to incorporating exercise. Going from a couch potato to running a 5K is done gradually or else no one would try that program. The key is to make small sustainable changes that build up to a great good over time.

I agree with earlier posts that we shouldn't let food control us. I too enjoy foods I love as I once did, just in much smaller portions. Like a half cup of ice cream instead of a heaping bowl. However there are some foods that I know are my downfall, my kryptonite. I know that if I indulge in those I will not be able to control my portions very well. Perhaps some day I will reach a point where it is more manageable but for now I just ask myself, "Do you really want to feel like crap and blow your week of efforts?" Then I leave it alone.

uncle_freizo

One great motivator for me is saving money. If you can increase the intelligence with which you make decisions at the grocery store, you can save a ton of money over time and feel like you're winning in ways other than weight loss. Plus, it's a more tangible reward that you'll have sitting in the bank, which you can use to celebrate or open other doors in life.

Also, consider digging deeper into why you feel like you don't have much will power. Generally speaking I think people make poor eating decisions because something else is driving them. Sometimes it's some sense of scarcity, like "I'm afraid I won't have enough to eat" but by measuring your intake and tracking your results, you'll find it doesn't take that much food to live.

Far more often it's a sense of "I'm afraid I won't have enough to eat SO THAT I'LL BE SATISFIED." This is why it's important to go for quality rather than quantity to avoid overdoing it on caloric intake before feeling satiated.