How do you stay motivated?

lovebug1982

I do really good for a week or two and then I tend to fall off the wagon. What are some tricks to stay on track?

nycnettie

I'm with you, but I'm going to try and get support when I fall )

brittg7

make a 3 week goal...have a routine that goes for more than a few weeks...mini goals will help

MelissaJ6807

I did that for (no joke) a year...I am the LAST person I thought would say this, but start slow. Alter your food for a week or so. Then, try to get active for 10 min a day to create a pattern...walk, bike ride, whatever. I did this...I am in my second week and am eager to get out every day.

I hope you can stick with it!! :flowerforyou:

kouzzzz

It depends how you feel. Lazy? Tired? Maybe it's what you're eating. When I get results, I stay motivated.

ejohndrow

Proving all the doubters around me wrong is pretty good motivation.

Apazman

exercise your buns off .. two 2 hour gym sessions 1 in the am and 1 in the pm! you can gain on calories for the week by burning more!

queenpushycat

The hip hop dance classes I've been attending are so enjoyable, and that keeps me going. And of course, MFP friends have been really supportive, encouraging and helpful too!

TamLind83

I stay motivated by joining the challenges on MFP. They really help to keep me accountable and I always have a second thought about the things that I am going to put in my mouth knowing that any of my fellow challenge participants can look at my food diary and see exactly what I ate. If I weigh in at the end of the week and haven't lost any weight, they can look at my diary and see that I ate junk all week and that usually keeps me on the straight and narrow.

Also, results really help to keep me motivated. When I make a bad choice or see the scale rise a bit because I wasn't honest in my food log I remind myself that gaining a pound isn't must in the scheme of things when I've lost nearly 15 pounds.

zighappy

Find friends!! I have found that it really helps to have people that are in the same boat. I have 3 girls at work that are on the same regiment, and it's really beneficial.

Mrrwmoo

Today, I wrote on sticky notes with my goal weight, and placed them on places where I'd see them as a constant reminder: computer monitor, bathroom mirror, snack cupboard, fridge, etc ;D.

kendf60

C25K is a 9 week program that kept me on track earlier this year.

leelafit_mtl

To stay motivated, I give myself mini-challenges. Everyday, in my food or exercise diary, I write a mini-goal that I want to achieve by the end of the day. It can be anything, the goal is just to stay focused!

When I feel depressed when I don't get results fast, I go on the Forum/Success Stories. To read and see how many people succeeded is a real motivator, trust me!

Davorla

I did this this weekend and it really helped - I went to the supermarket and lifted bags of sugar to the weight I've lost already and it has spurred me on this week now!

KayteeBear

start small and don't get discouraged if you have one bad day. I have the bad habit of slowly losing motivation when I have a bad day...which turns into two...or three...

Make a goal to workout so many days a week...or only 10/15 minutes a day...

And make food goals small as well...like 8 glasses a day, a few pieces of fruit or vegetables a day, etc.

And also find friends who can support you and hold you up when you lose the motivation.

I can stay motivated for working out for a couple months before I lose motivation...I lose motivation to eat healthy a lot quicker though.

kyle4jem

I did this this weekend and it really helped - I went to the supermarket and lifted bags of sugar to the weight I've lost already and it has spurred me on this week now!

I haven't actually done that yet... but that's how I imagine my weight loss... in terms of bags of sugar.

I couldn't imagine trying to carry 12 bags of sugar home from the supermarket... yet I used to carry that round all day long around my belly!!

To the OP...

I do really good for a week or two and then I tend to fall off the wagon. What are some tricks to stay on track?

...what motivates me... well I stand naked in front of the full-length mirror and it reminds me why I'm doing this. I have achieved a lot in the past 10 weeks but I've still so much weight still to lose. Nevertheless, I'm getting there and that's the main thing. It's a long-term project... a life-long, long-term project... it's not a sprint or a quick fix... I don't want to be fat at 50... I want to be fit and trim and able to buy nice clothes from shops I'd not ever dare go into because I know they don't carry XXL sizes!

You can succeed and you will... if you really want to! You are allowed to have rest-days or cheat days (which is a term I don't like, because you're not cheating, you're just going with the flow) Even making little changes can all add up and you can still cut down without cutting everything that you love out.

Find a photo of yourself that you like when you were in the shape you want to be (or maybe a photo of a dress you'd love to be able to wear) and put it on the fridge, or on the inside of the cupboards or by your PC or make it your desktop. That will hopefully spur you on to do your best and make the changes you want to make to get yourself to where you want to be.

YOU CAN DO IT! :flowerforyou:

marzahl68

Every day I get dressed and don't fit into my goal clothes yet, I get motivated. For the time inbetween I look at my goal clothes and imagine how great I'm going to look - motivates the heck out of me!

I realize though that everyone is different.

lovebug1982

Thank you everyone you are such great people and you yourselves have motivated me.

Sidesteal

When I get results, I stay motivated.

^ This is key, and you should set up methods to monitor results aside from scale weight. Photographs, body measurements/etc.

I look at my before picture and it motivates me. I look at my training log and it motivates me when I see that I'm lifting more weight than last week. Etc.

ahavoc

I look in the friggin' mirror and say, still got a ways to go!