how do you start and keep motivated plz HELP!!

ct320

ive been trying to lose weight on and off for more or less forever - about 8 yrs but really wanting to do it properly since having my son 3 yrs ago I have actually lost the weight once and gone back to old habits eating rubbish and not excersising. I did really well with my fitness pal when i first started using it as I find it so easy to follow as i can still eat practically what ever i want but i just cant motivate myself and i dont know why i really want to change my lifestyle and be fit and healthy so i can enjoy my life instead of been so self concious all the time.

How does everyone motivate theirselves and stay motivated please send any tips and comments you think might be helpful.

judgejava

ive been trying to lose weight on and off for more or less forever - about 8 yrs but really wanting to do it properly since having my son 3 yrs ago I have actually lost the weight once and gone back to old habits eating rubbish and not excersising. I did really well with my fitness pal when i first started using it as I find it so easy to follow as i can still eat practically what ever i want but i just cant motivate myself and i dont know why i really want to change my lifestyle and be fit and healthy so i can enjoy my life instead of been so self concious all the time.

How does everyone motivate theirselves and stay motivated please send any tips and comments you think might be helpful.

I find it hard to answer these questions without sounding offensive and i certainly dont mean to be.

There is always a contradiction such as "i really want to lose weight" and then " but i keep going back to bad habits"

or i lost it once then it came back.

You either really want to or need to or you dont.

Set you goals, stick to them.

If you cant then you need to reassess what you really want or need.

Like i said i dont mean offence, but everything is your choice, you set your goals and decide if you want to really reach them.

If you go off rails and go back to bad habits, there is only one thing to blame.....its not MFP or the cheeseburger...it is you !

Fate brings us choices then we choose our fate.

Best of luck and peace

nolady2012

Pray the Serenity prayer. It takes courage to change. You can not look at how you have failed in the past. You can not think that you may be able to do it. You have to want it so badly that failure is NOT an option. When you want to give up, DON'T! Sounds easy? It's not! But not living how you want to live, is even harder. When you " cheat" on getting healthier, who loses?

Bloomsday

For me, motivation and "feeling like it" don't have anything to do with it. How I feel is irrelevant. I do it becaues I said I would ... my mind is kicking and screaming the entire time I'm putting on my sneakers to go out and exercise. Sometimes, thankfully, it's easy, but whether or not I want to has nothing to do with it any more.

Tara4boys

The scale is very motivating to me - seeing those numbers go down. However, the scale especially for women can be quite the yo-yo. 2lbs up one day, down 1/2 pound the next.

So I focus on healthy behaviors. I love that MFP news feed keeps track of how many days in a row I log in. I don't want to break that streak. I have to know that if I consistently eat at a deficit (being honest with my tracking) that I will lose weight. It might not "fall off" like it does for some people. It may not be as fast as I want it to be but IT WILL HAPPEN.

The quote that got me started was this.... "change happens when the pain of staying the same exceeds the pain of making a change". I am HURTING being this overweight. Being fat sucks a whole lot more than logging in my food.

ct320

Thanks for all your responses they're all helpful it is me that needs to kick myself up the backside and decide what i want more to eat crap everyday or look good everyday @judgejava and nolady2012 you are right i do give myself the most pointless excuses why i cant exercise and its that i need to change about myself and @bloomsday and tara4boys it is self motivation like that i need to give myself. i bought some weighing scales over the weekend and am going to weigh at least once a week but hopefully every week day i aim to log everything during a week and relax but still eat healthy on a weekend. I hope to make achievable goals and hopefully make progress that way. i know the only person to make it work is me..........so here goes