suffering from the "motivation" challenge?

KaydeeMehl

I have been trying to lose weight for over a year or so now. I have been having trouble keeping on track and staying motivated. I try to turn to my family and friends and none of then are very motivating.

Me- "hey Mom i lost 3 pounds I'm so happy!"
Mom- "Wow, three pounds, a thousand more to go"

WOW! this is how it is on a daily/weekly basis, or however often I feel like calling my mother. I hate the feeling of going through this alone and losing motivation about a week into it. This time I want to make a big change and do this as a lifestyle change. However, I feel if I dont have the proper motivation I will not be able to battle against this. I hate feeling "large"...

Has anyone had the feeling like people were battling against them, instead of rooting for them? Has anyone feel like they had to battle this alone? I'd love to hear from you and how you were able to conquer the "motivation" challenge.

utvolsfan74

I have. When I first moved to Tennessee I lived with my Aunt for about a year and everytime I would try a diet she would cook everything under the sun that she knew I loved. That would make me of course go off of my diet and not lose anything. After moving out I tried several diets on my own and couldn't lose really anything then my cousin told me about this site.
My advice would be if you are going to tell your mom and she makes a comment like that just know in the back of your head that you are going to lose your goal weight and at that time you can be like "I told you I was going to do it, etc" or you can elect not telling her and surprise her when you do get to your goal weight. Good Luck!!!!

squeena09

yes it is hard i just think of myself skinny and to do it for your health and i pray and draw strength from the Lord he loves us sooo very much ! Also just not set your exercise goals so high that you get burned out like 20 min walking and to make it fun and hopefully with a friend and dance classes like Zumba just to name a few!Hang in there ! Great start !

jaysonhijinx

I never got support from my family as up until I finished high school and started uni + work I, like everyone else in the family was quite fit. Losing a few kilo's while a big thing to me didn't register for them. Ever since then my weight has always gone up and down. I can motivate myself to go and lose the weight, but somehow, some way I manage to put it back on again.

When I found out about this site and the food diary I was keen to give it a try. When I found out about the social network aspect of it too I was quite excited as there was a network of people with similar goals.

So far it's been going great for me and I'm sure once you find some nice, supportive people here to encourage and motivate you, you'll do great as well.

KaydeeMehl

thank you so much! Yea I know what you mean. My granmother is the same way. When I got kicked out and moved into my grandmothers house she pulled the usually grandmother routine "your to skinny...eat this." And by the time I moved out I like doubled my size!

Thanks for the advise I really appreciate it. I have been on this site for almost a week now, and I love it! Hopefully it will help me keep up with this new lifestyle change. The thing that sucks is you cant do much with it when your on your cell phone! I dont have internet connection at home, so I have to stay on here when i come to work :P.

I really am happy for you to be changing your lifestyle as well!! We are all here tp support one another, and if you ever needed to talk or anything, I'm here .

feistyhorsegal

I formed a little Facebook group with some friends, and a few of us on here as well, and I find we motivate each other so well!! This is the 2nd time I've lost weight and when I told my Mum my goal weight the first time, she scoffed and said you could never get to that!! And I'm not that overweight either, only had about 10kgs to lose. Her scoffing motivated me to get to my goal weight and suprass it, almost just to prove her wrong. LOL. Now she is much more supportive. Although she still says that you don't need all that stuff (referring to this) If you just eat well and do a bit of exercise that is enough she says, but she can't seem to get herself down to her goal weight when she diets. You definitely need the bit of extra motivation that this gives, and my little facebook group. My hubby goes yeah thats good, but doesn't get too excited or encouraging about my weight loss either. thank goodness for friends. LOL

KaydeeMehl

thank you . I really appreciate all of your stories you are willing to put out there . I know it can be hard, and motivation tends to "nip people in the butt." But I am not seeing it isnt just me that faces the "motivation" challenge.

I am really getting used to this site and I love it!

KaydeeMehl

I know what you mean! I feel if I didnt have my friends, than I am now staring to build up on here, I wouldnt be able to do it! congrats on meeting your first goal! and congrats on the facebook!!!! I'm glad to see that you are that motivated to start something!!

debubbie

I agree with another poster, dont say anything to your family if they arent going to be supportive. You may be in a situation that when you show up and you have lost significant weight that they may not be happy for you and you still may receive negativity from them. Know that it is their own problem and not yours and not to base how you look and feel on someone else's reaction or opinion of you. You are doing this so YOU can look and feel better and YOU are what matters here!!! Good luck with your weight loss journey and feel free to add me if you would like.

BeckaT79

I do not tell my family or friends about my weight loss unless they are on the journey with me. I have brought them along several times and have been pulled down in their failed attempts... I have even tried getting them to join this site since I started but to no avail. Flaunt your weight loss on here where other people are joining you in the journey. Good luck in all you do and 3 lbs is awesome keep up the good work.... (BTW I am sure it would be impossible to lose 1,000 lbs :-) )

kaetra

I live with one of those people. My husband is the most de-motivating person in the world. He brings home my favorite unhealthy foods (the ones that I'm the only person in the house who used to eat) - like cruller donuts, crab rangoon, etc. He brings them home like a prize and says "Look what I got for you! Oh, you can eat just one - it's not gonna hurt. Eat it!"

He also says very discouraging things because he likes to tease and don't know when to stop. It's a personality trait - a very annoying one - but I know how to deal with him.

I tell him to *kitten* OFF and give him the bird. He laughs, and I throw a donut at him. Believe it or not, we have a great marriage. He likes testing me to see how long it will take me to tell him to *kitten* Off because he likes getting a rise out of me. (And I would never tell HIM this, but it does make my willpower stronger. If I can put up with his bullcrap, I can do anything.)

You probably can't tell your mom to *kitten* Off out loud, but you can tell her that in your mind. You can also give the phone receiver the middle finger and she'll never know. My mom is kind of like that too. She always likes to annoyingly point out that she weighs less than me. So I never discuss weight with her. If it comes up I change the subject. If she presses the weight subject I tell her I have to go, say I love you - goodbye, and hang up. After a few years of doing this she's finally become conditioned to not talk about weight (or any other subject that she irritates me about). For mothers I think the quick disengage works best.

ToEKnee213

Hold your head up and prove them wrong

One of the reasons I love this site is that we are all going through the same thing, and everyone has something to offer in terms of support. I've yet to meet someone who was rude, mean or unfriendly.

We are here for you and will support you no matter what!

confuzzledwife

I feel your pain. I had to get myself mentally motivated for awhile before I actually did something about it. I usually hear "you don't need to lose weight", or "life's too short, EAT". I definitely DO need to lose weight, but I realized I can't count on some people to be supportive. I found this site has helped me tremendously keeping me motivated.... when I'm feeling a bit unmotivated, I just go and look at the before and after photos and I quickly get right back on track! Good luck.. don't let anyone bring you down!!

djsupreme6

off and on many time...nothing really consistent though...although I love to help movitvate...feel free to add