If you've ever fallen, how did you get back up again?

blahblah123314

What motivated you to keep going when it seems like everything was at a standstill? This applies to weight loss and beyond. I'm finding it tough to do any of the things I like to do anymore because I feel like I've failed at everything. It's affecting my weight loss and I've fallen into binging again. I'm so mad at myself for not losing as much weight as I could have by this time because of my faltering willpower.I feel maybe I can gain some motivation through you folks. So, how did you/are you overcoming your obstacles?

DesignGuy

For me it's simple. I only fail when I quit. And I'm not someone who has the ability to stay down and stop fighting. So yeah, I've had mishaps with weight and whatever, but I pick myself back up and get going. I'll stop fighting when I'm dead.

A big key for me in all things, is I don't let the past bring me down. I see a lot of people (keeping with weight loss theme) that all of a sudden with start binge eating or whatever and they get down on themselves, which leads to more downfall. Instead, recognize it, work to do better and get back on track as soon as possible.

Stay positive.

norabeth

Each day is a new day to keep working at my healthy life journey.

ZugTheMegasaurus

There's something I wrote down a couple months ago about obstacles, this weird thought that actually woke me up out of a dead sleep in the middle of the night. I scribbled it down and now I look at it every day. I'm a pretty fearful person and think about failing constantly, and this really helps me:

Only one obstacle in your life will ever be insurmountable. You can only die once. Everything else must be overcome. That's by definition. You will live until the day you die. That is the only time you cannot keep going.

Umeboshi

I quit for 2 years before I came back to MFP this time. I just had to be ready.
This time when I had a couple bad weeks, I just thought about how far I've come and all the hard work I've done and realized I CAN'T give up. I also thought about all the progress I'd be giving up if I quit, and how I'd feel in a year after quitting vs a year more of progress!

dolldreams

Learned to be thankful for another day and became determined to make the best out of all of them. Accepted that my best varies from day to day...

Peta22

One step at a time... Baby steps. It's the way I face all my obstacles now since I used this focal technique many years again when I was working my way out of a severe clinical depression. Basically, no matter how small your progress is, as long as its forward, then you know your getting somewhere. Some days (or some 'baby steps') are harder than others but always forward. Then as time goes by, each bit of progress makes me stronger and eventually I find myself 'running' forward... It all starts with baby steps...

L2M1D52

I too became angry (at myself) and used that to motivate myself. So far it's been 5 days that I've been back on track again.

Sarena3

As far as the weight loss goes, I've come to focus on each individual eating occasion. If I've messed up I'll reflect on why that might be and try to learn from it, but then I just move on. I've taken over two years to lose 45 lbs but in a way that I can live with long term. Sometimes I would trend up, sometimes down, but I always tried to establish a "beachhead" at least a little lower than the last fluctuation. I find what works well for me is avoiding "junk" food because it has a bad effect on my emotions and depression and anxiety leads to wanting to self medicate with food. I plan all of my meals ahead of time and make sure they are not only healthy but foods I will enjoy. Regular exercise again helps me stay emotionally positive along with controlling appetite. Adequate sleep is important too, not only for emotional balance but to keep the calorie burn robust. I wear a Body Media monitor and on days when I have had too little sleep I actually burn less calories doing the same activities. I attend weight watchers meetings and learn a lot of powerful techniques and get support from the people there and I talk with friends and family that have similar values in leading a healthy life style. I've tried this 6 times before and have been everything from a size 6 to size 22 but I am convinced this time I will be successful for the rest of my life because I'm putting the focus on good healthy, moderation, slow but sure. i hope some of this helps. I looked at your stats and picture. You are a beautiful women with what appears to be a healthy body. Be kind to yourself. I'll bet anything you deserve it.

thepanttherlady

It's not in my nature to quit. I am human and will falter from the path I choose occasionally but quitting isn't an option.

When it comes to my weight loss, I think about how much weight I've lost these past few months and REFUSE to allow myself to gain them back. I then think about my goals (ones I feel are achievable) and realize I've hit 27% of my goal (sorry I'm in accounting LOL).

If this alone didn't keep me going, then I just have to look at my kids and reaffirm how much I want to be there to see them grow up into adulthood.

You can do this!!