staying motivated while waiting for results

deletedusernameaccount
deletedusernameaccount Posts: 8 Member
in Motivation and Support
I find the hard part of trying to lose weight / eat healthier is keeping up with it / staying motivated before you start seeing any results. I know it doesnt happen overnight. Maybe im not patient enough, or need to have more faith that the results will come eventually the longer I keeping eating well and getting regular exercise. Its simply difficult to keep going while waiting for the results. Any advice? Anybody have similar issue?

Replies

  • marie_1565
    marie_1565 Posts: 30 Member
    I'm having a similar problem. I lost a lot of weight and then slipped and gained it again so now I'm having a hard time staying motivated and trying to get back to my previous loss. It takes some time for your body to change and you just have to focus on the health benefits. Try to remind yourself that it will take time to see a difference but when you do it will be worth it. When I'm feeling a bit stuck I look at the before and after threads on MFP. It's really encouraging to see the success of others and makes it seem more obtainable.
  • donna_glasgow
    donna_glasgow Posts: 869 Member
    dont look for results daily check your weight and measurements a distance apart, say a week or if you can bare it a month, that way when you get your results they will be bigger changes .....

    take a month of strict eating and a month of maintanace cals so a month on a month off but always eat healthy to get your body used to the change in diet ..... this will stop you feeling like your deprived long term

    buy a nice outfit for your target weight and aim to get into it

    set small but achievable mini goals that way its easier to surpass your targets and helps make you feel better that you are winning the battle

    find a sponsored walk or run you can do, that way you will have something "real" to train for and aim for

    thats all I can think of :) hope they are helpful :)
  • lacroyx
    lacroyx Posts: 5,754 Member
    For me it was never about the weight. Even though I was nearly 500 lbs. I was meh "who cares" about it. What triggered my lifestyle change was getting diabetes type II. I reversed it after losing a little over 100 lbs. so I could have stopped but I can easily get it if I slack off. Besides keeping the diabetes away I keep going because I like how I feel, and not needing to take meds anymore. The weight loss has slowed down a lot for me but I don't care. My main goal is staying healthy and active. The weight loss is just the cherry on top of a sundae. Not needed but it's nice.

    Some things I do to "keep motivated":
    1) calorie burning. I track with my Polar HRM. In the past when I was 400+ lbs. I'd easily burn 1400+ calories just from walking 1 mile in an hour. I had to sit down and take many breaks since I was severely out of shape. Now that I weigh less I have to really push myself for that same 1 hour to break the 1000 calories burned mark. I am getting close to doing 4 miles in 1 hour. I go for hills and stairs on my walking routes. Little things like that to push myself.

    2) try different things. Walking was my main form of exercise. It's all I did for almost a year. I later added in weight lifting, swimming, I even Zumba. I suck but I have fun so I keep at it.

    3) clothes in general. I am pretty tall 6'3 so Big & Tall clothing will probably never go away completely for me but it's motivating to be able to walk into a store and get something off the shelf that is in my size. Not needing to "special order" because the store didn't carry it in my size.
  • sandrajune72
    sandrajune72 Posts: 492 Member
    I find the hard part of trying to lose weight / eat healthier is keeping up with it / staying motivated before you start seeing any results. I know it doesnt happen overnight. Maybe im not patient enough, or need to have more faith that the results will come eventually the longer I keeping eating well and getting regular exercise. Its simply difficult to keep going while waiting for the results. Any advice? Anybody have similar issue?

    This site has been the turning point for me. Logging everything I eat has been a real eye opener! I'm losing about 1lb a week, which is about right, it's slow progress yes, but I'm so happy when I step on that scale and it's less than the last time!!

    Keep with it hun, remember, it's a marathon, not a sprint, and your happiness and health will be better for it in the long run! Best of luck :flowerforyou:

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