How to find your will power

Options
2»

Replies

  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
    Options
    It is hard to keep the momentum going - I've definitely had times where I just lose the plot and eat way too much chocolate and then feel bad for doing it.

    I don't have a great solution - but my best advice is just to keep doing the best you can every day.

    - treat each meal and snack as a new opportunity to make a healthy choice. Maybe you had a crappy morning, well, make lunch a healthy one. You can't change what has already gone, but you can change what you do next.
    - have a look at your routine and see if there is a different way to fit some reguar exercise into your day. I find that I need to exercise in the morning or it will never happen. Can you get up 30 mins earlier and get your workout in then? It might mean less sleep in the am, but you can go to bed earlier and sleep better knowing you have done what you wanted to do. Or can you fit any exercise into your children's routines - can you run along side while they ride to the park or run laps while they are at soccer training? Or, if they are little can you dance around like a mad mummy with them for 15 mins every evening before dinner?
    - the "baby steps" concept is a great one when you are feeling jaded. Pick ONE thing to achieve this week (eat a healthy brekky every day maybe, or walk for 15 mins every morning) and do that. Next week pick another healthy habit and work on that. These habits do add up, but better still they help you reconnect with the reasons why you are doing this and let you feel a sense of achievement.

    Hang in there, you can do it!
  • d3mon4ngel
    d3mon4ngel Posts: 242 Member
    Options
    I found that if I leave the workout til after work, it's more than likely not going to get done. If I want to get anything done, I have to do it before I go out, so I've started getting up an hour or two earlier on my workout days. I don't have kids to worry about though so don't know if this would be feasible for you.
  • writinwater
    writinwater Posts: 52
    Options
    A couple of things that have made a massive difference with my energy levels lately:

    1. Vitamin B - It's amazing stuff, one tablet every morning has made a noticable difference to my day (and incidentally helps your hangover after a big night)!

    2. Having a protein shake before the gym - I used to get home from the gym absolutely wrecked - hungry and grumpy. Now I have a soy-protein shake (120 cals) at about 4pm and then head to the gym straight after work (it's right next to my building so I have to walk past it to get home, which has helped me stick to actually going!) and I seem to have more energy during my work out and after.

    I dont have kids so I cant imagine how much more difficult finding the time to exercise is for you! But I think at the end of the day if you cant work out then you're going to have to make the effort to eat right, and dont forget incidental exercise! Clench those cheeks while your doing the dishes! Do squats and lunges while you vaacum!

    Good luck! :)

    22933621.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter
  • Pablosammy
    Pablosammy Posts: 52 Member
    Options
    I find that getting fitter gives me an amazing feel good factor. The eating well then happens naturally. Instead of focussing on your weight loss, why not set yourself a fitness challenge? Like running a half marathon or something?
  • stuffinmuffin
    stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
    Options
    When I started out on this, I felt motivated by the scale moving down and my clothes getting lose. You don't have to change what you eat, you can opt to eat less of it. You don't have to hit the exercise hard, a calorie deficit alone will make you lose weight.
    I was determined to lose weight I was so fed up with how I looked and felt about myself, I guess I reached a real pivot point. I'd never dieted properly before and I think that MFP really worked for me because it was also a learning game. I started to pay attention to the labelling on foodstuffs in supermarkets, learn the portions of carbohydrates that I was meant to be having - learnt about some horrors in food I would eat without thinking and really found out the value of fruit and veg being low calorie 'fillers/snacks'. I consumed my energy into this rather into moping that I was dieting. Not saying it was easy because it isn't, at times I felt damn miserable and hungry and that's where my MFP friends really came into play. There's a whole heap of people here and if you like them enough not to let them down then you find you wont be letting yourself down either.

    You must also give yourself a treat every now and then. I used to have a weekly 'cheat meal and drinks' with friends, but for this I would save some exercise calories through the week so I wouldn't exceed my Weekly Net Goal. I don't think I could have completed this experience without those nights - I would have ended up a social leper!

    Also believe you can do this! There is a sense of achievement in this journey you just have to be patient, but it will equip you with a way of eating you can use for the rest of your life that will not feel like deprivation.

    I'm about 14 months in and can say this is one of the best things I have done for myself.

    Have faith in yourself. :flowerforyou:
  • sho3girl
    sho3girl Posts: 10,799 Member
    Options
    Being on here's helping, for instance yesterday I had preview tickets for Rock of Ages. Normally I would have got home after 9pm and watched tv but in my attempt to stay on track I made myself do 30 minutes of Zumba ... yes i was hard I was tired but I felt better for doing it.
  • donnab83
    donnab83 Posts: 105 Member
    Options
    .I don't Have kids, but I work shifts, so I kinda understand the tiredness thing. My motivation is to be a better me. Sounds corny I know, but have little victorys! Every lb u lose your on the way...... You didn't put it on in a short amount of time,, it won't come off in a short amount of time, it's gota be a lifestyle change. I used to read these sorts of coments & think ok easier said than done, but unfortunately they are true. & as you have kids, what better way to set them up than to show them how to be healthy, so they won't have the struggles your going through! The liitle victories can be saying no to the cookie, being amazed that you can now do things that you couldn't before, buying a smaller size, what ever. Make it personal. My dr told me I have to lose 5 stone. To be a healthy BMI. I thought he was mad. I can't do that! I'm 1/2 way there! Now I believe in myself & realise that you have to do it for you. ( you mentined you have done it before, you can do it again!) Watch things like the biggest looser, obese a year to save my life. They certainly motivated me. If they can do it so can you! Good luck! X
  • ChantalD75
    ChantalD75 Posts: 680 Member
    Options
    thanks guys!! I am trying to watch what I eat and not go for 2nds anymore. I have 3 kids.. 15, 12 and 10. My goal would be to get up earlier in the morning to get the workout out of the way. But right now I am getting up at the last possible second and having to rush in the morning. My kids are impossible to wake up I am always having to go back and poke them to get up. they do make their own lunches when needed and they do help out with dishes. I think what I need to do is MAKE myself get up ealier and just do it. And then if I still have energy at the end of the day then do a bonus walk or work out. Take the dust of the WII Fit.

    I appreciate all your comments!! :flowerforyou:

    I need to make myself a higher priority before it's too late!
  • flechero
    flechero Posts: 260 Member
    Options
    If you start off slow and make the transition less shocking, you will need far less "will power." Maybe ease into your new calorie goal over a 1-2 week period vs. cutting intake in half, overnight.
  • lisabrezina1980
    lisabrezina1980 Posts: 60 Member
    Options
    I was having a hard time too...and then yesterday something just sort of woke me up. I smoked my last cig (smoked for 17 years over half my life) had my last drink of caffine, and ate my last big meal (ok not forever on the last two), but anyway, this might sound really cheesy, but just try it;go to a mirror and take a good look at yourself. I don't know you or what you look like but I am assuming your not a monster and that you have some nice features..anyway. While looking at yourself, ask yourself what you honestly want to look like, notice how pretty you are and why would you not live up to your full potential in looks? Again unless you are a beast I am sure you are a lovely person, so you can make a choice and settle with the image you see and if you do that accept yourself and be as beautiful as you already are and love yourself. It's a choice, I choose to be fit and stop putting junk into my body, what is the point? I can be beatiful, it's just that I need a little improvement and while I am working on myself I am going to learn and gain more confidence, so basically if I can do it you can too. Just ask yourself, why wouldn't you want to look and feel as good as possible? Seems silly not to...
  • ChantalD75
    ChantalD75 Posts: 680 Member
    Options
    I was having a hard time too...and then yesterday something just sort of woke me up. I smoked my last cig (smoked for 17 years over half my life) had my last drink of caffine, and ate my last big meal (ok not forever on the last two), but anyway, this might sound really cheesy, but just try it;go to a mirror and take a good look at yourself. I don't know you or what you look like but I am assuming your not a monster and that you have some nice features..anyway. While looking at yourself, ask yourself what you honestly want to look like, notice how pretty you are and why would you not live up to your full potential in looks? Again unless you are a beast I am sure you are a lovely person, so you can make a choice and settle with the image you see and if you do that accept yourself and be as beautiful as you already are and love yourself. It's a choice, I choose to be fit and stop putting junk into my body, what is the point? I can be beatiful, it's just that I need a little improvement and while I am working on myself I am going to learn and gain more confidence, so basically if I can do it you can too. Just ask yourself, why wouldn't you want to look and feel as good as possible? Seems silly not to...

    Way to go on quitting smoking!!! Good luck I know it's hard!! My partner quit a few years back. It's not easy!!
  • wrecktechno
    wrecktechno Posts: 145 Member
    Options
    thanks guys!! I am trying to watch what I eat and not go for 2nds anymore. I have 3 kids.. 15, 12 and 10. My goal would be to get up earlier in the morning to get the workout out of the way. But right now I am getting up at the last possible second and having to rush in the morning. My kids are impossible to wake up I am always having to go back and poke them to get up. they do make their own lunches when needed and they do help out with dishes. I think what I need to do is MAKE myself get up ealier and just do it. And then if I still have energy at the end of the day then do a bonus walk or work out. Take the dust of the WII Fit.

    I appreciate all your comments!! :flowerforyou:

    I need to make myself a higher priority before it's too late!

    Your kids are easy old enough to be doing a majority of the chores around the house and make their lunches every day. Don't prod them to get up, they should be getting up of their own accord-if they can't even get out of bed, how will they ever achieve anything! (this is what goes through my head every time I'm tempted to snooze my alarm). You need to make consequences for them not getting up on their own, they're not babies any more-especially because it's affecting your fitness/health regime.

    I've put our rowing/bike machine in front of the TV and now I sit and cycle/row if I want to watch TV-no exercise NO TV (our electricity has been off for 3 days so I sit by candlelight and row at night haha).

    I've heard if you weigh everything, or measure the sizes of food as you serve it onto your plate then once you have your serving size and know your calorie amount, you put the rest in the fridge covered in cling film, then you are unlikely to go back for seconds.
  • blg5
    blg5 Posts: 89 Member
    Options
    You may need a vacation. Do you get vacation days a work? Even if you don't go any where a staycation can help you get caught up on some much needed rest. I have two kids and I know where you are coming from. They seem to wipe out all the energy then you have none left for yourself. A vacation could be just what you need to help reboot your willpower. If you already have daycare I would still let the kids go. Keep a few days to yourself.

Categories