Have you seen my motivation? I seem to have lost it

The subject says it all....
I could quite happily give excuses (most of which dont have much to do with me like burning tyres and protests!) but I want to know...

What do you do to re-motivate yourself? When your reaching for the chocolate... how do you stop yourself?

HELP!!!
Im off the wagon! BIGTIME!!

Replies

  • HAPage24
    HAPage24 Posts: 33 Member
    I feel like I am in the same boat. Anxious to see the responses you get on this.
  • estrange22
    estrange22 Posts: 210 Member
    I log-in to my tumblr and look at muffintopless blog....extremely inspirational. Also I put it on my profile so my mfp friend pu can make fun of me....always fires me up lol!
  • pinthin87
    pinthin87 Posts: 296 Member
    This is going to sound terrible, but sometimes I just look around me. There are several people at my job that are overweight and sometimes I just look at them and think I never want to let eating take me to that place. Then it is easy to resist bad food.
  • Zombierawr
    Zombierawr Posts: 95 Member
    I've started watching Extreme Makeover: Weightloss edition. Very hard to look at yourself in the mirror and not go workout or eat right after seeing what those people do in a year. Plus I bawl the entire time. Since it comes on once a week, it comes just in time for me to start my "Ehhhhhhhh do I want to work out?"
  • FrauHausMaus
    FrauHausMaus Posts: 194
    I fell off the wagon for almost a year... It took my step dad's death to shake me back to sense.
    Start off slow, think about how great you feel when you work out and eat right. I've being counting calories and working out for a week (just a week!) and my fat pants are already getting too big!
    You can do it... it's so worth it!!!

    And you know what, go ahead a reach for the chocolate, but count it!!
  • cerdmann
    cerdmann Posts: 60
    I believe your motivation ran away with mine and they're on quite the binge! I have to physically put something over, on top of, or in front of the chocolate to make me stop and think as I'm reaching for it. Right now there's a baseball cap over the chocolate basket at work. If I have to move something to get to it then I tend to realize what I'm doing. It's not mindless anymore... I'm making a bad choice and I know it! It doesn't always stop me but at least I can't claim that I didn't even realize I was doing it! Good luck and hang in there!
  • Excellentia
    Excellentia Posts: 182
    Have you checked under the couch?

    On the real, read some of these posts and you'll get it back. QUICKLY! :laugh:
  • WhitneyT586
    WhitneyT586 Posts: 279 Member
    I'm trying to find mine again too. I start out great in the mornings, lunch is pretty good, and then something during the afternoon turns my day upside down. If my plans get off course, my focus strays and I find myself reaching for whatever is easy for dinner, burger, pizza, whatever. I'm great when I have a schedule for my day, but once that schedule changes, I falter. Hopefully someone will have a few helpful ideas to push us through this.
  • kacinace
    kacinace Posts: 70 Member
    I head to the success stories board - that ALWAYS motivates me because I want to be able to post mine someday! I also find that focusing on a small, easily obtainable goal to work back into it helps - more water, more produce, more moving, etc.
  • chachita7
    chachita7 Posts: 996 Member
    I usually don't... i have the chocolate then I continue going - one chocolate doesn't make you fall off the wagon. I try to find my motivation each day by reminding myself what my ultimate goal is and by setting small goals for the day... too much at once will make me fall flat
  • dlavato
    dlavato Posts: 22
    To tell you the truth I have lost my motivation a lot lately but I just keep plugging away because I know I have to, I do not want to gain the weight back. So what I try to do is mix up my workouts try something new like right now I am trying running not very good at it but trying it anyway. Just keeping busy is the key to losing weight.

    I know I made a comment to my husband last night about why does it have to be so hard to lose weight why can't it just be easy it is easy to gain the weight why can't it come off easy as well. :( He just said you are doing awesome keep up the good work.

    As for the chocolate I reach for the chocolate and make sure I mark it on my log, I find that if I am craving something I need to eat it or I will find myself eating way more than I should at a different time. And if you log it than you know you are accountable for it. I know this may not help much but just keep up the good work!!
  • DeeVanderbles
    DeeVanderbles Posts: 589 Member
    I remember why I wanted to do this in the first place. It's one thing to consider "Yeah, it might be nice to...." but it's quite another to actually take the steps and begin getting to that goal. Why you wanted to do this in the first place was enough to get you moving once, perhaps it will a second time.

    I also may print this quote out on some pretty paper and frame it. "Focus on how far you have come, not on how far you have left to go." That quote works for those of us just starting out as well because simply deciding to change your lifestyle and beginning to change it is a long way from just sitting there and ignoring it.
  • bthumudo
    bthumudo Posts: 79 Member
    I have the worst picture of myself, that helped to kickstart me in the first place, on my fridge. Nice big 8x10 showing how horrible I looked. Everytime I want a snack, ice cream, whatever, I have to look at that picture. It helps me rethink my decision and reach for a piece of fruit instead and a big glass of water.

    One thing I found that helps those cravings, especially at night, is I bought an air popper. I pop a bowl of popcorn, and they have all different kinds of toppings to add to them. One that I found is great for that sweet and salty fix is adding salt to the popcorn then chocolate shavings. Helps satisfy your sweet tooth and should help those cravings.

    Hope this helps. Plus blogging about it and getting the motivation on here like you are doing now is huge!

    Good luck and keep it up! You can do this!!!
  • tocara
    tocara Posts: 81 Member
    I need motivation too! I have found that accountability works really well for me. If I know I have to fess up to someone at the end of the day then I am less likely to veer off path.

    I do not have anyone to be accountable to right now in this weight loss journey of mine.

    If anyone wants to be accountability buddies (how dumb does that sound).... i would like that very much.

    My name is Cara, I am 5'3", 153 lbs, I live in canada... I have been yo-yoing for over 3 years now and have just signed up today. So far the first 3 hours of my day I have eaten well.... but i know I will face lots of challenges.... like breaking the habit of grabbing a tim hortons coffee on my way to work (in 30 minutes).

    Hope to hear from someone! -thx
  • LooseWheel
    LooseWheel Posts: 211 Member
    Hey my dear. It does tend to come go. Firstly, get angry. Swearing helps. That motivation needs to be scared into coming back and doing as its told. Next. Open the window and throw the chocolates a long long long way away. Or put them in the back of the fridge :)

    I've hit a weight loss and motivation plateau.

    Back to square one. Gotta write down what it is you want. Set your goals so you can see them. What do you want to achieve. A specific weight, an outfit, car, holiday, career. All the things you want to achieve with no set time limit. Get pictures of them and put them all on a poster sized piece of cardboard. In the centre get a piccy of you at a prior weight you were happy with. Or a pic of a woman's physique you really like and are motivated towards having yourself. There's a few female fitness guru's with really nice body's. Its all for motivation. In the centre of this poster, you need to write out in large words your personal mantra. Something you can see and read every single day.

    Mine says, "You are a strong beautiful independant woman". Pick something that suits mate.

    They say 'you are what you eat. It also works for 'you are what you say'. If you have negative thoughts and sayings such as "I'm fat", swap it for a positive, "I'm ok". This thought process change can really truly work after time.

    Gonna keep watching this for more ideas myself now :)

    Take the time to re-assess what it is you want. Plan set goal.

    Good luck!
  • aussieems
    aussieems Posts: 14 Member
    Thank you so much for all your great ideas and talkings to! Its comforting to hear sometimes that you are not alone...

    Im off to get a fat picture to put on my fridge and have just put dish washign liquid all over the cookies id started to scoff!! no way ill go back for them!
    I think im just impatient... and when I decide I want something - i want it NOW!!! lol.

    Thanks again all!
  • Excellentia
    Excellentia Posts: 182
    Nope. That's why we're here! All of us are in this together and, while some may think this site is a bit cheesy or whatever, I've found REAL support and find myself on here more than that OTHER site that has friends that make comments and things of that nature... :wink:

    Feel free to add me as a friend. Did you have to CLEAN THE COOKIES before you tossed them?! :laugh:
  • Beezil
    Beezil Posts: 1,677 Member
    I think about how much hard work and time it has taken me to get to my goals and then I think long and hard about how much that means to me. It's just not worth it for a few weeks or a few months of pigging out on crap and being lazy. All it ever gets you is pain, regret, and health problems. Don't let yourself slip down that hill, it's so much harder to climb back up again!!!