How to stay motivated when goals seem far off

angelb1983

How many days am I going to seem so commited to losing weight, but a week later I binge. I get so tired of being on this cycle. Today I feel really strong, I'm going to eat good and I will lose weight.... BUT I know from the past that it can be just a matter of time before I go on another binge, for a day or week etc (this whole week I have eaten a lot of processed foods and junk food and Im so sick of it and mad at myself)....This may be an issue some of you have never had, please do not be hard on me. But if you have struggled with this problem and beat it, or are still going through it what sorts of things help you?? I would like to lose about 50-60 pounds, I NEED to lose at least 30 to be healthy but even more than losing weight I dont want to feel unhealthy. I dont want to go over sodium limits every day by massive amounts. I just have to get to where I never give up.

LorinaLynn

Break it up into smaller goals. Reward yourself after every 5 pounds or 10, maybe a new haircut/color or a manicure or shoes or earrings.

Find other ways of tracking your progress, too. Photos are the most rewarding for me. Wear minimal clothing and take pictures from every angle. No need to show them to anyone else. Take them again in a month. You'll see a difference. Go by how clothes fit or measurements, too, but personally, I get more excited over "my waist looks smaller" than "I lost a quarter of an inch."

Set fitness goals. I started Couch to 5k when I joined here, so even if my weight loss wasn't keeping me motivated, knowing I couldn't run a quarter of a mile, and four weeks later could run a whole mile, was very motivating.

And maybe recheck your goals. If you're aiming for two pounds a week, switch it to one pound or 1.5 pounds. If you regularly feel more satisfied with the amount of food you're eating, you'll be less likely to binge.

AllTehBeers

I've found that incorporating the things I love into my diet every day keeps me from binging as much. A serving or two and that's it. It works for me. I know that there are a lot of people who eat clean always and that works for them but I like my cakes, ice cream, fast food and booze. I've learned to substitute better things so I still get what I'm craving, just at less calories. Taco bell is pretty much the only fast food I still eat but I get tacos fresco instead of chalupas.

You have to find your own balance from day to day. Keep within your calories and exercise, focusing on making yourself healthy, not all about weight loss. When you balance your nutrients, you'll find that the change will follow. Keep on going in the right direction. I had no idea how to cope with how long it would take me to lose my weight so I told myself I would look at where I am in a year. I was getting fatter and fatter what I was doing before, so changing what I was doing had to end up somewhere, right?

You'll get there, it just takes lots of time and patience.

JesterMFP

-break your goal down into smaller goals that seem more manageable. Focus on the first 10 or 15 pounds first. Perhaps think of a (non food related) reward for when you hit the first goal.

-If you haven't already, take photos now. As you get further along, they will really help to motivate you when you are struggling. Even if you can't see a difference in a mirror, comparing photos can really help.

-write down all the reasons you want to lose the weight, all the reasons you want to be healthy. Stick the list up somewhere you can see every day.

-try to create a diet and lifestyle that you think you can stick with forever. It's wonderful that you're looking to eat better, but don't try to change everything all at once, as you're much more likely to burn out and fall off the wagon. Try not to look at it as even being "on the wagon". Make small, gradual changes that you can sustain. I started off just sticking to the calorie goal, but eating whatever I wanted to in the meantime. That way, I didn't feel like I was depriving myself, and the urge to binge was greatly reduced. As time has gone on, I've started looking at ways to tweak my diet. I've increased the protein I'm getting, I try to get more fibre in too. I still struggle with the amount of sugar I eat, but my sodium levels are pretty good. Recently, I realised I don't get enough potassium, so that's my focus for now. I still eat all the things I like to eat, but the things that are higher in calories etc, I just eat them less often and in smaller portions.

-don't be so hard on yourself. No one's perfect and for many of us, food is a big issue. If you've had a lifetime of eating a certain way, and especially if you use food as a comfort, then it's really, really hard to change that. Not impossible though, and it sounds like you're already making really good changes. Your profile says "one pound at a time". That's a great attitude. Take it one day at a time, too. Try to be a bit kinder to yourself.

-Just don't give up. Success isn't about never falling down, it's about making sure that every time you fall, you get back up again.

-if you really have a problem with bingeing or emotional overeating, there are a lot of good books on the subject that can help you develop a better relationship with food. If it's really bad, consider getting some professional help with it. There's no shame in that, and it might make your weight loss process a lot easier.

MaraDiaz

Break it up into smaller goals. Reward yourself after every 5 pounds or 10, maybe a new haircut/color or a manicure or shoes or earrings.

Find other ways of tracking your progress, too. Photos are the most rewarding for me. Wear minimal clothing and take pictures from every angle. No need to show them to anyone else. Take them again in a month. You'll see a difference. Go by how clothes fit or measurements, too, but personally, I get more excited over "my waist looks smaller" than "I lost a quarter of an inch."

Set fitness goals. I started Couch to 5k when I joined here, so even if my weight loss wasn't keeping me motivated, knowing I couldn't run a quarter of a mile, and four weeks later could run a whole mile, was very motivating.

And maybe recheck your goals. If you're aiming for two pounds a week, switch it to one pound or 1.5 pounds. If you regularly feel more satisfied with the amount of food you're eating, you'll be less likely to binge.

All good advice here.

RedWeb

Break it up into smaller goals.

What she said.

Don't set your ultimate end point as your goal. First goal should be to lose x pounds, next goal y pounds. A goal may be going from obese to overweight in the BMI chart. Structure goals so they are never too far away.

kornmaiden

Reward yourself in non-food ways and set small goals of 5 to 10 or even 1 or two pounds. Good to have non weight goals too like giving up diet soda or processed foods. Do this a day at a time and make it into a new hobby - you can do this. I followed this and have lost 75 pounds since April of 2011, I still have a way to go but I know I will make it.

Txnurse97

I've struggled with binge eating for years. Still do from time to time. What finally got me over the hump was seeing a counselor and just staying away from it completely.

I started talking to a counselor about my eating habits last year. Her first request of me was to stick to 1800 or less calories a day, and to not eat any fast food. I was to see her again in a week and tell her how I did. I'm not saying you have to see a counselor, but maybe talk to someone you're close to and trust and "report" back to them. It worked for me because I had to be accountable to someone else.

And I also have to stay away from it. I can't have "just a small serving" of the foods that set me off. It's such a mind game with me. If I eat a little, I'll feel guilty which then sets my emotional eating cycle in motion. Feel guilty, eat badly, feel more guilty, eat more badly. I've discovered that it's best just not to eat it at all.

Now that I've lost weight, I still binge from time to time, but it's even more apparent how gross I feel and how it affects my health for days afterwards. So that's added incentive to stay away from it.

Good luck!

summergrl17

I know exactly what you mean...I've done the same yo-yo dieting for too many years and am now heavier than I ever was - well now that I'm 8 lbs down - I'm not at my heaviest weight anymore :happy: . I think I may have found a plan I can live with that's helped me lose the 8 lbs in 6 weeks which is exceeding my goal to lose 1lb a week. It's Chris Powell's Choose to Lose. I have found it to be the easiest, most balanced eating plan - it even includes simple exercises you can do in your living room 3 days a week for 10 minutes which i find very doable before work. But, the reason the plan really works for me is on Sundays, I can eat whatever I want because its is a free eating, no exercise day. Knowing that I can have whatever I want one day a week, I can stick with it the plan fairly closely the other 6 days. I haven't even incorporated the cardio exercise yet and I've exceeded my goal of a pound a week. At first, I'd start planning on Wednesday what I was going to eat on Sunday but now I don't even think about it much until Saturday. I won't tell you what I've eaten today on my free day but I am satisfying my craving for sweets and chocolate...

The other thing that has helped me tremendously is tracking my food here in MFP. I'm getting better and better at staying within my calorie limit. I also use My Blog as a daily journal to record my thoughts, frustrations and victories each day and goals for the next day or week.

Lastly, I tell myself when i look in the mirror and still see a fat lady, that if I continue following this plan, in one year, I will be 52 pounds skinnier. One year seems like a long ways away but it's really not. I've always been impatient when it came to losing weight because "I want to be skinny now!" and deprive myself but it always backfired because I'd only gain it all back and more because I couldn't stand to continue depriving myself of the food i loved. This time I not only want to lose weight but I want to make it a lifestyle change - something I can do for the rest of my life. When I lost 3 lbs this week, I got really anxious that I was losing too fast and going to gain it all back next week. I actually had to calculate how many calories I would have to eat for 7 days to gain back the 3 pounds (a 1000 more a day that i'm already eating) before I calmed down and enjoyed my weight loss.

Lastly, be your own best friend and cheer leader. We all do better with encouragement than with criticism. Acknowledge and take joy in every success no matter how small. No matter what weight you are, you are a terrific person!

rmn1972

Several people have replied with basically the same advice: Break it up into smaller more manageable goals.
Good advice! Also find NON FOOD rewards for reaching a goal. Remember, food has been the problem so why use it as a reward?
I just tarted a few weeks ago and I set my exercise goal as 30 minutes ofr stationary bike riding a day, 5 days a week. Now that I have gotten in the habit of regular exercise, I ride the bike 60 minutes in the morning, 7 days a week and an additional 20-30 minutes in the weekday evenings.
Good habits take a while to become routines so do your best to establish those things that you want to make a part of the rest of your healthy life.