How Do You Stay Motivated?

sd101483

I have been overweight all of my life, losing here and there only to gain it back. I finally lost about 40 lbs several years ago but got side tracked by nursing school. I managed to keep that weight off, but didn't lose anymore. Got back at it last year and got down to my lowest weight, despite being on depo @ that point and having a heck of a time. This year started off on the wrong foot and continued on a downard slope and I got off depo to try to aid in weight loss, only to have a huge rebound gain from a combo of going off of that and stress, etc. I gained about 30 lbs in 3 months. DEPRESSING Since June, I'm down 20 and have hit a plateau, which is frustrating. I'm happy I'm not gaining, but annoyed I'm not losing. It's becomming harder and harder to stay motivated these days. I want so badly to be healthy, but when you aren't seeing results and/or it goes the other way, it's hard to stay on track! I'm doing my best,and am committed to Turbo Fire right now and loving it. I'm just curious what some of you use as tactics to stay motivated? Blogs, journals, videos, pictures, quotes, workout buddies, etc? All thoughts, ideas, suggestions, friends, etc, are welcome!

mmapags

For me, it has nothing to do with staying motivated. It has to do with deciding. Once I've decided that something is important, it gets done. No angst. No conflict. No searching for motivation. It's like the saying from Yoda - Do or do not.

Crystal_Pistol

For me, it has nothing to do with staying motivated. It has to do with deciding. Once I've decided that something is important, it gets done. No angst. No conflict. No searching for motivation. It's like the saying from Yoda - Do or do not.

I SUCK, but this is what I do to stay in the game and not TOTALLY disappear. I celebrate my success, small as they are sometimes. Right now, I'm meeting my weekly caloric intake goal. That's IT. You know what? I could be doing NOTHING though, so I'll take it.

I love the Yoda quote (surprising, isn't it?)

Do or do not, there is no try.

MinnieInMaine

I have to agree with mmapags as well. If you really want it, you will do it. Even if it's just meeting one small goal like Crystal_Pisto is doing. You have to decide on a reasonable goal and make your mind up to do it. I'd recommend not maknig it so many pounds per week though - that can be tough especially if you're not able to control your food choices. Instead say you'll exercise so many days per week or stay in your calorie goal so many days per week. If you do those two things, the weight loss will naturally happen.

I will say though, having a workout buddy can really help IF they're as motivated as you are. I've had some in the past that said they wanted to work out and had all these big plans but didn't follow through, or at least no farther than a couple weeks in. This taught me that I can't rely on anyone else to be my motivation - we all have to rely solely on ourselves. If you have a good workout buddy that encourages you, that's fantastic BUT you can't lean on that too much because if something happens and that stops, where are you left? Depend on yourself, encourage yourself, love yourself enough to know this is what you need to do.

It's tough when you're young and there's all kinds of social things and class and studying to juggle. But in fact, this is the best time for you to learn how to juggle all those things because it's only going to get more complicated with a job and family and a social life and after school sports and PTA and whatever else.

needles85365

Being healthy is more that just eating lower calories. Are you active, can you walk upstairs without being short of breath. Can you make the decision to walk 2 blocks instead of driving it, are you sleeping, is your skin healthy. These are how I measure success when the scale says I'm doing nothing. You have had success already, your in school, you maintained and then lost the weight you gained. Don't be discouraged, make the decision to make it happen and then do it.

FabulouslyFitTam

It's SO hard for me to stay motivated. I had this discussion yesterday about when I first joined Weight Watchers in Jan. 2011 - I was so motivated! I didn't eat junk food, stopped drinking sodas and worked out 5 times each week, rain or shine. NOW - I have to force myself to not go to McDonald's. But I would say a lot of the time when I do make the right decisions, it's out of frustration. My clothes starting to fit snug or bathing suit season always makes me want to get back in line.

In general - I get some friends who aren't afraid to tell me the real deal about myself. Let me know when I'm supposed to stay on track and focused but not in a degrading way. I think having the right support really helps.

Oh - and recently becoming a personal trainer is forcing me to workout because I can't gain like 30 pounds and train other people!

nancybuss

I need friends. I Want this, but its hard to always want it! I have a FB group of friends all trying to do similar things and having to 'check in' is an extra motivator for me. The same with coming here. seeing others doing it, I know I can to!

Feel free to friend me if you'd like.

ExWallStreetGuy

I also have trouble staying motivated especially when I'm depressed or over worked ( as I am now). Glad I'm not alone.