how do you guys keep from being discouraged?

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kamp150
kamp150 Posts: 75 Member
in Motivation and Support
the subject pretty much explains itself.
«1

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  • 2essie
    2essie Posts: 2,863 Member
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    I put the blinkers on and look past anything or anyone that tries to dicourage me. There is only one path to go down. Look straight ahead and keep going down your own path. I suppose another name for it is willpower.
  • RECowgill
    RECowgill Posts: 881 Member
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    Don't get intimidated by anything- other people, discouraging ideas or comments, life in general. Always keep pushing forward. Do things because they're hard, not because they're convenient.

    I also have some good music to keep me going. Find stuff that's motivational for you and listen to it over and over again. Right now for me there's only a few albums I really want to listen to when working out, makes it easier when you have fewer decisions to make.

    And that's another thing I find can make exercise more possible, find ways to make it more accessible/easier to do. Eliminate things that force you to waste energy and thinking leading up to doing it. This can actually just be a collection of simple and minor things you can do like having your gym clothes picked out the day before.

    I'm sure other people here have better advice than me!
  • jlohcook
    jlohcook Posts: 228 Member
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    Focus on my goal, focus on the end in mind, thinking about my wonderful future that I will have when I continue to be healthy, remember that I still have a lot of things that I still want to achieve in life......
  • AggieFan2011
    AggieFan2011 Posts: 551 Member
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    One of the biggest motivators for me when I feel like giving up is looking through the "success stories" message board and seeing all of the amazing results that everyone has achieved and reminding myself that I have a choice to either keep working towards reaching my goal and being able to post my own success story or just give up and stay how I am... Trust me the first option wins in my mind every single time!

    Also, remember that everyone has bad days where they don't work out even though they should have or they go over way over on their calories. It happens. You can't let it ruin your motivation. You just have to shake it off and pick it all back up the next day and continue on your weight loss journey.

    Lastly, my friends on MFP are a huge factor in keeping from being discouraged. Having people who are motivating and encouraging me on a daily basis is such an amazing feeling! I suggest joining some groups on here, possibly find some of the mini challenges you can be a part of, and meeting people. It will really help you to keep up with logging your food and often make you feel more accountable to exercise as well.

    I've only been on MFP for about 6 weeks so I'm not an expert or anything, but I hope that this helped some. :smile:
  • chubbygirl253
    chubbygirl253 Posts: 1,309 Member
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    I look at how far I've come. I keep my eye on the prize. I approach my weightloss goal with pitbull-like tenacity: nothing will stop me. I have broken my ginormous goal of losing 180 lbs into smaller chunks, little manageable mini goals I can tackle one at a time. I have a whole list of milestones between my start weight and my goal weight that I like to check off as I meet them. Fitness has been the key for me. I set physical challenges for myself because I have more control over food and fitness than I do the scale. I don't let myself get upset by the scale because I take measurements at the end of every month. The scale moved slowly for me last month but I still lost 12.5 inches in November alone. I am accomplishing physical goals I didn't think I'd be able to do until much closer to goal. Like running my first 5k on Dec 1st! I celebrate every single victory. I remind myself that this won't be easy but it will be worth it. I remind myself how I want to look in my wedding dress in 8 months. Giving up is not an option. I already feel and look so much better and I'm just shy of the 1/3 mark. Imagine how much better I'll look and feel at the halfway point, and so on. This is hard. But I can do it. I AM doing it. And that is empowering. I'm worth all this hard work and effort and I love myself and my life enough to save it. I am transforming myself into the fit person I want to be.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,574 Member
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    Think about how fortunate you really are. If you have working limbs, can walk, have decent health, etc. you have the ABILITY to change. There are so many out there that DON'T have this chance due to accident, genetics, birth issues or health issues that debilitated them. DON'T TAKE YOUR GOOD FORTUNE FOR GRANTED.

    Now suck it up and get back to work.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • chubbygirl253
    chubbygirl253 Posts: 1,309 Member
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    One thing I want to add that I forgot to mention in my post is that I surround myself with positive people. Especially my friends list on here. Constantly hearing people talk about wanting to quit or complaining it's too hard brings me down. I want to be a support to my friends but not at the cost of my own success. This is hard enough and staying positive is important. I dont feel any better equipped to commiserate with negative people on here any more than a recovering drug addict should be surrounding themselves with junkies. It's a slippery slope and I can't let anyone distract me. Stay positive! If you think you can't do it, you probably won't.
  • chubbygirl253
    chubbygirl253 Posts: 1,309 Member
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    Think about how fortunate you really are. If you have working limbs, can walk, have decent health, etc. you have the ABILITY to change. There are so many out there that DON'T have this chance due to accident, genetics, birth issues or health issues that debilitated them. DON'T TAKE YOUR GOOD FORTUNE FOR GRANTED.

    Now suck it up and get back to work.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    Love it! We all gotta learn to suck it up and get back to work!
  • chatswithpets
    chatswithpets Posts: 27 Member
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    I'm boring as.

    Weight loss is just a side benefit to better health for me. I'm not looking at things like I'm on a diet. I'm looking at it from the perspective of....is this a healthy choice for me.

    Ofcourse I need to lose weight and a lot of it! But I know that if I focussed on that and that alone, I'm doomed to fail.

    So I decided to sit back and ask myself the question....how do I want to be living my life? What do I need to do know, that is in alignment with the way I want to be living my future life?

    I plan to be doing tomorrow and in the years to come, what I'm doing today. So I choose exercise and food options that I know I can follow through on in a sustained and committed way.
  • 165ordietrying
    165ordietrying Posts: 31 Member
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    You don't keep from being discouraged, or feeling guilt from eating too much or skipping exercise etc. etc. etc. You just keep on keeping on. Don't focus so much on how you feel, instead focus on what you know. You know if you keep doing what you are supposed to....eventually you will get to where you need to be.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    For me personally..... I was discouraged all the time because I didn't want to do the work. Logically I knew that I was the only one who could do it, nobody can do it for me. I really had to absorb that, no matter how hard it is, no matter how long it takes, it is all up to me. And nobody can stop me but me. So, go get it, even if I fall down sometimes, don't beat myself up, keep going, try to make every day better until you start seeing small successes.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    Because I have goals. So long as I have a goal, then I will keep working until I achieve it.
  • Spokez70
    Spokez70 Posts: 548 Member
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    Approach your eating and exercise plan in moderation- I think a lot of people start out guns blazing with too many eating restrictions and too ambitious an exercise routine and just burn out fast. Take it slow and steady with a plan you can maintain long term. Before long you will be through the first few months and you start seeing actual results- feeling better- looking better- people noticing- that is what has fueled me to keep pushing myself forward. Good luck!
  • RhonndaJ
    RhonndaJ Posts: 1,615 Member
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    I don't.

    I get discouraged. Which is why I read here, and why I keep a journal, and why I work hard on setting myself realistic goals, so I have places and things to look back on to see that I've made progress.

    And some days I just go with the cliche 'fake it until you make it'.

    Being discouraged is a fact of life, just don't let it be an end point.
  • RhonndaJ
    RhonndaJ Posts: 1,615 Member
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    Think about how fortunate you really are. If you have working limbs, can walk, have decent health, etc. you have the ABILITY to change. There are so many out there that DON'T have this chance due to accident, genetics, birth issues or health issues that debilitated them. DON'T TAKE YOUR GOOD FORTUNE FOR GRANTED.

    Now suck it up and get back to work.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    I may love you.
  • sunsnstatheart
    sunsnstatheart Posts: 2,544 Member
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    Think about how fortunate you really are. If you have working limbs, can walk, have decent health, etc. you have the ABILITY to change. There are so many out there that DON'T have this chance due to accident, genetics, birth issues or health issues that debilitated them. DON'T TAKE YOUR GOOD FORTUNE FOR GRANTED.

    Now suck it up and get back to work.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    Seriously - look at the ones in the gym in wheelchairs still using free weights, the combat vet without legs on the floor using rings for pushups, the cancer survivor pushing out one last rep with the kettle bells. I've seen these these winners in nearly every gym I've used. Every time I see one I think holy hell I wish I had their guts. Get to it!
  • sunsnstatheart
    sunsnstatheart Posts: 2,544 Member
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    on second thought just go look at the "18 months ago I was paralyzed" link.
  • martintanz
    martintanz Posts: 280
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    Think about how fortunate you really are. If you have working limbs, can walk, have decent health, etc. you have the ABILITY to change. There are so many out there that DON'T have this chance due to accident, genetics, birth issues or health issues that debilitated them. DON'T TAKE YOUR GOOD FORTUNE FOR GRANTED.

    Now suck it up and get back to work.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    This, and you have youth. The body can adapt to positive changes in diet and exercise more easily when you are young. And in the scheme of things, you only have a modest amount of weight to lose. 4, maybe 5 months of healthy eating and regular exercise and you should be right where you need to be.
  • ggof
    ggof Posts: 41
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    the one most important thing in ur life is ur health ....... and i was determined to prove to myself that i could achieve what i really wanted for myself .. and once i started fixing my weight, other things started to change and fall into place too .. it's like those who say they were enlightened .. i was too .. by getting into better shape and health .. good luck ..
  • Erisad
    Erisad Posts: 1,580
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    I started taking monthly progress photos. When I'm discouraged, I can page through them and see how far I have come. That usually does the trick. :)

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