HOW do you STAY motivated????

JustANumber85

I stay motivated but wanting it. I want to lose weight. I want to be healthier so i have to just keep on.

LuvHinesWard86

I just recently got my motivation back. After losing 52.4 pounds and gaining 16 back over about 18 months I looked at myself in the mirror told myself I refuse to allow this and I've been doing better. Not every day better but better than I have been. It's hard to stay on the wagon all the time. You really have to want it.

swarovski75

I like this question. For me, it's about keeping it light and fun. I see way too many people stress out over a bad day or a weekend binge or red numbers in the food log. For me, I just try to have more good days than bad days and never, ever, EVER worry about what I ate yesterday or last week. Every morning my diary is at zero, and I put a food plan together that will let me enjoy eating and stay near my goal. Notice I didn't say under goal. Just near my goal is all I ever shoot for. Try to make your weight loss a fun game, not an arduous chore. I *STAY* motivated because I don't let what happened the day before demotivate me.

PS. I just realized I could use some additional motivation. If all the women that get motivated by walking around naked would share their "motivation" with me via PM, that would be incredibly "motivating". Thanks in advance!

Even though I answered nekkedness (and I mean that...) this is a far superior response ;-). The day I stopped kicking myself in th *kitten* over bad days/weeks and realized that a lifetime is a long time, and I am going to have off days sometimes...THAT was when I found my "everyday" motivation. I needed to let go of guilt and stop beating myself up, because as long as I have more good days than bad days, I am still winning. So now when I have a bad day...meh. I just let it go and wake up the next morning still feeling like a champ, not a failure...

quirkytizzy

A friend of mine here said motivation is nice, but it is patience and endurance that gets us through the rest. I really liked that. My motivation comes and goes. But with patience and just doing the next right thing, day after day, it will be okay. Someone else also said that you just do the right thing and wait. It will show up eventually. That helps me have faith in what I am doing.

Sometimes finding the ways to measure our progress is also a big way to stay motivated. The scale has only shown 5 pounds lost, but I've lost 4 inches already. If I just went by the scale, I'd have given up. My clothes fit better, I can bring my belt in - the smaller victories are what keep us going - and that's okay.

DavPul

I like this question. For me, it's about keeping it light and fun. I see way too many people stress out over a bad day or a weekend binge or red numbers in the food log. For me, I just try to have more good days than bad days and never, ever, EVER worry about what I ate yesterday or last week. Every morning my diary is at zero, and I put a food plan together that will let me enjoy eating and stay near my goal. Notice I didn't say under goal. Just near my goal is all I ever shoot for. Try to make your weight loss a fun game, not an arduous chore. I *STAY* motivated because I don't let what happened the day before demotivate me.

PS. I just realized I could use some additional motivation. If all the women that get motivated by walking around naked would share their "motivation" with me via PM, that would be incredibly "motivating". Thanks in advance!

Even though I answered nekkedness (and I mean that...) this is a far superior response ;-). The day I stopped kicking myself in th *kitten* over bad days/weeks and realized that a lifetime is a long time, and I am going to have off days sometimes...THAT was when I found my "everyday" motivation. I needed to let go of guilt and stop beating myself up, because as long as I have more good days than bad days, I am still winning. So now when I have a bad day...meh. I just let it go and wake up the next morning still feeling like a champ, not a failure...

this is nice and all but i hope it doesn't supersede the nekkidness

JamieG8991

Because I don't want the health issues of members of my family to become my health issues, too. Also, my 23 and 21 year old sons, they are always cheering me on and telling me that they're proud of me. :bigsmile:

belladonna786

I look in the mirror and I know I'm better than what's looking back at me.

NCchar130

I am in awe of the people that I see on here and in the news that decided to lose weight and just DO it!!! I find myself unable to stay committed for more than 2 weeks.I have good intentions and feel really strongly but then BOOM I am "off the wagon". I feel disgusted by my lack of will power and inability to stay on track. After a few weeks of feeling like a complete failure I try again but this has been the process for me for YEARS!!! How do you STAY committed????? Why, in the moment, is the food so much more important to me than my health or desire to be thin???? Any help would be so appreciated!

That's a hard question to answer! But I bet most people on MFP have tried and failed (or tried, succeeded, then failed) many times. Eventually, it just sort of 'clicks' in your head.

It helps to come up with every reason in the world you want it, both the profound reasons (doing it for your health, your kids, etc) and the "shallow" reasons. They're all perfectly acceptable :bigsmile:

But after that, the staying on track and being in it for the long haul is trickier. Some things that have been different for me this time (mentally) that I think have made a difference:

1) I have no timeline. I'm not trying to lose it all by a certain date or for a certain event or anything like that. I've been here almost 5 months to get halfway to goal. If it takes another full year to arrive at goal, that's cool.

2) Previous diets/exercise plans I've done were not well-thought out. I would exercise to exhaustion or try eliminating certain foods completely, stuff that I couldn't stick with for the long term. This time, I'm basically doing the "If it fits, I'll eat it" plan for my diet (with a goal of eating 'clean') and I try to exercise about 30 minutes a day (never more than 40). I feel like I could eat and exercise this way forever and I don't feel deprived or depleted (most of the time).

3) I celebrate every little win. Lifting more weight, running an extra 5 minutes, running 1 mile 20 seconds faster than last time, smaller pants, 1.4 pounds lost this week, loose wedding rings. At goal or not, I'm going to enjoy every single success, no matter how small. In the past, it was more of an attitude of "who cares, I'm still fat and until I'm NOT, I'm not allowed to celebrate."

4) I've educated myself as much as possible about weight loss and calorie intake and when I go way over my calorie goal or eat Thanksgiving dinner or go out for the office Christmas party, I just enjoy it and move on. In the past, that would be a guilt-inducing crisis that would result in me giving up, because oh well, I "messed up" and now I've proven I can't do it anyway, back to normal! I'd been losing weight at about 7 pounds a month average since starting. In the last 4 weeks, I've lost 4.4 pounds. I've gone over my goal more days than not thanks to the holidays. But I'm still losing weight so that means I'm still winning the game :drinker: And since there will always be holidays and birthdays and date nights and so on, this does not discourage me anymore, it actually encourages me to know I can do this sometimes and not gain it back!

Sorry so long, I hope something in there might help you to find your inner motivation. Motivational friends are great but ultimately no one can do it but you. Best of luck to you! :flowerforyou:

BeyondThePixels

I try not to think about it too much. My motivation is to have endurance while running. I like to participate in various community events to keep myself working towards my goals (30 min 5k or 10k in one hour). Eating clean has been my challenge for the last two months... I need to get back on it. Been loosing but slowly.

myogibbs

I agree with the ones that have said that you CAN do this....nothing worth having is easy. What has helped me is making friends at my gym that keep me accountable. If you track your food on mfp, you will start seeing how many calories and fat are in the stuff...particularly fast food & if you are like me, you begin to realize that it just isn't worth it. I also grossed myself out with the whole pink slime in the hamburgers thing...on purpose...and I can NOT bear to eat fast food now. You begin to see that if you eat healthy, you CAN have tasty stuff...and actually more food. If you are an emotional eater like me, try chewing gum or drinking water. Sometimes we are actually thirsty instead of hungry. Do exercises in the commercial breaks between shows. Challenge yourself to how many crunches/push ups/planks...you can do until your show comes back on. That will also keep you out of the kitchen.
I would also suggest that you go somewhere quiet and think about what your triggers are...why do you quit? what makes you "cheat"? Is there something active....or at least not food related...that you could do instead when you have a trigger? Yes, there is willpower, but it is also a commitment...because if you just diet, you will go back to your unhealthy ways as soon as the diet is over. It is a lifestyle choice...and YOU are WORTH it...Good luck to you

Lalouse

Forget that you fall "off the wagon". There is no wagon.

If you have a bad day, and we all do, where you eat a whole pizza or something, not only is the next day a brand new day, but the next meal is a brand new meal. So if you pigged out for lunch, you can just say, "That's okay" I'm going to eat a good dinner. Or if your whole day was yummies and desserts , then your next day is a brand new chance.

If you did poorly on Friday, don't say, I'll just start again on Monday. No! Start again in the next hour of that very same day. This is a lifestyle change, not a temp diet.. so having treats and bad days is part of this lifelong ride!

yoovie

Sometimes I feel like a fraud, because I don't have a set and consistent steadily climbing gym training program, or because Im not very serious, or not as serious as I should be about all this stuff. By serious I dont mean I dont take it seriously, I mean - Im not all business about it. I dont super restrict my diet, I dont beat myself up over crap days, I dont sit in the dark and feel guilty when I miss workouts for a week. I dont have textbook losses and progress you can set your watch to. Im not good at everything just because I want to be or try to be, sometimes Im so much weaker than I think I am and its disheartening.

but i always want to get better. i always want to see what my body and i can do together next. i always want to improve myself the hard way. i always want to see what i will look like in the next phase. I honestly believe that i can do anything if I fill my heart with it and just let that guide my feet.

Because it wont be motivation that gets me up early, or gets me to walk into a new gym that I cant bond with... I always want it. Motivation is always there.

Its my self discipline that I have to focus on. Maybe you too?

MemphisKitten

It takes 21 days to form a habit, so 2 weeks isn't long enough. Make small changes at first; this is not a competition or a race to get thin. This is a lifestyle change. Anyone can lose weight, but it takes effort and resilience to maintain the loss and become healthy.

nancycaregiver

It was kinda easy at first but after a little while you start having a hard time sticking with it. Then I look at how far I've come. Even early on, when I had lost 15 or 20 pounds. I didn't look at how far I had to go. I just kept looking at how far I've come. I don't want to go back. I know how quickly I can gain back what took me so long to lose! I'm not going back! Not this time!! You can do it! You've already lost 10 pounds! Don't undo that! You can do it! You know you will be healthier in the long run and you are adding years to your life! YOU CAN DO IT!!

Molly_Maguire

This may sound really shallow...but buy a lot of mirrors! I have them everywhere in my house, and every time I walk past one I'm reminded of my goals and why I'm doing what I'm doing. It's been effective for me so far. I went from "Yeesh!" to "Yeeeow!"

gimpygramma

That has always been the big question for me. I am 68 years old so no way I am going to look hot if I drop my excess weight. At my highest I had a BMI of just over 25 and I walk a lot so there were no big health issues. I felt dumpy...but a lot of my peers were equally dumpy. Finally my knees started hurting and the Dr said even a ten pound weight loss might help. That got me started. But it was so darned slow! And there were no guarantees. What kept me going was logging my food and exercise here at MFP. I think this worked because 1) it made me aware of what I was stuffing in my mouth. I'd read stuff about eating mindfully but keeping a log brought this home to me. 2) I tend to eat out of boredom. I found that I was replacing my "nibbling" with an equally compulsive interest in calories in, calories burned, etc. I bought a Fitbit. Now that feeds into my compulsions nicely. I walk while talking on the phone to get my steps up. Silly stuff like that. Anyway that's what helped me. Hope it is of some assistance.

liesevanlingen

The most important thing to remember is that one binge does not make you a total failure. So you had a bad meal or a day of bad meals. So what! In the long run, it's overall that counts. You could try planning in "cheat days" or just "cheat treats" every so often and tell yourself you have to earn the calories to indulge. Having to burn an extra 400+ calories over the week so you can have a cheeseburger on Friday, for example.
It's also possible you may be a "comfort eater", that is , you eat because you feel bad, lonely, bored, etc.--not necessarily because you are hungry. For a week or two, try keeping a journal and before every bite that goes into your mouth, write it down AND write down how you felt just before and just after eating. That will teach you what your "triggers" are. Then you strategize--make yourself a list of distractions for when you feel the urge to eat (go for a walk, call or email a friend, brush your teeth, chew sugarless gum, do jumping jacks, go window shopping and look at "skinny clothes", etc.) and DO IT.

Hope this helps. You are awesome and you can do this! Small changes lead to bigger ones. Little goals, little victories--baby steps to get you there. Celebrate each one with a (non-food) reward. And we'll cheer you on to the skinny/healthy side!

ElizabethRaeBarnes

I think of everything I dont want to be. My mom was 400 pounds... I wish I was joking but she really was. Remember when theater seat armrests didnt lift up? My mom couldnt go to movies because she was so big she couldnt sit in one seat. She had to buy two plane tickets to fit on an airplane. She use to eat so fast that she would throw up... She threw up infront of my friends a couple times. I know, nightmare... She is in her early 40's, had a heart attack, she has a pace maker, she is diabetic, she has had 3 types of cancers, she has hair loss, she has skin problems.... Her ugly life goes on and on...
I found an app on my phone that 'Makes me fat'. It showed me what I would look like at 400 pounds. I didnt like it...
I look at my boyfriend who is overweight and how moody he gets with me.
I look at all the cute clothes I wish I could wear.
Find a reason to not be fat and stick with it. Dont do it for someone else.

barbaramitchell101

what has kept me motivated is NOT replacing my large clothes, and continuing to wear them.......I have waited till I absolutely have to....I have lost 38 lbs, and finally my supervisor said something...she said I need to go shopping...the shoulders of the shirts are way over the edge of my.shoulders....they pay for my shirts, so it isn't a money thing for me....this method reminds me of what I'm trying to accomplish...I have been a size 20/XXL (my starting point) and am now, I think, an 18/XL, maybe Large...we'll see when I go shopping....I am shooting to lose to a size 10, which is the smallest adult size I have ever been....when I get there, maybe I'll decide maybe I can improve on that...we'll see...I have found that by restricting the donuts, etc, I don't really have the cravings that I used to have..(in fact, it is easier now to just ignore it when they are available....I used to eat one, and then couldn't stop)

also I think that the HEAVIER you are, the hungrier you are....maybe I'm wrong, but I noticed that was the case with me, during the last 2 years...I eat much less now, even before I started on MFP....I do, however, try to eat NUTRIENT DENSE, instead of low cal since I have more energy afterwards...I don't eat many salads for that reason...unless I can find one with DARK green lettuce or other veggies I can tolorate in it...I eat out alot, so most of what is available at restaurants leaves much to be desired.....(I am sensitive to a lot of things, and actually get stomach issues when I eat raw veggies...) the main thing is to keep at it...if you eat something you shouldn't, don't stress over it, sometimes when I do that, I just call it DINNER...LOL last night I had a Reese's King size...4 cups in the pkg....this was after working a 10 1/2 hour day at the office....I just logged it as dinner, and had nothing more after that...I actually came in UNDER my goal calories for the day!!!!!

you'll be ok, just keep at it.....don't give up...

clarkeje1

It helps me to make new goals and start a new challenge when I feel like I'm starting to slip. Starting something new (it could be a new workout class, a new fitness dvd, a new goal to do 100 push ups, a goal to eat x amount of fruits/veggies each day) gets me invigorated and hypes me up so that I am excited to complete my goal. I've even gotten new workout gear or clothes to get me excited about it again. It works for me.