My method of motivation

GoddessG

When I began this journey, the only thing that I could see was ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY POUNDS TO GO. The only things that I could feel were shame, horror, fear, disgust, and self-loathing.

So I broke the journey into manageable parts (mini goals). For example

Start weight: 256
1st goal: 250 (bottom rung of that 50s decant)
2nd goal: 249 (one decant lower)
3rd goal 246 (ten pound already)
4th goal 244 (ten percent of my goal weight lost already)
5th goal 240 (bottom rung of that 40s decant)
6th goal 239 (one decant lower)
7th goal 236 (20 pounds! Yay!)
8th goal 234 (20% of my goal weight lost)
9th goal 230 (lowest rung of that decant)
10th goal 229 (a new world of decants appear)
11th goal 226 (BOTH 30 pound and 25% of goal weight lost - this is getting meaningful. Far too much to risk throwing away on an impulse)

I expect to hit the 11th mini-goal on Monday when I have a doctor's appointment to see how much better my blood workup is since I started the ketogenic diet 60 days ago. You can already figure out what the next mini-goals are.

As you can see, I am always on the verge of hitting my next goal. Now I don't look at the long haul to go. Today, I look at today, I have reason to be confident of my ability to meet my Monday goal. My life is filling up with so many successes! My fear, shame, disgust, and horror are completely gone. Rather than feel shame, I feel self-respect. How much better that feels - and it grows with every little success that I intentionally place in my path.

But it's not all about the scale and my hitting my mini goals. There are other rewards that pop up. Like when I put on an older pair of jeans, and they zipped and buttoned with room to spare. That was nice.

One day I added a belt that I bought several years ago, but when I got home, realized that it wouldn't go around me. that day, it not only went around me, but I could buckle it. Now I'm buckling it in the third hole! (And the pants really show me how far I have come. The legs are really too big.

some days I put on my start clothes that are really big - just to admire my progress. Other times I put on clothes that now fit - just to admire my progress. These are not mini-goals that can be placed on a calendar. These are REWARDS, and they are so much more satisfying than I would have imagined.

It is rare to have a day without recognizing something really positive about me. How different that is than self-contempt.

Now, if something should tempt me this weekend, (pretty much a rarity anymore), I remember that I only have one more pound to go to get to the next mini-goal. That is certainly within my power and it doesn't require great self-restraint. It only requires a bit of self-respect.

I don't even look at the goal. Life is a journey, and it will not end when I arrive at goal weight.

LoveYourNeighbor

What a great idea and gracious attitude. Thanks for sharing!

bbbbb33333

A friend started a back to health competition at work several years ago. I am much more motivated when competing against others.

You get points for drinking up to 8 glasses of water a day, eating up to 6 servings of fruits or vege a day and points for each lb lost.

I won the first one losing ~ 60lbs (using this site). I have a hard time keeping up with it afterwards, let my eating go and start gaining back. We have run the competition annually, usually starting in spring, when exercise and weight loss seems easiest. This keeps me on track.

We and run the competition from around 4-5 months long. This year we added a smaller mini New Years challenge (Jan 15 to Mar 15).

It's fun, motivating and entertaining. You get bragging rites. Everyone gets a fake name so no one knows who is winning until the end. You just get to see how everyone is doing and encourage you to step up your game. Only the person who makes up the charts gets to see your weight and the weight calories are only added at the end.