need some tips - desperate

jillyjelly

I am really having trouble being motivated to get in shape and to lose at least 15-20 pounds - not really losing so if any body has any tips they have I would appreciate it

sarah_jones3

HI There,

I am not sure what you have tired already, but here goes...

I would say the best advice I can give towards exercising and losing weight is to do something you enjoy, from personal experience if you are not enjoying the exercise chances are you will not keep it up or put the effort it. it took me to try a few things before I found what I loved doing and after that it was easy to keep doing.

I also found that if i workout in the morning before work, it set me up for the day, I am more likely to eat better and avoid treats, as I feel I am undoing all my hard work, where as If I exercise in the evening I tend to think "ill work that off later" and never do. ^_^ with this said morning workouts are not for everyone hehe.

You could try a vision board? This is something new I am trying (I'm a J Michaels fan lol) get some card, mags, photos anything you like and make a vision board, could have your goals on, things you want to wear, anything you like, things that inspire you.

http://www.jillianmichaels.com/forums/step-1-imagine/topic/vision-boards

hope this helps, feel free to poke me any time


Edit:

Just had a thought, bit silly but still, get a bit of string and wrap it around your waist cut it so the two ends touch, keep it handy! if you ever have a day where you feel low, you knew it was a good week but you didn't loose weight, get the string out and check it, often you will have lost an inch or two rather than weight, and as you get smaller your bit of string gets a tail you will feel better on those days you didn't loose weight ^_^

hehe like a said silly but it worked for me and some others I passed this tip on to.

JesterMFP

Well, why do you want to lose it? What made you sign up for this site back in 2011? There must be some reason, and that's your motivation. Motivation alone isn't enough. You have to have determination, and make an active decision to do it. Just being motivated won't make it happen. How many thousands (millions?) of overweight people are there sitting, longing to be slimmer, to be healthier and feel better about themselves? Wanting it is a start, but it's not enough to get it done. Losing weight is hard, and you just have to make that decision that you're going to do it anyway. Then you just have to do it. Don't think about doing it, or plan to start next week, just do it. And keep doing it.

As for practical tips - it's hard to know what to suggest with the information provided, but it you haven't tried logging all your food consistently, then do that. Stick to a reasonable calorie deficit, and don't try to change too many things at once. Like I said, it's hard, but it doesn't have to be torture. Eat the foods you like, just fit them into your calorie goal. Make whatever adjustments you want to over time. Find some form of exercise that you enjoy doing and can set goals for. Some days, I don't feel like going out running, and I'm not bothered about calorie burn etc but I have goals that I want to accomplish with my running, so I go.

runnrgrl74

About 4 years ago I lost 80 lbs and have managed to keep off most of the weight. Here's what helped (and still helps) me:

* Surround yourself with healthy information. I read Women's Health, Self, & Runners World magazines. These helped inspire me every day and keep me on track. I also listened to podcasts in my car and on the treadmill. I listened to nutrition and fitness podcasts, but the most useful for me was a podcast called Inside Out Weight Loss. The lady who leads it is a bit too new-agey/hippie-chick for me, but her information was actually really helpful, and 4 years later I still think often about some of the things she talked about. She really focuses on the reasons "why" you might overeat, things you might not even realize you're doing. I've always believed if you have more than a few pounds to lose, then there is something else going on in your head, and you need to get the mental/emotional stuff worked out if you're ever going to be successful at maintaining a healthy weight. Her podcast focuses on the internal stuff.

* I completely agree that finding an exercise that you like is important BUT I will add that it might take some time for you to enjoy exercise. When I started out 4 years ago, I couldn't walk 2 blocks without getting winded. But last October I ran the Chicago Marathon. I LOVE running today, and I do it for the pure love it and not for weight loss. However, when I first started running 4 years ago, I hated it. It was hard. Very hard. I could only run for 30 seconds at a time. But as much as I hated it, I made myself keep doing it because it was really speeding up my weight loss. After a while (a few months), I noticed that I actually was starting to look forward to my runs. Then my love affair with running began. But it seriously took me a while to get there. If I hadn't made myself push through those sucky weeks in the beginning, I never would be where I am today, training for my second marathon.

* Write down your goals, and keep them reasonable. I made a week-by-week plan for my weight loss, planning to lose 1 to 1.5 lbs per week, and I wrote that plan down on paper. I had mini-goals along the way, such as losing 5 lbs by my birthday, 8 pounds by Easter, 13 pounds before vacation, etc. Then I frequently checked in with this plan to see how I was doing. By keeping my goals reasonable, I was able to meet them (and sometimes exceed them), which was great motivation. Had I planned to lose too much, say 2 lbs every single week, there would have been times I wouldn't have met my goals, and that would have been extremely discouraging. So keep your goals small & reward yourself - with non-food things - when you meet them.

* Use visualization. At night before I went to bed, I would think about what I would look like and what I would feel like once I lost the weight. This really helped me when I would get down on myself. It helped keep me on track. It would also help me realize something really important - I had a significant amount of weight to lose, and sometimes that felt overwhelming and impossible. How on earth could I possibly lose 80 pounds?!? It was just too much and it would take sooo long, when I really wanted to be thin NOW. Visualization helped me remember that even though 1 year sounded like forever to wait to be thinner, that time 1 year from now, was going to come whether I lost the weight or not. So when 1 year does come, do I want to still be overweight and feeling awful? Or do I want to be thinner & feeling better?

* Keep a food journal. This is so very important. It can be shocking to find out how much you actually eat in a day. Everyone I know vastly underestimates how many calories they eat in a day. It might not seem like much until you put it down on paper and count those total calories. The food journal here on myfitnesspal is awesome, since every food I ever want to enter is already loaded. It can seem like a pain to track your food, but it really is invaluable for weight loss.

* Drink a ton of water. This will help prevent you from feeling hungry and keep your belly full.

* Make sure you eat plenty of fiber & protein. High fiber & high protein foods really help you feel full longer. My plan online here is for only 1200 calories a day. That is NOT very many calories, and if I don't eat the right types of foods, I am starving at the end of the day. So I'll choose to eat a banana instead of a Little Debbie cake, because I know the fiber in the banana will help me feel full. That little cake won't do a thing to curb my hunger. In fact, it will just make me crave more sweets. But a banana or a low-cal greek yogurt will help me not feel hungry. (On 1200 calories I never really feel "full" but I don't feel hungry, if you know what I mean.) I eat a lot of things like vegetables, greek yogurt, almonds, slim-fast bars, big veggie salads (with frank's hot sauce instead of high-cal dressings), and broth-based soups to keep myself from feeling hungry.

These are the things that I have found the most helpful. Keep reading and posting on the Boards here, they're great for motivation. Good luck!

jacksonpt

Nothing earth shattering here... you have to find your motivation. It's something different for all of us, you have to find yours or else you're just going to spin your wheels.