Why can't I just do this?! How did you stick with it???

Mitzigan94

When it comes to dieting, the past is the past. No one can do a thing about what you ate yesterday. There is just no sense in beating yourself up over it. Take the diet one day at a time, and do the best you can.

You might try the Japanese philosophy on this:

Small steps lead to top of tall mountain...

Just try to make small incremental changes. If they work, stick with them. If they don't, try something else.

Hang in there!

^^this

aarar

I had to learn that there's a difference between eating healthy and losing weight - they are not the same. You can still eat all your favourite foods and lose weight. I found in the past I always thought I needed to cut everything out in order to lose but in fact it's SO much easier to stick to when I know I'll get to have a cookie/ice cream/whatever tomorrow or everyday if I really want.

Out of my 90+lbs I've lost, some were lost eating really clean healthy foods, some were lost eating nothing but pure junk foods for several weeks at a time. As long as you're in a calorie deficit you'll lose.

Remember you can always tweak your diet later down the road as smaller portions and smarter decisions come easier to you.

pahock

Someone on here gave me some words of wisdom the other day. This is not a sprint, its a marathon. I just have to keep going. I screwed up over the weekend but I'm back today. I look at how far I have to go, and it seems so far away. So I'm concentrating on 10 lbs at a time.

Derf_Smeggle

There are a lot of different ways people find to make their goals a reality. Everyone works hard and everyone has stumbling blocks. I asked a similar question a here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1151475-share-your-tricks-for-staying-on-track, to get a list going of what has worked for others.

Note, I use the word tricks in quotes because there really are not any tricks. It is just a matter of finding what works for you to keep you living healthier. Some people can just decide to do something. Some people have to find ways out of sabotaging themselves.

aetzkorn14

There's no trick. You simply set your mind to it and DO IT.

THIS!!! It's mental 100%....it's true that once you see results it helps motivate you but two days is not enough time to see a change.

TXEXrunner

I had difficulty getting into the routine. I knew what needed to be done, but kept making excuses for not doing it (no time, too tired, etc. - the usual excuses). I changed my routine and started small - very small. Got myself into a routine - same time, same small change/ activity/ exercise every day. after about two weeks, I started to increase my exercise reps, a little at a time. Not so much that it felt like work each day, but rather I was beating my numbers from last week. I also know, even though I still don't see the physical results, that I am doing good for my body. That is a motivator for me. Using the diary to track my progress here is also a big motivator - I see positive change every few days.
Find a friend to keep you accountable.
Don't be so hard on yourself; you know exercise and changing your eating habits are good for you!
Find other ways to measure your progress - calorie counting is good. You can see change every day!
Give it more time. You're in a marathon, not a sprint.
Good for you to be on this website and trying - that alone is worthy of praise.
You can do this - make that the focus of your attitude!!

slhall0822

I had the same exact problem... until I had a serious wake-up call a few weeks ago after a visit to the doctor. After a lifetime of struggling with the scale, the numbers no longer phased me. I even got up to 270 pounds toward the end of my pregnancy (I've always bounced between 150ish and 180ish) and the numbers meant nothing to me... it was like I couldn't even fathom that I weighed that much. What DID phase me was discovering a few weeks ago that I had super high cholesterol, a hiatal hernia (causing MASSIVE heartburn), and gastritis (inflammation of my stomach lining). Add all of that to the fact that I have a beautiful 16 month old that is the center of the world, and I realized that I needed to get my health in check... stat... if I wanted to be around and be full of energy for my little girl as she grows up.

The doctors aren't 100% sure what is causing my gastritis... but they suspect I have a few food intolerances (gluten, dairy, and soy) and following a strict elimination diet following by trying to reintroduce those foods back into my diet has confirmed it... I'm sensitive to those foods and they definitely upset my stomach. Now just eating those foods makes me feel like complete crap and that's motivation enough for me to stay on track. But before I attributed "eating healthy" and "working out" to just the numbers on the scale, it was SO easy to fall off the wagon.

It's amazing what leads us to become motivated. Keep searching, it's out there Do it for your health... for your current health, or your future health... for your kids, or your future kids. What means the most to you? For me, being healthy for my little girl means the most to me. I don't want to be the frumpy fat mom, or the grandma that can't walk more than a block without being in pain, or the person that is taking 15 prescription pills a day because of all of my health problems. I really couldn't care less about being a size 2 versus a size 8. So that never kept me motivated for long... but having confirmation that my unhealthy lifestyle has severely affected my health... and I'm only 31... now THAT motivated me.

This is just my two cents, but what ever means the most to you, is what will motivate you.

SisterhoodoftheShrinkingPants

Do this: stay with it long enough to see some results...that will be the light-bulb moment. The OMG I can do this..but it takes time. If you want to look noticeably different in 3 days it will only disappoint. I kept at it for about 2 months before someone else, not me, noticed. Then each month it got more intense..eventually my family noticed and eventually even I saw a difference, hell, my clothes were falling off. Make a commitment. PREPARE your kitchen. WORKOUT, because trust me it will completely change your appetite. Ask everyone you see thats done it or is doing it how they did it, become a sponge,. and above all DONT GIVE UP, EVER! xox