I've lost it and don't know how to get it back!

it sounds kinda stupid, but i just imagine i have motivation. imaginary conversations in my head where i tell others i workout x days a week, i'm eating healthy, all that. it's kind of a fake it until you make it. as if i say it enough it will come true. then i do my best to live up to my imaginary self. it works about 80-90% of the time.

Pretending I walking with you today and lets get moving..............................I will be chanting right behind you that was 12 lets make it 13..............................................:bigsmile: :bigsmile:

I've lost mine the past few days, but I'm sick, so bleh. I can hardly walk or stand up without falling over lol, so I'm definitely not getting on mister elliptical feeling this way. I'm having a love affair with my bed. Fortunately, aside from this, I haven't gotten into a funk yet, but I'm sure I will. I just keep the junk-ish foods out of my house, except the snacks my kids have occasionally. I don't think they'd let me lose motivation, they'd yell at me lol.

I usually just stumble through until it "clicks" again...doing whatever little things I can...whether it's going for a walk, taking the stairs, or choosing the grilled chicken over the fried.

The best thing I can recommend is to keep coming here...keep logging in. Being exposed to people who have the motivated mindset will get you back on the right track faster than if you turned your back on MFP.

At least that's what I've experienced.

Struggling with the same issues myself... it's like it all just evaporated! Like, a week ago I could have moved mountains and now, blamo! Nuthin', nada, zippo...

Going to the gym tonight for my favorite class - really hoping that helps! I know I'll feel great TODAY, but I want to get up tomorrow just itching to get my sweat on. *sigh*

Wishing us both some major motivating mojo!

Ah poor you. Do allow yourself to have bad days, but they only need to be a day long. Just remember you have already lost 12lbs thats a great start. Who knows where you ll be after another month, though they do say keep the weekly weight loss low for health reasons. (ie 1.5-2lbs a week)

Sometimes it helps to focus on the positives, your diet should still be yummy and tasty and fun. There should be an element of enjoyment in food, I think, otherwise why put yourself through the torture. Also maybe refocus on why you, personally got motivated in the first place.

Sometimes having a mantra which you repeat to yourself again and again can help, like 'I am a healthy person' or 'I am becoming healthier'.or ' I love what I am moving towards'

I also think there can be a strange 'fear' in losing weight. It took me a while to get my head around that. I was always the curvy friend, I thought I stood out because of that. Now Id never want to go back

Positive vibes!

Every now and then I think, well I wasn't that unattractive before... i' still got complements... I really liked my habits before... I am spending a lot of time I could be spending with my friends... I miss my "treats"
Then I realize... I want to be able to challenge myself physically and feel fit and not winded! I want to wear clothes and feel attractive! I don't want to give in to the negative thouts I have a few times a day when most of it is still positive! I don't want to make excuses anymore. I don't want to see the skinny athletic chic and assume she has great genetics, I am going to be honest with myself and instead of calling her a b**** behind her back for her luck, I am going to assume she had hard work behind that and motivate myself to do the same because I want that!

Well done on giving up the diet coke. I have a similar issue with coffee. I know it doesnt make me feel good but I still feel I need it. Someone said that (similar to above) that you shouldnt deprive yourself of all treats, but I wouldnt mind if the treat made me feel better, not worse!

I have managed to cut down on coffee from 4 cups to 1 cup a day. Recently though it has started to sneak up again.

But your achievement is very motivating for me! Ha! You dont have to be a perfect candidate of motivation to inspire others. We are all human :-) and we can all start again after a bad spell.

Do you exercise with a friend? That is the biggest motivator for me. Any success I've had in the past was when I was walking with someone or lifting weights with a friend. Those days when you don't feel motivated (and I think we all have felt that way) are dealt with when your friend is planning on coming over at 6pm to lift weights. You can't really back out on a friend. Once the exercise starts, you feel good about it, and a habit begins to develop. Is there someone you can go through this fitness journey with? Good luck!

Motivation is an easy thing to get, but very hard to keep. There are days when I don't want to exercise, when I'd rather stay in bed and not get up at 5am, but I know if I dont get up and exercise that I'll feel like crap for the day and I'll feel guilty that I didn't exercise. They say a habit develops after 3 months. So keep at it for at least 3 months even if you don't feel like it. Soon exercising will be like brushing your teeth...second nature. Good luck!

I always find that it's helpful if I sit down and write out reminders to myself of why I started this journey. When we're feeling motivated, we often have a list of reasons to keep us going, but if we don't provide ourselves with constant physical reminders of those reasons, it's easy to lose track of them or enthusiasm for them.

Also- make sure you are not depriving yourself too much of the good things. Giving up Diet Pepsi is GREAT for you- no more noxious chemicals! but make sure you are saving yourself room for the small treats that make life rich, too. Also, practice self-forgiveness. There is a fine line when it comes to forgiveness between admitting you made a mistake and starting over again the next day, and repeatedly letting yourself make a mistake. All too often we get into this cycle of skip-a-day/guilt-yourself/run-from-guilt and end up "forgiving" ourselves as a way to just stop feeling bad. When that happens, we haven't actually dealt with our feelings and they carry into the next day. It is important to remember that a little indulgence is not the end of the world- its the NEXT DAY that counts. Don't let one bad day turn in to one bad month. You've got twelve pounds already- thats a great accomplishment! Just keep focusing on how good it will feel when you can say "and then I lost 12 more after that!!"

Keep up the good work! It's great that you are reaching out- I hope you can do so in your personal life too!

I can certainly empathize with your Diet Pepsi problem, because I was addicted to Coke - the real thing (not diet, that is) and had at least one a day. One thing that helped me is Republic of Tea's Hibiscus Teas. (No, I'm NOT marketing this, I don't even know if you could.) BUT! The tea is yummy and slightly sweetened already with Stevia. My favorite flavor is Apple Vanilla, and I drink it iced in the summer but it's also good hot in the winter. They have tons of other flavors and tons of different types of tea, but I recommend the hibiscus teas because not only are they good, but there are indicators that it helps lower your blood pressure, and it's cooling and refreshing. Good luck to you!

I think we all lose motivation in some way. I couldn't agree more that we have to find motivation daily. If this were an easy process, there would be no overweight people in the world. What helps keep my motivation is to read the success stories on here and learn from what worked for them.

It happens to us all,back you need to get back on track to get results,you will regret it later.Feel free to add me.