What keeps you going day after day???
LiveLaffLoseLove
Posts: 104
I am having the hardest time staying focused and on track. Or I mess up once and just say, "I'll start again next week". How do I avoid that? Then I get depressed and mad at myself and of course, that makes it worse.... HELP!:sad:
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Thinking of how I will look in my clothes the next day. If I don't work out/eat right, I hate getting dressed the next morning. If I exercise and eat well, I know the clothes are going to LOOK better and FEEL better. Do you REALLY want to go backwards? Really?0
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I think of it this way....
The process is not like walking on a flat surface. It is like climbing a hill. Any step back backward is downhill and easy. Going forward is uphill and harder. Every time I am tempted by whatever - snacks in the breakroom, all you can eat french fries, fried instead of backed fish or chicken - I think how much harder it is to ascend a hill than to descend. Then I choose not to go backward.
I also think of the data - this really is all just a math equation at its heart. I equate the calories to one of two things - weight or physical exertion. Is it worth it. If it is, then eat it (and, presumably, do the exertion to avoid the weight).
Then again, I am fairly OCD and competitive, so that might help as well.0 -
Great question! I have dealt with (currently deal with on occasion) this question over the past 5 years. Some days I just get so frustrated. This is how I view it, and I hope it helps!
- I tell myself that even if i mess up one meal, it doesn't mean my whole day is messed up. I used to think of diets/healthy eating as only beginning on Mondays. I now know that my life doesn't start on Monday. I want to enjoy tomorrow because of what I've done today.
You've realized the cycle. You know you will get depressed. Use that as motivation.0 -
There are tons of things that help keep me motivated, because like most users on MFP, this isn't my first time trying to get rid of my belly:
1. I have an inspiration board on Pinterest that I look at when I get a bad craving, don't feel like working out, etc.. Looking at images of my goal makes it so much easier than just thinking about it.
2. I am competitive, and I have a few RL friends that are doing this with me. We give each other progress reports, and I do not like being the one furthest behind.
3. I usually but a pair of cheap jeans the next size down, and I will try them on from time to time to see how much more until I can fit into them comfortably.0 -
I go to the Old Navy Website and look at the Corduroy pants (WHICH I LOVE) and know how uncomfortable it is to wear that when you're fat and dream of wearing it thin 0
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The main thing that keeps me motivated is my health. I know that I was a ticking time bomb, and every healthy bite I put in my mouth and every step I take on my walks is bringing me that much closer to being as healthy as I can be for myself, and for my family.0
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It's a great question! What makes it great is that it doesn't have an easy answer.
For me, the exercise is the "easy" part. I can do the work and enjoy it much of the time and never regret having done it. Food however, is tougher. I'll be good for 2 weeks then have a day or two that isn't so good. When I look at the bad days, they are better than if I wasn't trying to be better. Figure 5 or 6 good days a week on average is still going to get you where you want to be. It may take longer but since hopefully it's a lifetime change which means unless I get unlucky will still provide me many healthy years.0 -
Taking it one day at a time. Reminding myself that its going to take self control and dedication to get what I want.0
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Set small realistic goals for yourself. Don't beat yourself up if you slip up occaionally. This is a lifestyle change and it likely didn't take you a day or a week to get to this point. It won't be that quick to change it.
Good luck.0 -
I've built some great friendships on here and seriously its them that keeps me going. They are amazing motivators! :happy:0
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Once I got my act together and realized that food = fuel and is NOT the enemy, I got much better. Well, that and this link, which helped educate me on what my body truly needed: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
Other motivators:
1. My kids
2. My future
3. My health
4. Goals - to complete a half marathon
I'm the only one who can control the outcome.
Each day might not be pretty, but it is the sum of many days that will make the difference.0 -
Try posting progress pics which will hold you accountable. In the end you just have to do it for yourself. Aren't you tired of starting over?0
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do you like the results of what your current habits get you?
if not, change them
if so, don't
reality is, nothing good comes easy, and that which comes easy usually isn't worth much, if anything at all0 -
I stopped stressing about this awhile ago. Stress makes me gain weight, which gives me more stress, which makes me gain more weight....
I do what I need to do. If I want a donut, I eat it. If I want a salad, I eat it. However, I realize that the choices I make today WILL have an effect on my scale weight tomorrow and maybe the day after that.0 -
I tell myself that even if i mess up one meal, it doesn't mean my whole day is messed up. I used to think of diets/healthy eating as only beginning on Mondays. I now know that my life doesn't start on Monday. I want to enjoy tomorrow because of what I've done today.
So true! life doesn't start on monday lol. I LOVE THIS0 -
Seeing the progress that I've made in 2 months keeps me going. I do not want to go back. I have so much energy now and I never had that before. At work I have a pic of myself at 150lbs posted and that helps me not binge at work. You can do it!0
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vanity0
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I have this tendency, too.....but what is great about a site like this is that when i DO want to beat myself up about my missteps, i post something....and the mfp friends will be supportive and REMIND me that it is just one day.....or one pizza......and that i have the ability to "start over" the next day.
Somehow just hearing someone be supportive even when i fall down is helping me not fall down as often. So my point is, be honest with your feelings, and let this mfp community HELP you!
good luck!0 -
One day at a time honey. If you get off of it one day, then start over the next. There is no "next week I will start over", because most people won't.
One day at a time.
What keeps me going? I love the way I feel, I love the control I have, I love the energy I have, I love that my life may last longer, and I really really really don't want to be old and worried about my health (in and out of doctor's offices) just because I couldn't control myself when I was younger. I want to die of old age, not diabetes or cardiovascular failure.
Viva your health!0 -
w all have days or times like that but if you fall off then get back and keep trying at som point it will just click and all will fit into place0
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My enjoying of spicy foods (had heart burn when I was big)
My enjoying of being checked out A LOT (seriously...its weird to me.. I'm used to being that fat awkward guy... now I'm just that athletically built awkward guy)
My wife. To support her. To be her rock. To be the best I can be for her.
My friends. *eyes wonder*
My depression is a lot less
My feeling of disgust every time I stuff my self full
My health
My blood pressure. It gets out of control pretty quick with me. Its hereditary. With my weight loss I am cool as a cucumber..while I felt my patience was always VERY thin when I was heavy.
My kids. They are awesome, and deserve their daddy for a long time.0 -
I have been doing this for one year already and I remind myself it takes time. I gained over a period of years so losing will be even slower.I don't let the scale get me down.I let the clothes do the talking and the feeling I get when I look at myself and see the difference.I also try to not feel I am depriving myself. I have a little frozen yogurt or a quarter of a piece of cake once in a while. I do not think of this as a diet:IT IS HOW I EAT NOW! I am a thin person and I have a thin person's attitude even tho I am not totally there yet LOL Good luck and do not lose faith in the results.They will come with work and the work is not easy!0
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I'm in the same boat. I have made progress, and I was starting to fall off the wagon, and then YESTERDAY I found a picture of me from a couple years ago at my "Most Fattest-ness" and Im going to take that nasty ******* pic and keep it in my wallet to remind myself that "We are not going there again" ~ you know, right next to my DRIVER'S LICENSE PHOTO that makes me look like I won the pie eating contest at the county fair (and, consequently, baked all of the pies myself).
My inner fat brat is in time-out indefinitely.
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I do not think that you are that far off from being where you want to be. The only thing that you really have to change is the mindset of "I will start again Monday." Bad days happen to everyone. The difference is to try to figure out why, try to avoid or change that in the future and most of all change the thought process to "I will start again *tomorrow*!"0
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To me, hardest part is to set my mind on treating myself right. Once the mind knows 'what', figuring out 'how' is a technicality...(in which MFP does seem to be making a difference for me, as logging food gets easier and a lot of routine calculations are done for you). I'll know better in a month or two )) but my point is, there is a certain momentum / inertia in doing what's good for you just as well as in doing bad. So it gets easier... I think.0
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When i dont feel like working out, or i want to just eat something nice and fatty
I will read the Success Stories on MFP. I LOVE to look at the stories with before and after pictures and i think, if they can do it then whats stopping me!!
That gives me the motivation to work that extra harder and i also saw a quote just the other day -
"More sweat now, Less Jiggle later"
Good Luck 0 -
I am having the hardest time staying focused and on track. Or I mess up once and just say, "I'll start again next week". How do I avoid that? Then I get depressed and mad at myself and of course, that makes it worse.... HELP!:sad:
Just drop the "get depressed and mad at myself" part... and keep coming back to it. Know WHY you are doing it. Know exactly what you want to accomplish.
And having awesome friends here really makes it easier :flowerforyou:0 -
My motivation: deep-seated fear of going back to where I came from.0
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Knowing that my arthristis in knees will improve and that I won't need knee surgery because for every 10 pounds of extra weight, there is 4 times that much pressure on my knees. I hear overweight young people who say they cannot catch up with their toddlers. I can stil catch up to my grandson who is 21 months old, but it would be easier with 45 pounds off. I like to be mobile and to fit in last years pants.0
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Buy a bikini and hang it from the corner of your bathroom mirror. Works for me and keeps me focused. I will often hang jeans or a cute dress that is one size smaller or just snug on the outside of the closet door. I try it on every week until it fits.0
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