Share your secret to dedication!

The path to your goals is made 1 little decision at a time. Eat this yoghurt pretzel or have a carrot? Snooze the alarm or get your gear on & head out the door? Listen to your inner voice that want you to stop, or power on and complete your workout. Every time I come to one of those forks in the road, I make the decision that leads to success and not disappointment.

What worked for me is finding something that I enjoyed doing, and sticking with it. I stopped viewing exercise as a punishment, and started looking forward to doing it. I cancelled my gym membership. I started running outside, taking dance classes, walking everywhere, and tracking my measurements. It worked!

I have lost 30+ pounds, and really found my groove into a healthy lifestyle.

You can do it!

I share what I'm doing with healthy eating and fitness on Facebook and with friends. I found that if I tell people what I'm doing, what my goals are, I won't want to look foolish by blowing it!

Fear of bariatric surgery is enough for me..it's either do this naturally or see the surgeon.l don't want to need to do that, so I will do what I can, every day to prevent that.

My own motto is: "motivation gives results; results give motivation"

I have never been one to be motivated by all the sayings "no pain, no gain,,, motivation this, motivation that.. Just do it.. blah blah blah"

I have no secret to tell you because NO ONE has a secret to dedication. You need to find what drives you. Try to make it a habit. Make fitness part of your daily schedule. As far as keeping the dedication.... surround yourself with success... a good start.. joining MFP...

Like you, my motivation is my husband, and children. Even though Hypothyroidism is making this a terrible struggle I show up EVERYDAY to the gym.

Weight loss hasn't happened for me, but I push myself anyway.

I don't want weight loss as much as I want BODY TRANSFORMATION.

I have found that the mental dedication is much easier if you take care of the physical elements of obesity. Obesity is largely the result of lots of different factors that come together to make one "overfat". Stress can certainly play a role because it raises cortisol levels and that can cause you to gain weight easily. For women, estrogen plays a role in raising blood sugar and that, in turn, raises insulin levels which cause one to hoard fat on the body rather than burning it for fuel. High blood sugar is the biggest culprit and that is caused by eating too many sugars and starches. The Paleo diet is a great diet to reverse the abuses that a high carbohydrate diet inflicts on the body. If you keep your carbohydrates to 75-100 grams a day and make sure your calorie count doesn't go above 1800 calories per day, you will be surprised by how fast the weight will drop away and how much better you feel. You will become more active because you will feel better. And THAT will give you the motivation to go on. I NEVER eat sugars or grains---they are not necessary for health and the great bulk of them are empty calories. It simplifies the whole dieting thing. I don't worry about what I am going to eat, I just know what I am NOT going to eat---makes life simpler. I eat unlimited vegetables and two fruits per day in addition to lean protein. I have lost 14 pounds, my blood pressure has gone down so much that I am taking a fraction of the b.p.medication I was taking just a few months ago. As I lose more weight, I am confident that I will be able to eliminate the blood pressure medication entirely. I am determined that I am NOT going to get Type II diabetes like my brother and I am NOT going to ever go back to the crummy health status that I had. My words to myself are, "DO IT NOW!"

It is important to get enough sleep to facilitate weight loss too. Cortisol levels rise when we don't get enough sleep. And fatigue weakens our will to stick with our program.

Intermittent fasting is good for the body---helping it to shed toxins and it can even yield spiritual benefits when incorporated as a part of our prayer lives. It doesn't have to be a long fast---just skipping one meal is enough--whichever one you like. I skip breakfast a couple of times a week. But that doesn't entitle me to "pig-out" at lunch. I just eat a normal lunch. I don't get hungry because my insulin levels have naturally come down on the lower-carb eating (takes a few weeks of lower-carb eating to accomplish lower insulin levels). I just happily go on my way in the morning knowing that I am burning fat as well as detoxifying my liver as I sip my herbal tea and pray. You can do it---keep on keepin' on.:flowerforyou:

This is what keeps me going...


"Trying is failure with honor. Don't try to do something. Just do."

My dad. He has liver cancer and needs a transplant. We got a call that he had a donor. Got to the hopsital, into pre-op, only to find that the donor's liver was too fatty. Then a 5 year old boy I know was in need of a bone marrow transplant. I wasnt' able to get swabbed because I was too fat to qualify to be a donor. I'll not go into what an emotional rollercoaster these event were but it got me to thinking more about taking care of myself. I want to be able to help others while alive and after death and that can't be done if I don't get and keep myself in shape. I still have a ways to go, I mess up..a lot, but remembering those two events always gets me back on track. I started this journey for selfish reasons, now it's also for a bigger picture. I'll still be really happy to see myself lookin better!!