I just...push forward. I honestly get a lot of my motivation from the people here on MFP. I try to encourage everyone every time something of theirs posts to my feed and that in turn keeps me motivated myself. Because I'm consistently in here to comment and keep up on everyone, I'm always reminded why I'm doing this and it helps me to stay on track!

I'm an emotional eater also. I get depressed and all I want to do is eat. Then I take a look at my daughter and I remind myself that she is one of the reasons I want to get healthy. My daughter is my main motivation.

I've found that I'm actually motivated by my body. For example, I've lost some weight already and I look noticeably better & I LOVE it. I LOVE being able to wear a fitted t-shirt and look pretty darn decent (not perfect b.c I definitely have a pudge). I don't have to hide with jackets & such.

That alone, being able to look nice in clothes, is something that I don't want to give up.

I don't really think I'm an emotional eater- when I get upset I tend to shut down and the thought of eating makes me want to throw up. That's actually how I kick started my weight loss journey, I barely ate anything after a ROUGH break up.

BUT I definitely eat when I'm bored. I have a classic case of the late-night munchies. After 10 pm rolls around, I find myself rummaging through the kitchen for ANYTHING and I'm not even hungry! Ugh, it sucks. I'm trying to make myself go to bed earlier so I can a) be more rested and b) avoid those snacks.

Emotions, hormones, boredom, feeling like I just want to give up and enjoy myself in the moment - they all get the better of me.

I find seeing progress the most motivating - not necessarily on the scale (although it's nice when that happens!), but in terms of how clothes fit, or feeling stronger at the gym, or seeing clearer skin, or feeling more energetic overall. Even feeling just that little bit better motivates me to keep on "just doing it" and NOT go backwards.

It's tricky though, because whenever I'm starting to get back into healthy routines, I don't see progress right away (Maybe others also have this experience? Sometimes I feel like I'm alone in this, since I know people who can drop like ten pounds of fluid in a week when they start exercising like crazy and eating healthy . . .). And, sometimes, I actually feel worse when I start, because it's a shock to my system! I can get frustrated and give up. If I just push through that initial slump though, to the point where I can actually focus on progress of some sort, then it becomes easier.

Good luck everyone!
Elma

I had to accept my larger self before any of this started to happen. I wouldn't recommend the particular process I used to get that ball rolling, but it was a necessary first step for me. When things started going pear-shaped, there were a couple of things that helped me out, like making sure I was dressed well and my makeup was good. Probably most effective (for me) though was getting angry. I got really angry about being mopey at everything, (and a particular someone) and said ENOUGH! I'm going to do something for myself, by myself, because I can! After that incident, I now get these really lovely days where my self-confidence goes through the roof because I'm burnt out on caring about other people's opinions.

For me I'm not so much an emotional eater as an "I'm bored" eater... so I've got to play tricks on myself like drinking a glass of water when I think I'm hungry, or finding something to occupy myself with.

I'm keeping motivated for this particular Valentine's Day goal cause I'm going to a concert on Feb. 14 and it's in a stadium... those arena seats are always so tiny and I feel like I'm spilling over the sides. So whatever I can lose by then, I'll really appreciate!