What gives you motivation for the day? please share

my goal is to look good on my hols this year as going with friends. i dont want to be the large one of the group in an un flattering costume . i use this everyday to remind my self to try and eat better and move more. its strange but working. going on hols with family for me is different i wouldnt have bothered.

find a reason for yourself and remind yourself each day when u feel like giving up. u will soon knock
the smiles off the faces of those who were nasty. log every day and every thing you eat. find an exercise you like and u will do fine. good luck.

Firstly, make the decision that you are not going to settle for anything else but what you want, that is where you should start. also one thing i did when i started was, i went and bought myself a cheap whiteboard and i hung it in my room where i could see it everyday, i wrote all my weightloss goals on it, and i count everyday that i am doing it, today is my 50th day, this gives me a feeling of accomplishment.

I find that the open diary helps me quite a bit (knowing that my friends can see what I'm eating). I find that it helps me to be more mindful of exactly what I'm buying at the grocery store, knowing that once I bring it home I have the potential for "pigging out" if I buy the junk food. When I do have snack or junk food, I make sure to buy items that are lower in calories or portioned, individual serving packages.

I also don't think of this as "dieting" because that term makes one think "at some point or at my goal weight I will go back to my old way of eating", which I don't ever plan on doing. I plan on logging for the rest of my life. Diets don't work. I also don't deprive myself of certain items like junk food. My food diary is filled with things like chocolate cake, and wheat thins. But far more often, I have healthy, lower calorie items. I just have to make sure I portion things and budget my calories if I know I might go out to dinner or whatever.

At some point we all might slip and eat something we know makes us go "over" on calories. It's important to "get back on track" and looking at your own food diary to see where you can make lower calorie/healthier choices. Smaller, more frequent "mini-meals" might be helpful as well.

Sorry for the long-winded post. My other biggest motivators are my skinny jeans, (getting rid of my clothes that are too big) my families' compliments and how much better I feel now that I'm almost forty pounds lighter and still counting. Best wishes!

What have you tried in the past?

My way into it was through exercise. (I didn't start thinking about food for a few months.) My motivation was being fed up with myself, and having ended a relationship, so I had an opportune mix of anger and the desire for reinvention fuelling things.

I started with short DVDs, because they were convenient and cheap. I used Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred, which I liked because the thing as a whole is only half an hour long, and each segment is quite short (can't remember now, 30 - 60 seconds at a time). That formula felt achievable. I could endure anything for 30 seconds, and pushed to the next 30, and so on.

I did that DVD as often as I could, aiming for every day, actually wound up doing something like 3-4 times a week, because of soreness. I can't remember where I read this, but someone somewhere compared exercise to hygiene - it's a thing you just do, like brushing your teeth. So my commitment was: "I will not sleep before I do 30 minutes of something physical today". If I didn't do the DVD, I walked. (Or ran, but I wish I hadn't [injury] will recommend walking, or anything else )

The first two weeks were brutal. I creaked, I cramped. I pushed through. Again - my motivation was that commitment - 30 minutes a day - plus my anger, I guess. By the time a month passed, I was over the pains, and hooked. I think I lost maybe 5 - 8 pounds, but I felt FANTASTIC. Sleep improved, energy improved, everything worked better. I don't know if I actually was, but I felt tighter too.

I got into counting calories a bit later, and lost my weight (60 lbs) over about a year, and have been maintaining for two. I do other things than DVDs now (more strength training - wish I'd started with that, instead of running).

Anyway: it is completely, completely possible for you to feel entirely differently about yourself within a very short time, and to see real results not long after. The way you feel now can be a memory, if you push through the process, day by day.

It sounds odd, but participating in the MFP community motivates me.

I've asked for help on here and got some great tips from helpful members. This not only encourages me, but also makes me feel a bit liable (in a good way!). It's sort of like "well, they took the time to type a response, so I should at least try".

Open diary all the way! To your friends at least. When mine was closed, I felt no shame in eating rubbish. I also pre-log an entire week at a time on a Sunday; then each day I know exactly what I'm going to eat. I also only buy what I have planned; that way eating on top of that isn't really an option. Good luck with your journey!

My motivation is I know how great I'm going to feel after I do and knowing how many others aren't. I enjoy being healthy and knowing that all the hard work is worth every penny and every sweat shed

My motivation each day is the knowledge that I don't want to repeat family history. I want to be a healthy mom (I am not aiming for SKINNY - just fit and healthy) and wife. I want to be able to say "I did it!" in the faces of all of those who doubt me. I want to feel this great every day and I KNOW if I "fall off the wagon" I will feel like crap.

I don't look at it as a "diet" but a lifestyle change. I don't try to AVOID my "trigger" foods, I find ways to make them HEALTHIER and eat them in smaller portions - even if that means only making one portion at a time. I don't avoid eating out, I find healthier places to eat out and the healthiest options they have.

Exercise has become something I can't live without. If I miss a session of Zumba, I am a raging B*&#h and I know it as does my family so they encourage me. I am on MFP DAILY reading boards, doing challenges, checking in with my "support" buddies, re-reading my food diary and trying to plan my next days' meals.

In the end, my BIGGEST motivation is I don't want to be like the "old" me, the "me" at the start and I know that each day I do what I should, I know I am getting further and further from her. And the cycle just keeps going...

My trick is to not over think the whole thing and to just incorporate it in my daily life.

My healthy meals are prepared in advance in individual containers I freeze, I stock the fridge with fruits, vegetables and other prepared foods so it is easier for me to just eat what is already there. I allow for small rewards every once in a while not to go crazy (a cup of vanilla ice cream or a hand full of pretzels).

I have 4 days of exercises scheduled and I just follow the routine day in and day out and I am happy with how I progressively feel better and better, more energy, loosing weight steadily....

I mean time flies, if you just start and continue on, before you know it, you will be there!