how do you stay motivated EVERY.SINGLE.DAY?

I just don't like what I see in the mirror. Don't like how my clothes fit. I have some really nice clothes I wanna fit my fat *kitten* into, so that's my motivation. Is it vain? Possibly. Do I care? Nope!!

I toss all my clothes that get too big for me. My motivation is I am cheap and don't want to have to buy fat clothes ever again. I also stay motivated by taking pictures of my progress. Sometimes it's really hard to see daily, but if you take a weekly or monthly picture you can see the changes and it makes you want to keep working at it.

by knowing that one day i can go to the people who called me fat and show them my abs and yell suck it!

Remember these three rules.

It takes 4 weeks for you to start noticing changes in your body.
It takes 8 weeks for your friends to start noticing changes in your body.
In takes 12 weeks for the world to start noticing changes in your body.

There is no quick fix. I stay motivated by being fixed on a long-term goal and making sacrifices for it. When you start noticing the changes it becomes easier though, and you become more motivated to succeed.

I keep a picture of my in my undies and bra that truly show how fat and bad I look on my bathroom mirror so I see it every day, that is all it takes to keep me going and eating a carrot stick and not a cookie. I also have a picture of a reward that I am work towards by the fat picture.

By thinking more so about the END result. Starting to think of exercise more so as a JOB! In order to get the paycheck I must put in the work...

Motivation can be a big problem for some people and this has been the case in the past for me too. However, I have several rules I follow to ensure that I keep being motivated:

Motivation:

a) Keep a photo of your old self in your wallet, on the desk in work, wherever you are. It will remind you why you are doing what you doing;

b) Role model - Have a role model. Follow them on Twitter, look at their training methods, diets etc. Immerse yourself in their world and compare it to your diet and training regimes. For me, it is the Rock (Dwayne Johnson);

c) Quotes - My favourite is 'To be something you've never been, you've got to do something you've never done'. Find one that works for you and remember it.

Rules:

1) Food - Eat only the foods which are single-product items e.g. dairy, meat, veg and fruit. Anything that is processed, mixed or fake is bad. Period.

2) Sugar - This is hidden everywhere. Sugary drinks are the worst as you cant gauge their levels of sugar by looking at it.

3) Fat - Eat fat. Seriously. Eating fat can help to burn fat as it is required as part of the oxidation cycle. Anything that says low fat or fat-free, leave. NB - Fat should be taking in moderation, however.

4) High-Intensity exercise - Contrary to believe and misinformation, low-intensity, long duration exercise may be the best at burning fat in terms of a percentage but over time, it works out inferior due to what is known as the 'afterburn' with high-intensity exercise (HIIT);

5) Enjoyment - Find an activity you enjoy doing and you'll find it much easier to stick to. My achilles was running. First I ran 1 mile then 2 and 3 with music. Now I can run 10 miles with no music whatsoever;

6) Websites - Such as bodybuilding.com are my staple for motivation and tips. So much advice on there. You may not be into that sort of thing. However, there's weight-loss, nutrition, supplementation information also.

I could go on, good luck!

A couple things:
1. I have a calendar reminder that goes off every morning that says "I am getting skinnier every day." Having that little mantra hit me in the face in the morning really helps.
2. I ONLY focus on today. I actually don't think about the long term or my future goals. I just think about today. I made two commitments to myself on January 1st of this year: I will log my calories every day. I will work out every day. Somedays I log 2x my daily calories, but I log my calories. I have lost 20 lbs since Jan 1.

My best friend Frankii_x; we do a bootcamp together every morning at 6am even though she lives in England and I live in Northern Ireland. She even rings me every morning to make sure Im up for our work out We're going on holiday to Spain on 15th June 2013 and I cant wait! xxxx

That's cool. What a great way to stay connected to your friend as well as leveraging each other's motivation!

Are you one of the three girls in your profile pic? If so, it will probably take you longer than 16 weeks to lose 25 lb. When you are already lean, you cannot expect more than half a pound to a pound a week. You also have to be quite precise about logging your intake, because the deficit has to be kept fairly low.

So, as far as advice on motivation: tempering your expectations (as above) is important. Also, if you don't like exercising, don't torture yourself. You don't need to work out to lose weight--just log your intake accurately and consistently, and keep the deficit small or else you'll be hangry all the time and won't stick with it.

hey! im the one on the left but now im 10 lbs heavier!! and in the pic, i still wanted to lose 10-15 lbs. i was 140 in that picture. i set it as my profile to have it as a daily motivator!

Ah, well, still--the thing to understand about MFP is that it allows you to set a "2 lbs a week" weight loss goal, but it's not a good idea for someone who is within the normal BMI or just a few clicks above it. If you take it slow, you'll get better results, trust me.

thanks! i definitely dont want to go fast. ive done that soooo many times and it ALWAYS results in regaining. SO FRUSTRATING. i finally acknowledged this time that it's gonna be looong. I'm not gonna lie i didnt think longer than 16 weeks (lol...dammit) but TBH im not even sad. as long as i LOSE IT, and KEEP IT OFF i am 100% happy. thanks for your help! !