Where does your resolve come from?

For me it was my 40th birthday. I just couldn't face being fat and sick and lazy the rest of my life so I got my rear in gear and just did it. One day at a time - one small change at a time - one screw up after another, but kept on going.

The resolve comes from inside yourself...it is there so grab a hold of it and do whatever it takes to get there. When you mess up, don't give up. One bad day or even a bad week will not derail all of your work.

Focus on the process of developing a healthy, sustainable dietary lifestyle. Part of the problem that many people have is that they go around giving up all kinds of foods and depriving themselves, etc. When in reality, you just need to eat healthier most of the time...make better decisions most of the time, but still indulge in your favorite treats from time to time.

I also find that focusing strictly on weight loss is a piss poor motivator...I have to focus on health and nutrition. When I do that, a day over calories or whatever doesn't really bother me...I know it'll slow my progress, but focusing on nutrition and health keeps me in the long view rather than the week to week number on the scale.

In RE to fitness, I find that I need something to train for. I have to have an event circled on my calendar...some day that is going to kick my *kitten* and I need to get ready for it. That keeps me motivated in my exercise.

For me part of it was changing how I was viewing my actions...as in, I am no longer on a 'diet', I'm on a lifestyle change. What this means to me is that a day of poor eating is just a day of poor eating, it's not a bad day so much as it's a day outside of what is my regular lifestyle, and can easily be left behind as I get back to my new lifestyle.

And my reason for the lifestyle change has nothing to do with wanting to be 'skinny' (though it's a nice side effect) - it's about not wanting to be in pain anymore, and feeling stronger, healthier and getting into a routine I can live with.

Before, I was always dieting. Lose weight was the only focus. I didn't think about the bounce back that inevitably happens as I resume old habits or go off course because I was restricting so much of what I enjoyed. If you're sick of the pain, and the discomfort of being in your current body - don't focus on good vs bad when it comes to food and focus more on changing habits a bit at a time. Some people are all in or all out, but for a lot of people, changing one habit a week is much more functional for them. Perhaps you're one of those people?

Pick one healthy habit and incorporate that into your daily living this week. Next week add a new healthy habit and so forth. It's a journey, not a race and winning is about coming out a healthier you.

I had an annual appointment with my sleep doctor (I have sleep apnea) on December 31st. I meet with him once a year now. I weighed 276 and he (again) told me that it'd help with my apnea if I lost weight. I found MFP the next day and decided it was time to try it. I was able to stick with it and lost 30+ lbs since January 2nd. My question now is where did my resolve GO? I still count everything but quite often go over my daily calories and think I'll do better tomorrow. I am trying to get back on track before I gain it all back.

You have to really commit to it. Just saying you are going to do it is not enough, and you also have to make a plan of
what you are going to change. Loosing weight works with a lifestyle change. For me I stopped drinking garbage..and committed to drinking only water and herbal decaf teas. Then I cut out Dairy products, and then all fried foods. Eventually I went vegetarian 2 years
ago and vegan last year. You know in your heart what your are eating that is not healthy or right. Change is very hard, do it slow and it will become a habit. I would look into whole foods and clean eating and I don't mean going vegetatrian..thats not for everyone.
I just truly believe that when you start small and make those victories it will give you the motivation to tackle other unhealthy habits.

My resolve? I'm effing tire of being effing fat. Tired of my double chin, tired of my rolls, tired of my butt fat, high blood pressure, fatty liver spots. TIRED. This isn't me. I want to be ME!!!! It's not all going to be unicorns and rainbows, but you have to put some effort into it!! Keep going, it's going to take time!!!

I don't suppose I can relate entirely, because I've always been pretty active, so my body ends up craving the release that comes with the workouts. I love food, too, don't get me wrong (and I love all kinds of "terrible" foods), but the workouts I get in help me find balance with food and stress.

For me, my motivation is the feelings I get after. I am less stressed, less likely to snap at people (I'm in nursing school, as a single mom, and the workload sometimes just pushes me to the brink of sanity), and I'm more able to handle things that come my way.

My motivation is the fact that I am a better person. Not just that I look better, because ultimately, that's not a long-term thing that I can hang on to (since my looks change daily), but that I AM better, in every single way. I can notice the difference in my stress levels, the ways that I interact with people, and my focus and patience. They are all so much better when I get my free "therapy" session with my sweat.

Really, I think the big difference is where you look for your motivation, and what things you're looking at. If you focus on the things that are negative, then it'll seem like you aren't getting anywhere, because well, that's all you're looking for. Try specifically looking for good things that come out of weight loss. For every negative thing you find, find a positive one to balance it out. You'd be surprised how that becomes habit, and eventually, resolve doesn't become something that's hard to find, because it's always there in the positive things you're looking at.

The reason for my resolve is simple: I want to be alive and healthy for my son. About 6 months after he was born, I looked ta myself and realized that I could not be the best mom the way I was. I'm now down 50 lbs from my post-baby weight.

As the saying goes, "One day at a time."
I don't put myself on a timetable.
Yes, I have a goal. I'll get there when I get there.
My keyword here is "sustainability." This is not a one-shot deal. This is one day at a time, one meal at a time, for the rest of my life.
If I need to take a day off, I take a day off, but that is a conscious choice and I own it. I'm back on track the next day, and I still log everything.
I may grow impatient, but I don't get discouraged. When I feel impatient during a plateau, I tell myself that I am in much better shape than I was in when I started this journey. In other words, I've already won.

By starting, you've already won. It doesn't matter whether you fall off the horse. Just get back on it. Above all, be kind to yourself. This is a learning process like everything else in life.

Bad food is made to be addictive. That makes cutting the food out an uphill battle.
I've cut out most processed foods through substitutions, and through what I call bridge foods, like this one:



Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips were one of my “Before” snacks. I’d dump a healthy handful or two into a bowl for my chocolate fix. Note the calorie counts above and the amounts. The package defines a serving as 16 chips/80 calories, but a handful could easily contain 32 chips. Most of those calories came from fat.

These days grapes are my after-workout snack. I usually eat two cups of them. They contain a lot of water, so they’re pretty filling, and the red grapes especially are nice and sweet.

I didn’t turn to grapes immediately. Raisins were my “bridge” food. They were sweeter by volume than grapes and less fattening than chocolate. But a half cup of raisins had almost as many calories as four times the volume of grapes.

The first couple of weeks took a lot of my willpower, but then my body adjusted. These days, willpower is hardly an issue for me. We still have several bags of Ghirardelli chips in the house because my partner eats them. They don’t tempt me at all, but I could eat them if I wanted to. I ate 32 chips on September 15, 2012, and haven’t had any since. I just haven’t felt the need. I also used to eat a lot of energy bars, which my partner still eats. Again, I can walk right past those without getting tempted. I turn to fresh produce, which is much more filling -- but I needed a sweeter bridge food to get me to the point of being satisfied with (and preferring) fresh produce.

Last Saturday I had my first real "treat" day as part of social gatherings: pizza at one place, cheesecake at another. Sure, my weight blipped up. But it blipped up for only a couple of days, because I had gotten right back on track -- and my "treat" day felt wonderfully decadent and special. And that was enough for me. In fact, I've gotten so used to my standard food that I was happy to get back to stuff that was less rich and that had much less sodium.

Having good food accessible also makes a big difference for me. I'm a caregiver, so I drive my partner to medical appointments, including appointments 75 miles away. She's big fan of fast food. To stay on track, I carry my own food in a small cooler:



The cooler typically holds crispbread, canned chicken, and an orange or banana.

Half the trick is having the good stuff readily accessible. I try to make this as easy on myself as possible.
Good luck and keep on keepin' on.

We were on a break in February and there's a very steep hill by the cottage which previously I'd walked up, got my second wind about half way, then carried on. Except in February, my second wind didn't come! Every day that week I had to walk up the damned hill and it didn't get any easier because my fat backside was dragging me back down. It was my wake up call and the next day, I started to change how I ate, how I looked at exercise and had a good hard think about where I wanted to be in a year's time.

We're going back to the cottage in 2wks and this time I intend to be able to keep pace with my fit husband up the 1:4 incline instead of whining for him to wait for me - that's my focus for now. I've got lots of other little targets for after that to keep me going and I think this is the key to not losing the faith.

If you really want to lose the weight for you, then find your own aims and wishes and go for it - little steps at a time