How does anyone actually commit to this?
Replies
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Honestly nobody can help you. If you don't want this bad enough yet all the encouragement and motivation in the world won't make you do it. Sorry you have to do this all by yourself and when you are truly ready the commitment and motivation will come.
Good luck.
THIS. Until your personal switch flips and you are ready to get into those clothes for you, it won't happen and stay that way. Not to say everyone doesn't have a bad day but when you are ready, you will fight through the bad days and they will pass and get fewer and farther between.0 -
The best way to commit to exercise is finding something you like to do so it doesn't seem like a chore. I've enjoyed biking and recently took up salsa dancing. Once a week I go out with a group to bike. You can find all kinds of groups to keep you motivated on Meetup.com, there are biking groups, hiking groups, and all kinds of fitness groups. Find something you enjoy and meet new people!0
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Sticking to the Diet is really easy for me, as I eat what foods I want and try to stay in a deficit of 50 calories.
I have a 1200 calorie diet as I exercise very minimal because of health issues
I drink my water which is 8 or 9 glasses a day.
Before I went on MFP, I was getting ready to throw out my smaller clothes.
But hang on to them.
I have lost 15 pounds in 2 months and now fit in my smaller clothes
Don't listen to your boyfriend, this is something you have to want to do and to feel better about yourself.
Have your diary open to the public and then we can give you some better ideas.
Good Luck
Phyllis0 -
Take it easy, no need to think of this as a giant scary "thing". Just one workout at a time, one good meal at a time. Don't plan too much ahead, just this current food choice.0
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It's not that hard...unless you consider diet to be severe calorie restriction and completely abstaining from things you enjoy and have an unhealthy relationship and misunderstanding of dietary fat...then it's a ***** and pretty much impossible. But really, it's pretty damned easy when you...
eat a lot of this..
and a lot of this...
and let's not forget this...
and eat a lot less of this...
while occasionally indulging in a little of this...
all the while gettin' some of this...
and this...
and don't forget this...
and never, ever, ever forget this...
Good Livin' visualized....go get some!
^ YES!
Visualize! Believe in yourself! Be happy now!
And just DO IT!!!!!!!!0 -
he can be a butthead sometimes and told me last night we should just throw away the clothes I wore at my lowest weight because it's not like I'm going to fit into them again anyways.
I know how you can lose 200ish lbs right off the bat...lol
seriously, willpower, just knuckleup and stay the course, do what you know needs to be done...for you.0 -
I am bumping this, because I find myself lacking motivation A LOT of days and would like some great advice!!! Thank you for asking the question!!!0
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you can set yourself commitment goals, rather than making all your goals results based
for example, instead of saying "I will weigh x pounds" say "I will make 3 lifestyle changes and stick to them for 1 week" then 2 weeks, the a month, then three months....
lifestyle changes needn't be anything huge either, just things you know that you can stick to, if you put your mind to it
for example:
- working out 3x a week (make it a kind of exercise you know you'll enjoy)
- eating more protein at every meal
- stop buying unhealthy snacks and keep healthy snacks in the house instead
- make serving sizes for foods like ice cream smaller, and eat them more slowly
- track your calories and stay under the goal (make it a sustainable goal, e.g. going for 1lb fat loss a week)
those kinds of things. I'm sure you can think of others to add to them. You don't need to do them all at once, you can add more goals later as you get better at sticking to the changes you've made already and they become habits and part of your lifestyle, rather than something difficult to do.
The problem many people have with commitment is that they go all out hell for leather way too radical, and then can't stick to it, partly because their changes are not sustainable or manageable in the long term, and partly because deprivation isn't sustainable. So avoid that all or nothing mentality and instead get into the make small, sustainable changes and then stick to them. Don't deprive yourself, find ways to enjoy very high calorie foods in smaller portions... and stick to it.
And what's going to enable you to succeed long term is being able to stick to what you're doing, i.e. commitment. If commitment is a problem, then make it your goal.0 -
If you start thinking about how you're going to do this "for the rest of your life", it gets a little daunting. So don't. Take this journey the same way we do every journey....one step, one day, one change, and one lb at a time.
Habits take time to develop, but once you start developing them, it becomes 2nd nature...much like the habits you want to get rid of.
None of us gained our weight overnight. None of us lose it that way either.
240 lbs>>>> 164 lbs (took over a year!!!)0 -
Honestly nobody can help you. If you don't want this bad enough yet all the encouragement and motivation in the world won't make you do it. Sorry you have to do this all by yourself and when you are truly ready the commitment and motivation will come.
Good luck.
This...
I am not doing this for my husband, son, friends or anything other then myself. It's a choice you make everyday, every meal and every exercise session. You either do it or you don't.0 -
Honestly nobody can help you. If you don't want this bad enough yet all the encouragement and motivation in the world won't make you do it. Sorry you have to do this all by yourself and when you are truly ready the commitment and motivation will come.
Good luck.
This...
I am not doing this for my husband, son, friends or anything other then myself. It's a choice you make everyday, every meal and every exercise session. You either do it or you don't.
Yup, I feel the same.0 -
I have nothing to say about commitment, because I'm not sure the whole "if you really want it, you'll commit to it" is helpful. My problems were never a matter of commitment.
So my question is, if you do well all day, what is behind that binge-eating once you get home from work? Why are you doing it? Are you prepared to sit down and have a conversation with yourself about possible reasons you may be cramming your face with food once you're at home? What's different at home? How are your feelings at home different? Are you self-sabotaging for a reason? Is it related to your boyfriend "joking" about you needing to give up on losing the weight?
I'm just saying that whenever I slide, it has zero to do with my motivation or my commitment, and everything to do with the emotional needs I *think* I'm filling with food. Figuring that out has helped more than any pep talk I've ever heard.0 -
Quote: My boyfriend is amazing but he can be a butthead sometimes and told me last night we should just throw away the clothes I wore at my lowest weight because it's not like I'm going to fit into them again anyways.
Save them, make up your mind to do this to fit back into them and prove him wrong.0 -
You cannot do this unless you, and only you, are ready to do it. Nothing anyone is going to say will help you. You have to do it for you.
I started this journey with my boyfriend by my side and he dropped off within a month or so. I could have easily dropped with him but I didn't, I kept going, because it wasn't about US, it was about ME.0 -
Honestly nobody can help you. If you don't want this bad enough yet all the encouragement and motivation in the world won't make you do it. Sorry you have to do this all by yourself and when you are truly ready the commitment and motivation will come.
Good luck.
^This.0 -
Hard work is never (cliche, I know)...once I started seeing the changes, I could not stop. It's now a habit for me and it's great. Keep at, ask yourself why you're doing it because if you're not in this for yourself then you won't have the success you need. Don't throw the smaller clothes out, one day show your boyfriend how good you look in them.
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Honestly nobody can help you. If you don't want this bad enough yet all the encouragement and motivation in the world won't make you do it. Sorry you have to do this all by yourself and when you are truly ready the commitment and motivation will come.
Good luck.
This is very true. Your internal fire has to be lit. You light that fire by taking time to reflect on all of the things you hate about your current lifestyle...and specific reasons why you want to get healthier. If those things matter enough to you, your internal fire will be lit and you will find the motivation to make consistent healthy decisions. It really does come down to how bad you want this...which depends on how badly you hate your current lifestyle and how badly you want something else. You need to really define those things so you know why you're doing this.0 -
I had an MFP friend post this on his wall not too long ago. Points to ponder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuuPUKom2Nk 0 -
Well, in my situation I really didnt care. Doctor has been on my behind for years to lose weight. BAH. Diet. Exercise. Bad Bad words. Even sent me to a cardiologist. Heart perfect. Cholesterol perfect. Ha ha ha. Doc - you lose. Pizza time...... Then I got diagnosed with diabetes (truly) and I had to change my attitude. It was either needles 3 times a day or something else. Well, lets see if this losing weight thing has any merit. So, I still havent met my goal, but I've made considerable progress. I dont wheeze when I walk. My heart rate is down from 99 to 73. The top number of my blood pressure is what the bottom number used to be. So that keeps me motivated. I had to get right in my own head. that what the key point for me -- Get right in your mind. I go off sometimes. Like right now, Im injured. So for the 6 or 7 days Im not exercising, Ill make poor food choices. But I know that I'll get mack on track in about 3 more days.
-Guy-0 -
For me I didn't commit to a diet until I was better psychologically. I saw a therapist for a bit and started feeling better generally and then it was easy because I believed that it was possible for me to succeed at something. Before I'd just given up at any tiny hurdle because I believed I was nothing but a failure0
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I've made multiple, tiny changes - any time I try to change everything (like eating well and exercising) at the same time, I'd burn out quickly and just go back to my old ways. This time, I cut out pop and started chugging water. Then I limited fast food. Then I swapped my morning bagel & cream cheese for oatmeal and fruit. Then I started buying fresh veggies. Then I started buying multple kinds of veggies every week.
Those added up, and I didn't really realize it. But now I'm a (mostly) caffeine-free, fruit & veggie eating person that takes their lunch to work every single day and snacks on cheese, yogurt, nuts and fruit. It just happened. I think it was also easier for me this time, because I don't say "absolutely not" to anything - if I want a piece of cake, I have a piece of cake. It's just a small one.
Good luck0 -
FORGOT TO QUOTE So I cut and pasted!
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July 02, 2013 4:29 pm - themanda04
i honestly don't know. what i do know is that the times i've made major, substantial changes to my life i didn't have to 'try'. i channeled my inner yoda, and i just did it. i quit smoking, cold turkey, over fifteen years ago because i had an epiphany moment and just became a non-smoker. it wasn't a struggle for me coming off a nearly two pack a day habit of ten+ years, because in my mind i wasn't a smoker any longer. marriage ended and i walked away pretty easily (the constant contact of sharing a child has made things...interesting...but i didn't grieve the end of the marriage). when i decided i was sick and tired of being fat, i started to make changes to make me not-fat. i didn't have to force myself to do anything, i just accepted and welcomed my change of status and started to learn how to live this new lifestyle.
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Well there's the smack in the head I needed! I quit smoking the same way you did, I could have started this plan years ago if I had remembered how my mind set was back then (October 5th 1990!) Thanks for the reminder!
CW0 -
thank you so much, everyone. I would love to join a challenge group! I've been pushing myself the past few days and trying to push through the self doubt. Seeing so many responses was uplifting! I made my diary public, and if whoever said they could offer advice based on what I've been eating is more than welcome to PM me or friend me!0
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