Committment To MFP

trackmyday1973
trackmyday1973 Posts: 393 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello,

I was wondering if anyone can provide any tips and/or suggestions on what keeps you motivated/committed to MFP.

Sorry if I don't respond right away....I am at work :)

Your tips would greatly be appreciated.

Thank you.

Replies

  • yaseyuku
    yaseyuku Posts: 871 Member
    Remembering how I looked at my heaviest and how I hope to look is enough to motivate me.
  • kpick41
    kpick41 Posts: 81 Member
    It has to be something inside you that makes you totally committed.
    I keep taking progress photos, measurements, and only weigh in once a week. The motivation I receive from others on MFP is amazing. Keep posting and it will come!
  • Sewweaver
    Sewweaver Posts: 33 Member
    My motivation is probably not a very good one at this point. I am fighting loneliness and fear of some test results and because I have little support, MFP has become my little home.

    I would like to say that my motivation is more pure, that it is my strong and committed desire to change my life and become fearless. But that wouldn't be entirely true.

    I simply know that for now, in this place I'm in inside my heart and mind, I need this place. I need the structure, the friends, even though they don't know me and if I disappeared their lives would be none the less for it. I need the accountability, the little drop of shame when I consider eating something off of what I know I should, or for reasons that I know I shouldn't, and having to track that and have others see it. I tend to be competitive I guess or I am afraid of someone feeling that I am stupid or failing or worthless.

    MFP is not magic. The calorie counting is not miraculous.... but the PEOPLE here, are life to me. They are what keeps me going.
  • harphy
    harphy Posts: 290 Member
    Make it a habit. If you manage to log constantly for a month you will likely keep on with logging.
  • trackmyday1973
    trackmyday1973 Posts: 393 Member
    Thank you all for your wonderful input. Each and every one of you have contributed to many ideas I can take with me in making MFP work. I am a compulsive binge eater. I feel that this will keep me in control. I turn to food for everything....sadness, boredom, happiness. I am putting a stop to this. I feel so embarassed and uncomfortable carrying around all this extra weight. No cookie, or pizza or chips are more important than me that they can control my happiness and my life. I am going to see it this way.

    Thank you :)
  • LadyPakal
    LadyPakal Posts: 256 Member
    It's become second nature now - been at it for over a year.
  • mperrott2205
    mperrott2205 Posts: 737 Member
    Looking at the photo i took on the first day of my journey then looking at myself now.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    For me it's been short term goals. I just focused on 10lbs at a time. Now I am nearing 50lbs down and about to crack the 200lb barrier (by Friday weigh in hopefully). This has been a huge step for me as I haven't been under 200lbs since HS (now 35 years old).

    So that's my advice. Focus on small increments. Once you drop a few little things will happen that make you just say "holy crap" in your head. For example, Saturday, I had to get cat food and litter. Went to PetSmart and got a 30lb box of litter, and a 20lb bag of food. I get back to my condo and have to walk it up there stairs and I am thinking in my head, just 3-4 months ago I was carrying the same amount of weight that I was holding on my body. It was crazy how heavy it was.

    Also, the line I recite all the time that I have seen in numerous places, and posted on here is "The emotional pain of being overweight far outweighs the temporary pain of working out".

    Hope any of that helps at least a little.

    And I also agree with defmut3 - Looking back at old pictures will really make you realize how much you don't want to go back!
  • corgicake
    corgicake Posts: 846 Member
    Remembering the reason I started this, and now the almost blurted out holy craps I've been starting to get as my college buddies return from summer vacation (side note: pre-MFP, I had already lost a bunch of weight).
  • msjames1999
    msjames1999 Posts: 528 Member
    Once you start seeing the results, you will have no problem being committed because you will know that it is working.
  • merryberry99
    merryberry99 Posts: 350 Member
    Remembering how I looked at my heaviest and how I hope to look is enough to motivate me.

    This! I haven't lost a ton of weight, but my clothes fit so much better now. Sometimes I want to quit and say this is good enough, but I keep thinking about how much better I could look and my clothes could fit! I finally feel comfortable enough with my arms to wear tank tops when I go for a run or walk...in short, I'm beginning to feel more comfortable in my body.
  • DeannaNL
    DeannaNL Posts: 53 Member
    This isn't my first time around, or my second...I've been on and off the wagon so many times that I pretty much gave up on myself and figured I'd never find the motivation to start over yet again.

    What is different this time? Well, I stopped looking for motivation, I figured why am I wasting all of this time waiting to feel something to push me in the right direction, when I know how to lose weight, and I know where I can go to help me along the way..MFP!! Oh, to think of all the time I wasted, sitting around waiting to 'feel' something. I could have been at my goal a long time ago if I hadn't been so d@mn lazy!!

    It really is a mind setting, and the way I feel now is different than all of the other times I have tried to lose weight. This is sustainable, I don't feel deprived & I'm loving every day...the good ones and the bad ones.

    Log in every day, be honest with what you put in your food journal, and don't beat yourself up if you have a bad day. It's not hard to do.

    Good luck, and feel free to add me if you want a friend to help you along your journey! :)
  • Sondicalondi
    Sondicalondi Posts: 57 Member
    I pick a future goal, a 5K race I want to run in 10 weeks, a dress I want to wear in 2 months, a 10K walk to benefit a charity that I sign up to do with friends a few weeks out. Makes me accountable. I have found FP to be the fastest way to keep track and get motivated by people having the same goal.
  • alyssa92982
    alyssa92982 Posts: 1,093 Member
    All the support from my friends on here helps a lot. My results I've gotten keep me motivated to keep going and knowing that by using this site is how obtained them:)
  • StheK
    StheK Posts: 443 Member
    I have no idea why, this time, the habit took. It's not the first time I've tried- not even the 20th time. I feel like there is a switch in our brains that just clicks one day- and the reason it clicks is different for everyone and not always obvious even to that person. I know that my health issues made a big difference in my attitude, and the realization that I was missing out on so many things because of my weight. But I don't know what finally caused the click. I'm just glad it happened and I am going to do everything I can to keep it going, including logging in here every day.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    Habit. I love the data. I read my diary and learn every day what things have a lot of calories and what have less.

    And the forums. And I hit a weight goal I was absolutely positive was unrealistic when I started out 14 months ago. But it wound up being easy.

    When I hit my goal and it would have been easy to sluff it off, I got a fitbit. More data.

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