what will power

Pray / meditate on it. It also helps to take it one day at a time, one meal at a time.

This is what I think (hope it helps):

Remind yourself that on the days you don't want to work out, or feel like binge eating, it is especially important to exercise and eat well. If you give in and lay on the couch eating Oreos, then you are not changing anything.

I believe that personal growth only comes from facing the discomfort head on and dealing with issues. It is easy to exercise and eat well when we are feeling motivated and positive. It is not easy to do so when we want to numb inner pain with cookies and tv.

If we continue to numb in those moments of sadness, pain, depression, etc., then nothing will ever change for the better and we will never learn anything about ourselves.

If instead, we say 'hey, all I want to do is watch tv and eat and not care about anything, I wonder what is going on for me?' Then sit there and examine what we are feeling, and try to deal with the emotion instead of numbing it out, we learn something about ourselves and how we cope.

So on days that you are not feeling motivated, ask yourself what is going on emotionally, or physically - don't revert back to numbing behaviours.

If you are feeling like crap, and/ or unmotivated, exercise and eating well is the most important thing you can do for your mind and your body. The more you push yourself to stick to your goals when you are feeling like this, the more you will learn about yourself, the better you will feel about yourself, and you will start to want to exercise and eat well because of how it makes you feel.

Change never comes from a place of comfort.

I used to play football, and our coach had an expression -- it's always 0-0.

It didn't matter if we were up ten points or down thirty, the score was always 0-0.

What this meant is that it didn't matter what we did ten minutes ago, what mattered was how we played.

The same goes for MFP and your losing weight. If you overeat one morning, don't act like it's all over and the day's a waste -- start your diet again every time you slip. Your calorie count from yesterday doesn't matter, all that matters is your calorie count for today.

All that said, keep an eye on the score. Log every single day, and if you see your weight start to creep up, you need to fix that. But the key is logging every day, because that keeps you honest. Some people skip days because they're embarassed, but that's not the way to do it.

Know how every single overweight person on the planet got that way? One calorie at a time. And that's the same way up as it is down.

Any advise on making your willpower stronger?

I don't use willpower because I haven't got any. I learned this quitting smoking.

Yes, I managed to quit. Using logic though. Logic power is easier and it doesn't fizzle the way willpower fizzles.

1. Don't move too fast for yourself.

2. Track your food. Just track it for a week or 2. As an educational exercise. See how much you are consuming right now. I think if you track for a while, you will eventually start to make better choices just because it occurs to you to do so.

I think most people, myself included, gain weight because we don't really have a clue how many calories that piece of pizza has in it. when we get the information our logic kicks in and wants us to at least not increase.

... If you overeat one morning, don't act like it's all over and the day's a waste -- start your diet again every time you slip. Your calorie count from yesterday doesn't matter, all that matters is your calorie count for today.
...Know how every single overweight person on the planet got that way? One calorie at a time. And that's the same way up as it is down...

Hi JVROOKS! Such wisdom from such a young man. Thank you. I'm struggling right now with working out. What do you say to yourself to get to that gym or exercise program.

Like Nike. Just do it

For me it's logging EVERYTHING that I put in my mouth. It is virtually impossible to log the way I used to (and most overweight people) eat. I am firm and strict and won't let myself down by randomly eating this or that or piling on the portions because it is so hard to log food when you are all over the map.
Now that this way of eating is now a habit, I don't miss the free for alls I had for years.
FYI, I've only been on MFP for going on 8 weeks and I am down only 17 lbs, but NORMALLY I give up at the 29 day mark.
This just feels right this time.

..I don't miss the free for alls I had for years. FYI, I've only been on MFP for going on 8 weeks and I am down only 17 lbs, but NORMALLY I give up at the 29 day mark.This just feels right this time...

Hello from Chicago. Your discipline will get you to goal! Congratulations. I too need to stop the '"free for alls."

I used to play football, and our coach had an expression -- it's always 0-0.

It didn't matter if we were up ten points or down thirty, the score was always 0-0.

What this meant is that it didn't matter what we did ten minutes ago, what mattered was how we played.

The same goes for MFP and your losing weight. If you overeat one morning, don't act like it's all over and the day's a waste -- start your diet again every time you slip. Your calorie count from yesterday doesn't matter, all that matters is your calorie count for today.

All that said, keep an eye on the score. Log every single day, and if you see your weight start to creep up, you need to fix that. But the key is logging every day, because that keeps you honest. Some people skip days because they're embarassed, but that's not the way to do it.

Know how every single overweight person on the planet got that way? One calorie at a time. And that's the same way up as it is down.

I need to remember this and I do know it, I just forget and get discouraged too easily. Thanks for the great post!