What do you do...

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ElmiMN
ElmiMN Posts: 15
edited November 2023 in Getting Started
To stay motivated? I am three weeks in and I started an accomplishment log.

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  • anna1m
    anna1m Posts: 29 Member
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    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.
  • Mamabear7809
    Mamabear7809 Posts: 4
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    I have fallen off the wagon so many times. Too many to count. I usually get down to a certain weight, and then something comes up (friends come over, we go out for dinner, weekend away, etc.) and my healthy eating is gone for months. I'll get back up to my "I need to start losing weight" weight, and then I think back to when I dropped the healthy lifestyle and realize that if I had of just stuck with it back then, I would be 15lbs lighter right now. So that's basically how I stay motivated now. Every time I go to the grocery store and want to buy some chips, or want to order pizza for dinner I think about how I'm going to feel in a couple months when I've gained weight instead of losing. I'm not good at just having one cheat day and then getting back to it. It's been working for me pretty well so far.
  • Bernadette60614
    Bernadette60614 Posts: 707 Member
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    I don't believe in motivation.

    I believe in looking at the habits which got me overweight one by one and changing those habits one by one.
  • committowalk
    committowalk Posts: 59 Member
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    When I first started I got frustrated by my slow progress. It was really hard for me to stick to my healthy food choices all day every day. I didn't want to do a drastic change, so I set my calorie goal to a 1/2 lb/week loss rate. However, I was still having problems sticking with it. I lost about 15 lbs, but was losing motivation fast because I was frustrated with the scale jumping up and down and just changing too slowly (really I felt like who cares if the scale says 204 instead of 204.5? I want to be 135!).

    So, I switched up my thinking. Instead of setting a weight loss goal and focusing on that, I am focusing on fitness goals. I started a couch to 5k program and told everyone I know (coworkers, friends, family) that I was going to run a 5k before the end of the year. I started training and found that it was so much easier for me to make myself "be good" and workout for 30-45 minutes a day instead of thinking about "being good" and sticking to all my healthy eating all day. I was still logging and tracking calories, but my focus was not on the scale results. My focus was on being able to run 60 seconds at a time, then 3 minutes at a time, and before long I was running 20 minutes straight! My measurable success week after week motivated me to stick to my workouts and kept me motivated for my weight loss journey because I feeling positive about myself and my chances of eventual success. I am down another 15 lbs and on track to lose 15 more by the end of December. I'm not out to be a 2 lb a week loser, but losing is easier for me now that my workouts are really burning significant calories.

    I have my first 5k race at the end of October and my goal is to run my first 10k in early spring 2014. I plan to keep pushing my goals and using my progress towards my fitness goals as my motivation to keep logging my food and seeing the weight slowly come off.
  • benol1
    benol1 Posts: 867 Member
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    I don't believe in motivation.

    I believe in looking at the habits which got me overweight one by one and changing those habits one by one.

    You must. Otherwise you wouldn't change your habits.
    So, what is motivating you to change your habits?
  • benol1
    benol1 Posts: 867 Member
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    The healthier I get as a result of my dietary changes and fitness regime is making me feel like a million bucks.
    Despite my signature ticker, I've lost a significant amount of weight (for me) and I feel lighter, happier and have heaps more energy.
    Also, the regular "NSVs" by way of complements from friends - they're nice too but are essentially the icing on the cake (so to speak)..
    I am also motivated by the fact that the changes that I have made (exercise and diet) are going to be of great benefit for my long-term health and longevity. Hence, a lot of my motivation is directed towards making a permanent change to my lifestyle rather than chasing a particular medium-term goal.
    I hope that helps.
    kind regards,

    Ben
  • RoyBeck
    RoyBeck Posts: 947 Member
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    I have a photo of 'The old me' on my fridge. If I get hungry for the wrong kind of stuff I think twice!!
  • sunsetzen
    sunsetzen Posts: 268 Member
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    I look at what I've accomplished so far and break my big goal into little goals. 'Only five more....' It also helps that I'm metric so I only have 35kg to lose instead of 100 lbs! Its easier to comprehend, I guess.
  • MrsFowler1069
    MrsFowler1069 Posts: 657 Member
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    I keep in mind the results I want and practice behaviors that will help me to accomplish them.

    I set new goals and I celebrate the small successes, whether I find them on the scale, in my closet, whatever.

    I do not go hungry and I do not deprive myself of things I enjoy.

    I also experiment with a variety of foods that are less calorie-dense so that I have options that I truly enjoy, especially for times when I've used a lot of calories from my budget already (and so I don't get bored).

    I do not beat myself up if I'm off a little from what I intended for the day.

    I know that every day is new and I have a new chance every day to do the right thing, whether yesterday was difficult or whether it went swimmingly.

    I am absolutely not perfect and I don't expect perfection of myself, but I try to implement new, positive behaviors - even small ones - and then build on them.

    While I look at "the big picture," mostly I focus on the measurable things along the way. The jeans that fit now. The fact that I'm five pounds away from my first big weight goal (less than a third of my ultimate goal weight). The fact that I eat more veggies and my shirts are getting too big.

    I do not have an all-or-nothing mentality...there's no "well, now I've blown it, might as well just stay fat." I figure if the general trend is positive and I'm seeing good results, then I have a right to feel good about that. And hey, the other option is what? to do what I was doing before? Well, I've already concluded that wasn't working.

    I find all of this very "motivating." It's not a wellspring or whatever....but it's better. It's what I choose. Good question.
  • MrsFowler1069
    MrsFowler1069 Posts: 657 Member
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    I don't believe in motivation.

    I believe in looking at the habits which got me overweight one by one and changing those habits one by one.


    mo·ti·va·tion
    ˌmōtəˈvāSHən/Submit
    noun
    1.
    the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way.
  • Bernadette60614
    Bernadette60614 Posts: 707 Member
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    I think people look about motivation as a way to sustain their commitment.

    I sustain my commitment by observing and changing my habits. The habits I change, in turn, support my commitment to change more habits. When I think of it that way..it is like a really cool game and not a hard slog.

    I've lost 40 lbs and kept it off for 10 years, I'm losing the last 10 of so because I'm a competitive stairclimber.

    Now, if the question was: What made you chose to commit to improved health and fitness I would say it was the challenge..and so I look upon each change of habit as a challenge.

    It is a little bit like those folks who run triathalons...it is being able to run triathalons that keeps them going.

    Works for me!
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