How do you get it back?

You make that decision every day that you're not going to be the same person that you were, the same person that started this journey x number of days ago. It's going to be a *****, and you're going to be a fight with yourself at times.

Well hopefully as a group/team we can find the answer to this very important question. I too am trying to regain my motivation and that's why I am back to using My Fitness Pal. I have to do something.

Maybe all we need to get motivated again is to not look for a quick fix and to definitely not beat ourselves up about having put on weight. Think back to how happy you were to be your present weight when you first started losing weight. That is what I am trying to do. To remember just how pleased I was with myself for having lost 40 pounds to reach my present weight. Once I get back on the happy bus with myself I will take the rest of the journey down to my goal weight. It is true that it would have been better to stay at my lower weight but hey, I'm not perfect with weight issues yet....and that's ok.

If we look at the loss we have maintained and take it from there instead of moaning about how terrible we are for having dropped the ball( I tend to do this), maybe, just maybe we will be back losing weight and being happy with ourselves.
I need to like myself a little more at this point. I find that if I beat myself up or feel negatively about myself, I do not act positively, rather I eat more because why not?

I know I will lose weight if I try each day to get dressed nicely and make sure my hair is the way I like it and that my nails are trimmed and maybe polished etc. If I feel good about myself and take care of those things I can easily manage, I have a chance to get back on the weight-loss bus but...... if I feel like a fat slob, that is how I will behave.

So let's agree that we are doing very well and.... we are!!!..... if we look at our highest weight and compare it to our weight today. To regain that great feeling of success, we know losing just a few pounds now, will bring it all back and possibly keep us on track.
I am making a deal with myself that for 7 days I will count my calories and not exceed my daily number of calories...just for 7 days. Then, depending on how I feel I may do it again for 7 days......until I am on the bus for the entire ride to my goal weight!
Hope to see you on the bus too.

Get tired enough of being fat.

That's the problem. I am not as fat as I was and I am not uncomfortable. BUT, I am not at goal either so I need to keep on keeping on.

Weight is just a number by a stupid piece of crap that so many people worship in order to feel happy. I gave up on it a long time ago. Lifting heavy, plus eating is never gonna give me a number on a scale that matches up to what I see in the mirror.

I usually but a pair of pants etc.. that I cannot fit into yet but LOVE. Kinda keeps my head in the game... cause I agree.. it is not easy to stay 100% when you have been doing it for a long time. Best of luck!!!

Make healthy decisions, choose healthy behaviours - the attitude will follow .

Keep moving, keep logging. Eat things that you know will provide your body with nutrients as well as energy.

love yourself like theres no tomorrow.

Very often, pure vanity and simply just wanting to lose weight is not enough of a motivational factor. It can be initially because you're all excited and what not...then comes the stark reality that you're looking at months and months and even years and years of hard work...not to mention the work you are required to do to actually maintain a healthy weight once you get there...it doesn't just stop because you lost the weight...if you're doing it right, you will be working towards some objective/goal for the rest of your life.

First and foremost, this why all of this needs to be viewed as a lifestyle...you never really stop...so if you can't get motivated now to lose, then how are you going to stay motivated for the rest of your life to maintain. Once you start looking at things in that context, it doesn't really become about how much I lost this week or over this past month or whatever...that stuff only matters when you have some sort of "finish line" you're trying to cross. Truly changing your lifestyle means there is no "finish line."

This is why it is important to look at your diet as a noun rather than an action verb...this is why it is so important to have a sustainable way of eating...the only thing that changes at maintenace is that you have a few more calories to play with...what you consume doesn't really change. This is why deprivation really doesn't work...it's not sustainable...you can't and won't deprive yourself forever...you have to learn to enjoy those pleasures in moderation while focusing the larger part of your diet on getting proper nutrition.

Same goes for fitness...people start working out for weight loss...that is the wrong reason. You don't actually need exercise for weightloss...you do need it to be fit and for overall healthy and well being. When people exercise purely for the purpose of weightloss, the lose sight of their actual fitness and fitness objectives...then when they lose the weight they often stop exercising because they so closely associate fitness with weightloss goals. You reall should have mutually exclusive goals you are working towards. Every single person I know who has neglected their fitness once they've reached some arbitrary goal weight has just packed the pounds back on...it's important to learn awesome fitness habits not so that you can take them with you to maintenance...you never stop working out.

It is important to find something you love doing fitness wise. Droning away on some cardio machine or another usually isn't going to do it long term for most people. I personally believe in training for sport...multiple sports in fact, and I personally advocate having "seasons"...where basically you're switching things up and training for something else every 3-4 months or so. This keeps things interesting, plus you can actually participate in events and use your fitness.

For myself, I've found that focusing on changing myself for the better rather than focusing on the scale has made all the difference. When I first started here (after losing my intial 20 Lbs on my own and hitting a plateau), someone told me: "focus on the results and you rarely see the change; focus on the change and you always see the results."

I took those words to heart and really just started focusing on being a better me...a better me today than I was yesterday...and striving to be a better me tomorrow than I am today. I focus on my nutrition and focus on hitting my fitness hard...losing weight and looking better and re-gaining my fitness body is just gravy...it's really all about my health, which has improved dramatically, and that is the most important thing.