Share your secrets of remaining consistent please!

Another thought - don't surround yourself with people who are trying. Surround yourself with people who are already successful. My friend list isn't huge, but it's stacked with awesome, successful people who are winning. When I grow up, I want to be just like them.

Hello, I have just joint an hour ago and been reading all your posts. So many wise words, I feel so motivated right now! I'm absolutely stunned how much weight some of you have lost! I have been unhappy with my weight since I've been about 14. I tried so many diets, many times succeeded but failed many times as well. The most I've ever list is 8 kilos (about 17 lbs). But I never reached my dream weight. Now, I'm getting married in June and I've promised myself altol my life that when this day comes, my body will be perfect! So here I am, 8 months till the big day and I'm as far from perfect as it goes. Any word of wisdom? How to stay motivated when you want this chocolate so so much! I hope this App will help me with achieving my dream weight. Thank you.

Hi, and welcome. You're going to get a lot of contradictory advice about how to be successful. Many people will tell you that must eat this, or you absolutely mustn't eat that. Since I'm guessing that all those diets that already failed you were like that, I suggest you don't listen.

My first piece of advice is that if you have trouble adhering to particular types of diet - ditch them. Forget the thinking that says you must eat certain things, and you must not eat others. 90% of the really successful people on MFP - the ones with the big numbers in their tickers, do not follow any sort of 'lifestyle diet'.

You can eat whatever you want, so long as you don't eat too much of it. You already know the only way to shut chocolate cravings up - eat a little chocolate! Just learn to only eat a little, and to keep it in your calorie goals. Once you learn to moderate it, it ceases to be taboo, and you stop wanting to binge on it whenever the opportunity arises. You don't have to eat a 1lb bar of chocolate, because you know you can have another couple of ounces tomorrow.

So instead, focus on your intake. Reduce your calorie intake below your maintenance level, and you will lose weight. If you aren't losing weight, you haven't reduced your intake below maintenance, simple as.

Learn a little about protein, fat and carbohydrates, what they do, and why you need them. Make sure you get adequate amounts of each. Protein and fat in particular are great for dieters because they keep you full longer than carbs. There's nothing wrong with carbs, protein and fat are just better in that regard.

Get your five-a-day, but don't feel like every meal must be a green salad. Remember that you are trying to learn how to eat moderately and sustainably. If you like McDonald's, go there periodically. If you like steak, eat it. If you like a bowl of ice cream every night (and I know I do) - have one. Just be sure to fit them into your nutrition goals.

Earn yourself some 'disposable' calories through cardio a few times a week. Doesn't have to be running, it can be anything you enjoy that gets your heart rate up.

Most of all, if you want to look fantastic in that dress, lift heavy things. Start a strength training program. I promise it won't make you look like a man, as many ladies seem to fear. Assuming you don't take steroids, you won't bulk up.

Feel free to look at my diary to see how I ate while achieving my successes - but note that I'm bulking at the moment to put on some muscle, so you may want to look before September!

For me, something just swtiched on and I knew I was ready. However, this time around I was ready for it to take time. This time I was ready to take one step instead of a leap forward. This time I didn't cut out foods that I loved. This time it's a life change not a diet.

This what I did. I eat some diet foods (Atkins) while I am at work or when we go somewhere, I do not want to be out without my planned meals. But mostly I eat regular stuff and keep it within my daily calorie goals. I made my goal weight realistic for myself. I have been doing this 30 days and have lost 14 pounds. I love it.

- I decided I wanted it badly enough
- I made one change at a time. Once that had become habit, I made another change. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.


Making a lot of changes all at once was overwhelming, so I did it in stages. It was the right tactic for me.

Make it a habit. I have expectations of myself. I've been doing this for almost 7 months now and what is the alternative? I know how I was living before was unhealthy and I can't return to that. Something inside me clicked and this is just the way I will live for the rest of my life. Some days are good, some days are bad but you just keep going.

What I do to motivate myself is that I find a shirt I really like but a smaller size than my actual size and hang it up as a reminder as to why I want to lose weight. This site also motivates me also because I am gaining new friends who are great help to me and I do not want to feel disappointed logging junk food all the time.

bump. I need consistency help as well...

Whatever u are eating track it everyday for 30 days and look back on your log to see exactly what you ate for the whole month look at the calorie amounts sodium etc and this will be a well to keep you motivated to change how you are eating right now.

There's no secret. You just make yourself go. And you don't eat all the pies.

Consistency is a skill. Most people have mastered it by the time they are adults, but not everyone. I have ADHD and consistency has always been a HUGE issue for me, in every aspect of my life. I have been told I don't want it badly enough, I am not trying as hard as I should (when I am trying so hard I am physically ill with the stress), and that I am lazy. "Just do it" works for a lot of people, but if it doesn't work for you, you need to seek out other paths.

I agree 100% with all the posters that have mentioned baby steps. It is hard not to want to do everything at once, especially when you know you could do it (for a while, at least). I used to be an athlete and I took 18 months off for an injury and got out of shape. When I was cleared for walking on the treadmill (finally), I resolved to jog an hour a day. It worked. For maybe 3 days. My ADHD coach suggested that I make consistency itself the goal, not a means of achieving a goal.

So I resolved to walk for 10 minutes on the treadmill every day, no matter what. I knew I could do way more on most days, but that if I were sick, or running late, I could squeeze in 10 minutes anyway. It was actually really humbling to pick such an activity when I used to train 3-4 hours a day, but the goal was not about the exercise, but about building up the skill of consistency. When the goal is weight loss or something like that you can rationalize skipping it too easily by pledging to make up for it later. When the commitment is to do it every day, you don't have that cop-out.

I also found that writing it somewhere I can't miss it helps me to remember that I have committed to it. This might not work for you, but I actually have a list with my morning routine in it (including exercise) framed and hanging in the living room. People think it's weird but honestly I would not notice it on the fridge or look in a binder for it; I just wouldn't.

Lastly, I keep a log so I can look back and reflect on how much I have accomplished cumulatively, even if I don't feel like I am making tons of progress day to day.

By the way, 6 months later I now do cardio and bodyweight exercise 6 mornings a week, rehab and heavy lifting twice a week, boxing twice, and spar for 90 minutes each week. It starts small, but if you stick with it it will build in no time.