Seriously, How do YOU stay motivated?

kimmied99
kimmied99 Posts: 7
in Motivation and Support
As many can sympathize been up and down with my weight. Never quite making any real headway. I made a decision to take control of my life three weeks ago. I committed (and have been going) to going to the gym 3-4x a week. My downfall is my husband works an opposite shift than myself. I tend to get bored at night and eat. I can do serious damage before I realize what I am doing! On the weekends he has been more supportive and thinking about eating healthier to help me.

My question to all of you who have 50+ pounds to lose or have lost. How do you stay motivated? I appreciate any suggestions you may have! This healthy life style is really new to me :flowerforyou:

Anyone that wants to be friends to motivate one another I am up for it!
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Replies

  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
    I have a dress that I have to fit into by August 2014. I'm a bridesmaid, and it's the type of dress that I will never look good in unless I drop 40lbs. And then in 2015 I get married in Mexico. I carry a picture of the bridesmaid dress around with me, and a picture of the vintage bikini I want to wear in Mexico. I also have them pinned to my fridge, and at my desk at work. Also I have a pair of pants that I really want to fit in for my bridal showers, they're super cute and I fit in them once upon a time.
  • ThePlight
    ThePlight Posts: 3,593 Member
    1.) Mirrors
    2.) Taking self shots that just.. Gross me out lol.
    3.) The right music
    4.) The right FILLING food
    5.) Couple of dresses and lingerie hanging from my closet
    6.) Pictures of bodies I'd love to have + pics of how I used to look :)
    7.) Longer life, most of my family has reached 100+
    8.) Want to be a fit mommy, when I decide to have kids
    9.) I won't get married until I can fit into a nice wedding dress
    10.) So many more :) Make a list! :)
  • kimmied99
    kimmied99 Posts: 7
    Thank you both for sharing! I am going to use both your suggestions 1) make a list and 2) I have an awesome pair of pants from when I met my husband that has come back in fashion. Time to dust those puppies off!
  • brdnw
    brdnw Posts: 565 Member
    continually taking pictures, you don't always feel the difference or see it, but if you look at your progression it starts to become really apparent. I've lost like 92 pounds so far.
  • kimmied99
    kimmied99 Posts: 7
    Congratulations! I hate pictures but maybe I will give it a go. Thanks and keep it up you look great!
  • Solomino
    Solomino Posts: 36 Member
    I read success stories! Hearing how other people have lost mega pounds, inspires me to continue. The saying "if they can do it, so can I" goes a long way for me.
  • ThePlight
    ThePlight Posts: 3,593 Member
    Haha, I do have to admit.. The pictures do gross me out. BUT they are totally motivational, specially when you don't expect to see them, they always hit you as a shock haha. Well, at least in my case.
    @brdnw Wow O.o I would have never guessed, seeing your pic. Good job!
  • Malachai76
    Malachai76 Posts: 128
    I was the same found it hard to get motivated went to the gym or for a run when i could on average 3 times week and didn't eat healthy all the time, and would snack in the evening. What worked for me was home work out programs, since jan this year i've done insanity twice and just finished T25 the reason it worked me was i could fit it in my day usually in the evening after work and my daughter is in bed so i could get peace to do it. I've lost 34lbs so far so really worked for me my motivation came from the comments i got from people within two weeks of starting. If you would like to know more let me know, I'm happy to help
  • angelahammon
    angelahammon Posts: 114 Member
    by dropping dress size's and seeing the difference in how clothes look on me now , knowing that i never want to be able to fit into my old size clothes again
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
    I have a pic of when I was at my heaviest...bleck ( I take pics of me in that dress from time to time just too see)

    and

    A mirror that is enough for me...
  • ThePlight
    ThePlight Posts: 3,593 Member
    Oh, and another one. Still being able to eat the foods that I love AND lose weight. (In smaller portions, of course and counting calories).
  • iNkedFiTmama
    iNkedFiTmama Posts: 277 Member
    I stay motivated because I'm addicted to results...ya don't get results without putting in work :)
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I want to see the fat gone, pretty much, lol.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    What initially requires motivation quickly becomes ingrained habit and routine. Someone asking me how I stay motivated to get my nutrition and fitness on might as well be asking me how I stay motivated to brush my teeth every morning and every night before bed....I just do.
  • tknuzum1984
    tknuzum1984 Posts: 14
    <<<<< enough said.
  • jennyrebekka
    jennyrebekka Posts: 626 Member
    I sometimes struggle to stay motivated - - but what HAS helped me is when I do "mess up", I don't beat myself up about it for very long. I used to do this, and it would lead to a whole WEEK of more bad choices. Everyone here has been so supportive in reminding me to not make the situation even worse by beating myself up for days afterwards. Hope that helps!
  • oroblar
    oroblar Posts: 68 Member
    When my wife and I worked different shifts boredom and shoveling chips in my mouht got the best of me. I decided to workout while whe was at work, rather than in the morning before work. I always find it tougher to hit the junk food straight out of the gym.
  • running_shoe
    running_shoe Posts: 180 Member
    Your gym routine needs to be interesting, progressively harder, and be demanding enough to get you visible results on a regular basis. Being able to actually see your shape changing over relatively short periods of time (six weeks, say) is VERY motivational. Look into some heavy lifting programs - New Rules of Lifting For Women, Stronglifts. I found that discipline with food came with actually seeing my body getting awesome. Good luck!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    It is also very beneficial to have realistic expectations and understand that you're not going to go from fat 2 fit overnight. These things take time...in fact, nutrition and fitness are lifetime endeavors so there really is no finish line.

    If you're just chasing some arbitrary finish line it is going to be difficult to stay motivated...when you understand, and I mean truly understand "lifestyle" then you understand that you're going to have ups and downs and good days and bad days and **** is going to happen and you're going to miss a workout, etc. When you truly make nutrition and fitness a tremendous part of your daily life then a few bad days here and there are just that and it's pretty darned easy to move on from them.
  • cindirookbanman
    cindirookbanman Posts: 71 Member
    Congratulations! I hate pictures but maybe I will give it a go. Thanks and keep it up you look great!

    As you lose weight, you'll hate the photographs less. Also, if others are behind the shutter, you'll look better if you pose than if you make them snap something random...
  • micheleld73
    micheleld73 Posts: 914 Member
    For exercise it was finding friends/coworkers with the same goals in mind to keep me accountable to showing up (so maybe while at the gym find someone you see there consistently and make friends...)

    For what I eat it was MFP...logging in everything I eat and seeing how much I was eating. I'm slightly OCD, so I'm obsessed with meeting my goals (not going over on net or being significantly under on gross) I'm happy with being +/-100 calories, having about 1:1 protein to LBM and staying under on carbs and sodium.
  • sumeetg37
    sumeetg37 Posts: 108 Member
    I just look at my son... it motivates me. <sniffle>


    Ha! Not in some gushy awww my boy kind of way. He is a frickin dynamo, non-stop action. Not destructive or mean but very curious, and active. Keeping up with him (and keeping him out of my stuff) at 250 would have been damn near impossible, even at 210 it's not always easy, but getting better!
  • Lili0817
    Lili0817 Posts: 109 Member
    What are you eating? Junk? If so- stop buying it and keeping junk in your home. If you don't have it, you can't eat it. I have no self-control and therefore I have NO junk in my home. I buy my kids healthy snacks, or snacks that I don't care for and I'm not tempting to eat.
    As far as staying motivated, I think seeing results in my body/getting more fit is what motivates me :) Hang in there! If you want it bad enough, you will make it happen.
  • lise_anne
    lise_anne Posts: 27
    Challenges, I had 3 kids and got married, those were my original challenges to lose all my baby fat, my second challege was losing baby fat and losing it for my wedding so I have had 3 challenges in my life, then had a slight injury to my foot and I was less active gained some weight that was after my last child and I had a super hard time getting back to exercise for 4 years, I would do great for a week or two then back to the same old laziness and not caring then this October I was asked to lead a team for a fitness challenge and the goal was to get the most minutes of exercise in your team to win and I went hard and I am doing great and feel great and also my husband wanted to get motivated too so we have our own challenge for Oct to Nov and who ever wins get to spend 200 bucks on whatever they want but I want to stay motived like this because I think its exactly what I need to get out of my rut, with challenges so I think I will gather some friends and family and see if they want to buy into a fitness challenge as individuals and see who wants to work out to win some spending money. Its hard to see what will motivate you but I find you need to have something to work toward that will make you want to work out.
  • Pearsquared
    Pearsquared Posts: 1,656 Member
    It's kind of weird sounding, but I stopped giving myself an option to go back to old eating and exercise habits. I kind of made it like showering or brushing my teeth. Just daily grooming, and I suppose eating healthy and exercising could be considered grooming for my body, lol.
  • kristen6022
    kristen6022 Posts: 1,923 Member
    I typically set little date goals (like I want to be so and so by Dec 3rd (my birthday). My most recent one is that I want to be 145 by Nov. 22nd (when we leave for my BF's family for Thanksgiving week - his mother is an awesome cook and I want leeway to gain a few pounds). Then I'll want to get those off by Christmas...etc. Nothing big or outrageous and typically I beat them. Like my goal I set in September when is started was to be 150 by Oct. 18th (BF's sisters wedding in Atlanta), I was 148. I wanted to be 147 by Jan. 1st, 2014 I was 147.2 today. It makes it so that I don't eat the cookie in front of me or the extra beer I may want.
  • slim4health56
    slim4health56 Posts: 439 Member
    My "motivation" comes and goes, but my commitment is reinforced every morning (repeat: EVERY morning) when I weigh myself and every month when I track inches lost. It can be a little frustrating when the scale goes up instead of down and when the inches lost don't seem to be enough, but I continue on. Too, I think after almost 4 months, the habit of making healthy choices has become easier. Little steps, sustainable routine, and the cycle of positive reinforcement seem to work for me.
  • schonsdragon
    schonsdragon Posts: 102 Member
    Motivated, I am not sure I am motivated but more determined to get healthy and stay healthy. This journey of me getting healthy is not about weight loss but a lot of changes that put me in charge of me and my life and is a journey that I will be on for life. I got very tired if being the "fat person" and all the limitations that go with it. I like that I can now buy clothes in regular sizes and look good in them but most important I like the feeling of being able to anything I want to.
  • bugtaylor
    bugtaylor Posts: 77 Member
    Praying
  • breanazank
    breanazank Posts: 44
    They way I feel; in my clothing and in my body

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