What do you do when all motivation is gone??
dakotababy
Posts: 2,407 Member
So I have been at this for over a year. My progress has been slow, but still noticeable. I have found myself to be completely unmotivated lately to keep going. This last 2 weeks has been brutal for eating and exercising. I just find myself to essentially "not care".
I have done a variety of things in the past to get my motivation back, but I almost don't want to. Its like I am burnt out from trying to lose weight! Does this happen to you? What do you do to get over this feeling??
I have done a variety of things in the past to get my motivation back, but I almost don't want to. Its like I am burnt out from trying to lose weight! Does this happen to you? What do you do to get over this feeling??
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Replies
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I just start trying to groove in a routine - my motivation comes from habit more than anything else.
When I first started going to the gym a few years ago, I hated it - but I got myself in there at least three times a week. Sometimes I wouldn't push myself hard if I really, really didn't want to be there, I'd just screw around on the elliptical on a low setting for 20 minutes and chat with friends and go home. More often than not, though, just getting myself there was enough to push myself into a decent workout. Now I don't even think about not going unless I'm sick or injured, because it's just so normal and routine. Now I enjoy going 3x/week for weightlifting, but I really need to add some cardio so I'm going to apply that same principle - I'm going to show up to the gym an additional two days for cardio and do SOMETHING, even if it's easy stuff right now. Later on I'll ramp up the intensity.
Did the same thing for food. Started out counting calories on a moderate deficit. After that was routine I started adding more greens into my diet. Months later I began tracking macros.
I don't know if this works for everyone or just me, but I know when I would try to go all-in and try to fix everything at once I'd burn out like 3 weeks later.0 -
Find something else to do. You probably just want to be done but you are never done. NEVER! If you stop completely you will be back where you were. Cold hard fact.
Personally it has been over a year straight for me and I got sick of counting so I slowly stopped but I am still exercising. I just eat when I am hungry and stop when I am full. Much happier now.0 -
Perhaps you need a different focus for a few weeks? Maybe trying something new exercise wise like a new gym class, a 5km fun run or an enticer triathlon would get you back to your sparkly self! ????0
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Well, see your options. You might not care about now, and want to enjoy the food, but do you really want to gain all your weight back?0
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I just decided that Today is my best friend not tomorrow. I went off my regimen of weighing, logging food and exercise and reading these posts. A few months later I found 10 extra lbs. Not happy. I then did the old - I will start tomorrow. As you know, tomorrow comes and goes. I have been with no alcohol, good food and exercise for 6 days and I feel great. No bloat and the weight will come off.
Today is your best friend.0 -
I have a problem with procrastination and my therapist told me that "Action comes before motivation". This is what I tell myself when I find myself waiting to FEEL like doing something. Once I force myself to start then in about five minutes or so I actually want to be doing what I'm doing. I hope things get better, sweetie. I know it's really difficult on this journey, but there's a whole community on this website ready to support you through the good and bad.0
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Hey, dakotababy!
I find that I can get too focused on the constant monitoring of myself. For me, eating can be a way of coping with or ignoring other things going on in my life. Currently, I am in the process on really examining the things that are the true source of my pain. It is a very difficult yet rewarding process. Through this process I have really been able to see the way I use food in a new light.
I found the audiobook "Intuitive Eating" to be very helpful in this process and I also see a therapist on and off for my "real" issues...as I have realized my food issues are a byproduct of these.
While I am very impressed with some of the consistency and dedication of some of the folks here, with logging hundreds of days, I also know that is not for me at this time. I'm okay with missing a day of logging. Missing a day of logging doesn't mean I've gone off the deep end. I'm just giving myself a break from the tediousness of it. I'm a grown-*kitten* woman. I'm using this as a tool and I do not want to be a slave to it.
I appreciate those saying to keep at it and not give up...but I feel I am constantly changing. My overall goal is to feel healthy and do things that get me there. If I feel it's healthy for me to take a break from MFP I do, and I have. No guilt, no worries. That doesn't mean that I'm giving up on myself.
I'm learning to tune in to my true needs and it's wonderful. I wish that for everyone. It feels so much better.
Again...consider the audiobook...I found it very supportive:
http://www.amazon.com/Intuitive-Eating-Practical-Yourself-Chronic/dp/1591796822/ref=la_B001H6IO86_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383833848&sr=1-3
Best to you!
9thChakra0 -
Meditate or pray (smile)!!!0
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My motivation comes and goes. Like the wind. It's fickle. Do you know what is there every day? Habits. Build good habits that are based on your health goals. When your motivation fades - you can fall back on the habit of eating healthy and moving your body in whatever way you choose. I love lifting and running. What do you love?
I have found with this plan, I've made it 18 months - somewhere I have never been before and never dreamed possible. Anyone can be successful. Good luck!0 -
I have a problem with procrastination and my therapist told me that "Action comes before motivation". This is what I tell myself when I find myself waiting to FEEL like doing something. Once I force myself to start then in about five minutes or so I actually want to be doing what I'm doing. I hope things get better, sweetie. I know it's really difficult on this journey, but there's a whole community on this website ready to support you through the good and bad.
Good advice. Motivation comes and goes. You don't have to feel like going to the gym and exercising every time. You just need to go.
Maybe some visuals around your house reminding you why you are trying to get healthier?0 -
Go to the gym. The hardest part is walking through the door. Once you start a routine you can look around and the motivation of others is infectious. Just do it
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What inspired you in the first place?
Why don't you revisit it to get motivated again?0 -
Push, push, push0
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I look at the before and afters of the women who heavy lift... puts me where I want to be mentally - because I would kill to look like that :bigsmile:0
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make a list of all the reasons you want to lose weight/eat better/etc.
keep it in a place you see every day, like your desk
this helps me a lot when I want to give up0 -
that defiitely happens to me, i'll run into what i call *kitten* it periods where i'm tired of "behaving" all the time and i just want to give up. what i do is allow myself a week to relax, not stress about what i'm eating and just take it easy. i've found it renews me, and although i may eat a bit more than normal, i certainly do not return to my old pizza and mcd's habits. more like eat a peanut butter sandwich without shame. most of the bad habits are definitely long gone.0
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Fake it until you make it. Just do it. If you are bored with your exercise, find something new to try. If you are bored with your food, buy a new cook book or go to the farmers market and pick up a vegetable or two that you never had before. We all have ups and downs and rough patches. If life is getting in the way, eating at maintenance for a week could reset your mood. You can get through this.0
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Well, you got a lot of tips here. Your situation struck me as similar to mine. I lost 15 lbs. and then lost motivation. I have it back and more and now have 100 lbs to lose. Many of the others' advice helped me. I got back on track only a week ago and think that you have to know yourself and how you work. I am a spontaneous person and routine kills my motivation. However, constant spontineity does also, because things get done or not, in such a scattered way. I decided to forgive myself for losing the motivation, even though in my case, I think the diet caused a brain chemistry shift and I am living with depression. I take meds and these build up in the fat, along with other things. I saw a real threat to my tracking and dieting routine when I lost my motivation. I added new things to my regimen. Yes, I ignored the diet and ate sweets, but I added walking, now some yoga, and meeting people. Getting out and talking with new people and seeing myself taking action. It seems that the diet is back in focus. I do not want to continually take off and put on, so I have to get control of that. So there it is. Take at look at who you are and how you function and take "action" and the motivation will come back. Good luck!0
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Think about where you'd end up if you chucked it in now, stopped exercising and ate whatever you want. Would you be back where you were before MFP, or worse off? Do you really want that?0
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Fake it until you make it. Just do it. If you are bored with your exercise, find something new to try. If you are bored with your food, buy a new cook book or go to the farmers market and pick up a vegetable or two that you never had before. We all have ups and downs and rough patches. If life is getting in the way, eating at maintenance for a week could reset your mood. You can get through this.
Says it all!0 -
Try switching over to maintenance mode for awhile. Don't focus on losing, just focus on not gaining. Also remember that a 1 hour workout is only 4% of your day. I take a break every once in awhile where I just take it easy and maintain for a few weeks, then my motivation comes back and I hit it again.0
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I am at a similar point I actually just set my settings to maintenance although I am still wanting to lose my thinking is this will give me a few "sane" months before getting back into weight loss mode. I found that I was getting frustrated on days where I wasn't hitting my calorie goal and exercise goal and I was starting to feel like it is a never ending process. So I thought just trying to maintain for awhile was the sane thing to do. Maybe you just need a break for a bit before firing back up. I'm going to keep my fitness at walking and light weight training and eat calories to maintain not lose who knows I may see losses without really trying.0
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Perhaps you just need a break for a couple of weeks. Sometimes things get mundane and we need to take a step back. I have read that when dieting for extended periods of time its best to take a break here and there from it. It's good to keep your body guessing.
Also, if you workout - try something new. New class at the gym, new DVD, new exercises. That always helps me.0 -
So I have been at this for over a year. My progress has been slow, but still noticeable. I have found myself to be completely unmotivated lately to keep going. This last 2 weeks has been brutal for eating and exercising. I just find myself to essentially "not care".
I have done a variety of things in the past to get my motivation back, but I almost don't want to. Its like I am burnt out from trying to lose weight! Does this happen to you? What do you do to get over this feeling??
I think of two things, first is "where would I be if i stopped and is that somewhere I want to be?" I know where I came from and the ups and downs it took to get here. Do I want to put that progress in jeopardy or worse, was all those days of sweat and sacrifice in vain? I like where I am and where it seems I'm going, I don't have to sprint to get there, I just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
The other is that this is a journey, an adventure, not a quick thing, not an overnight thing. I have to be willing to put up with the lulls, the down times, the dips and the times where it seems no progress is being made so that I can experience and enjoy the up times, the on top of the world times, the "i haven't worn this size in YEARS" times. It's and ebb and flow and part of my growth is to learn to work with that ebb and flow.0 -
Do you take diet breaks? Any time I start to get burnt out, I take a break. It's slowed progress a little (I took a few month long ones in the past year and a half), but i'm still here.
As far as exercise goes, I just suck it up and do it anyway.0 -
So I have been at this for over a year. My progress has been slow, but still noticeable. I have found myself to be completely unmotivated lately to keep going. This last 2 weeks has been brutal for eating and exercising. I just find myself to essentially "not care".
I have done a variety of things in the past to get my motivation back, but I almost don't want to. Its like I am burnt out from trying to lose weight! Does this happen to you? What do you do to get over this feeling??
I look at my before pictures, smile at how far I've come, and change up my workout routine with something new that I have been wanting to try... like Kickboxing, or Rock Climbing. I look for new recipes I want to try. I find really yummy ones on Hungry Girl, SkinnyTaste, and Lalalalossh.0 -
Motivation doesn't last. Habits do, for better or worse.0
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i get there. i go through this from time to time. i get so tired of all the thinking and the work, the counting and the eating.. but i continue on. i share my feelings about how it sucks and how everyone said they were gonna do this too but then they fell off the wagon.. so essentially i am left to my own devices. i only started this because i knew someone else needed my support for them to do it. i didnt think it would work for me but it did. i screw up. but i WILL not give up. i dont need motivation to log my food, it is simply what i HAVE to do. if i dont then i will go back to who i was before. and before i was NEVER happy with myself. i didnt feel good.. and i wasnt healthy at all.
as nike says.. just do it!0 -
I can get motivated to go to the gym but I can't get motivated to workout while I'm there lol0
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What do I do when all motivation is gone?
I do it anyway.
That's called discipline. You can't rely on motivation alone to achieve your goal.0
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