I can feel myself losing the beginning excitement

What is your calorie goal? Are you maybe being too restrictive with your diet?

It could have been me writing your post. I feel exactly the same way. This is always what I do - motivated and keen for a month or so, lose a few pounds, feel better about myself, lose the motivation, put weight back on……..

I try to tell myself how wonderful I feel when I step on the scales and see a loss, or when my clothes feel looser. I know that feeling is much better than the short term 'high' from eating or drinking something naughty. But the first of those feelings requires a hell of a lot of work and the other just requires opening the fridge…..

If you like, add me as a friend and maybe we can give each other a daily motivational nudge?

Good luck. We'll get there. (I hope!)
x

What are your calories set at? And are you eating your exercise calories back?

I used to be like this, but not this time, because I am allowing myself treats and I am eating everything I want to eat, but smaller portions/ in moderation. Is there anything you have cut out completely that you are craving? And is there any way of substituting it?

For example
I craved chocolate so I tried Nakd bars, they're brilliant.
I was craving chinese food so I cooked a healthier version
I was craving pepsi so I had a diet one instead.

If you really want to do it, you will, everyone has weak points, if you feel yourself falling one day, just remember tomorrow is another day and start again. You need to be patient, it's not going to happen over night.

Good luck!

It happens to us all, and its usually after 4/5 weeks in....
but think long term, how you want to look and feel, your health - the bigger picture - stick with it, maybe if you find you would like to eat more, up your cals a little bit. If you are getting fed up with exercise, try something different. I promise you this, if you stick at it, make small changes and keep seeing those 1lbs melting away you will be soo glad you kept at it

Once you get into the habit of eating less and exercising you will enjoy the new and fitter you and you will love how you look.

And once people start noticing...then you'll get excited all over again :-D

Wishing you all the best with this, you can do this - you're worth it

Motivation fades. No one can be motivated long-term, period.

Accept the fact that motivation will cease to exist for long periods of time.

Now is the time to develop the discipline to get it done even though you're not motivated.

Motivation fades. No one can be motivated long-term, period.

Accept the fact that motivation will cease to exist for long periods of time.

Now is the time to develop the discipline to get it done even though you're not motivated.

Truth, yo. I've been an MFP revolving door the last year, as I hadn't quite built up the habits to keep me going through the unmotivated times. Build habits and discipline.

You are so very right. It isn't easy. And no on can make the changes except you. It will eventually, if you keep at it, become a habit, however, which makes it at least a little easier.

I'm not one who was ever big on working out. When my weight ballooned due to hypothyroidism, I had to make a decision. I could either accept the diagnosis and just decide that, due to my faulty metabolism, I would be fat for the rest of my life. OR... I could put in the effort and make the changes to lose the weight. I lost the weight, but then, about a year and a half later, I got lazy and stopped working out. 15-20 of the 40 lbs I had lost crept back (in only about 6 months time). I decided two years ago last month that I was done. I joined MFP and started tracking what I ate. I lost a few pounds, but, once I started working out that April, I began seeing a lot MORE changes. Once I got to my goal weight, I was amazed and in shock over my own progress. I know now, though, that, due to my thyroid disease, if I want to stay this size and still be able to eat a good amount of food, I have to work out. I found workouts that work for me, intense and short.

I'm so much stronger and healthier now than I've probably ever been in my life. I like that. It makes it worth the 30 minutes a day. 30 minutes is nothing. You can do just about anything for 30 minutes. It WILL get easier... But, I'll say, nearly 2 years into working out 5 days per week, I still have days when I just don't want to. I make myself do it, because I don't want one day of slacking to turn into two, or three, etc. I also take breaks, I'm on one right now, as a matter of fact... I take a week off periodically, usually when I've finished a program, so every couple of months at least. But I know what I'm going to be doing next week, so I don't get off-track.

As far as baking, I'm not much help there, but I know there are healthier alternatives that you could try making instead. There are sites dedicated to those types of things. Or, if you want to make the things you always have made, make them, but maybe try making a half batch, or give away most of the finished product. To neighbors, friends, family, co-workers, etc. You don't have to give up everything you love to make these changes. You have to figure out how to make the lifestyle change work for YOU. Everyone is different.

But the bottom line is that this is for YOU, only YOU can make the changes, and YOU have to decide if it's worth it or not.

Best wishes!

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It's not about motivation. So get that crap out of your head. People that are successful at this just make it a habit. Every single one of us has days where we just don't want to do it. But, we force ourselves. That's habit and ritual, not motivation. Motivation is a stupid word and is fleeting. I wish it would be eliminated from language. Make diet and exercise a habit, like brushing your teeth. It's just something you do. There is not other option. Would you go 2 weeks or a month without ever brushing your teeth. Fitness is the same. Just make yourself do it every damn day. All of it. Eating right and exercising. And understand that there is no end-game. There is no goal. This is now what you do forever. That's it.

So totally this - either you do it or don't - motivation is fleeting, it changes, it leaves us. You make it a habit to make it stick even when you don't want to

What is your calorie goal? Are you maybe being too restrictive with your diet?

This.

And I also find this good. It applies to me, maybe not everyone. I read it after I lost my weight but it clicked with me, this is what I did.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818701-the-myth-of-motivation-and-what-you-need-instead

Omg, I love that link. I need to print that article and read it every day, lol.

There is an aspect that few people seem to remember so I will bring it up again; you are looking at the whole trip rather than the part you're travelling right now. What I mean is that weight loss, fitness and a generally healthier lifestyle are habits that take a while to ingrain, much like the habits you are trying to break also took a while to adopt. When you look at your overall goal, it seems daunting, but when you look at it one day at a time, it sure is easier.

It's one day at a time, one meal at a time and one step at a time. All you need to do is to say yes one more time than your little "demon" says no!

It always comes down to short term vs long term, pain vs. pleasure. You may enjoy the short term pleasure of avoiding the difficulty of proper eating, logging and exercising, but trust me, you'll hate the long term pain of not doing it. Keep up your spirits and remind yourself that you are taking a step that far too few people take.

Keep it up!

It's not about motivation. So get that crap out of your head. People that are successful at this just make it a habit. Every single one of us has days where we just don't want to do it. But, we force ourselves. That's habit and ritual, not motivation. Motivation is a stupid word and is fleeting. I wish it would be eliminated from language. Make diet and exercise a habit, like brushing your teeth. It's just something you do. There is not other option. Would you go 2 weeks or a month without ever brushing your teeth. Fitness is the same. Just make yourself do it every damn day. All of it. Eating right and exercising. And understand that there is no end-game. There is no goal. This is now what you do forever. That's it.

So.very.much.this.

That said, do you need to be motivated to do something that you like and makes you happy? Not usually.

The way most diets are presented are hideous. Arbitrary and excessive restriction coupled with punishing exercise. For something like that you need motivation because you are fighting against something unpleasant for large periods of time. Very few human beings can do well under those conditions.

It is true that to lose weight you must be in a calorie deficit. That means you have to eat less calories mainly. It does not mean the volume of food you have to eat will fall (as vegetables for example have much more volume for the same amount of calories as say, sweets) or you have to cut out things you love to eat (although you may choose to eat less of them certainly) or you have to do any exercise (or in reality physical activity) you don't love.

It's not about weight loss. That is simply a natural conclusion of finding a life you love to lead which is healthy, active and fun. Look at the big picture.

Stay beautiful.

And once people start noticing...then you'll get excited all over again :-D

THIS!

It's what the others have said... it's just a thing I have to do. Like brushing teeth... who enjoys brushing teeth? you still do it.

So, same thing for your workouts. Same for logging calories (and after a while, it gets easier, trust me I know all the serving size in grams of every food item in my house right now). I agree that tracking recipes is extremely annoying, but just write down everything as you weigh it and put it in your dish, then weigh the whole thing when it's over, log everything in the recipe builder, it shouldn't take more than 5 minutes.

What you have to think about is the alternative... I mean, you don't have to track calories. Maybe you can still lose weight that way. For me I know I wouldn't succeed, so it's easier to just take those 5 minutes and log everything.