Feeling so defeated today. How do you stay motivated?

brandil74
brandil74 Posts: 9 Member
in Motivation and Support
I am just having one of those days one of those "whats the point?" days.
I am feeling so defeated, I have been busting my butt, working out and staying exactly on point with my food and i got on the scale and barely lost. .4 thats it!
I got off the scale and immediatly broke down into tears. Im so sick of feeling this way. :( when i look at how far i have to go i just feel like I'll never do it. I'll never get there. Its so frustrating.
Thanks for listening to me rant.

Replies

  • Crateria_
    Crateria_ Posts: 253 Member
    .4 is better than none! Plus, watch, just when you think you're not losing anymore, it'll just fall off. Keep your eye on the prize. Ask yourself "Why did I start?" then take that remembrance and move forward with it.

    Giving up is a worse feeling than only seeing a small loss.
  • GohanJKA
    GohanJKA Posts: 66
    Yeah and at the very least you didn't gain anything back. Just keep going and don't give up.
  • UsaJewels05
    UsaJewels05 Posts: 229 Member
    I go to the Success Stories under community and read a few. That really motivates me to stick with it, because I am sure that over the years of losing those success stories had weeks where they only lost .4 as well.

    Stick to it!
  • rdtraci
    rdtraci Posts: 4 Member
    If you are working out, it is quite possible that you are building muscle. This is a good thing because it will make your body more efficient at burning fat! Instead of checking the scale this week, focus on how clothes are fitting and how you are feeling with your health. Those things are most important!
  • Garthweightlosspal
    Garthweightlosspal Posts: 73 Member
    I think that, you should only weigh yourself once a week! :) usually early morning is the best time because you havn't ate much yet and will reflect on your weight loss better....anyways! if you lost .4 in a few days then you are on the right track anyways! Don't expect to lose 3-4 pounds a week :) you are doing great!
  • AquaFan
    AquaFan Posts: 309 Member
    Because giving up just means that instead of a .4 loss, next time it will be a gain. Then another gain and on and on it goes. Take a step back and remember this is forever and it is not a fast process. This is just one day in the rest of your life. Don't give up and imagine yourself in a few months. I bet you are going to see weeks where the weight just falls off. Use that to encourage you and get you through the weeks where it won't budge. (hugs) You can do this.
  • besaro
    besaro Posts: 1,858 Member
    you can't rely on motivation to keep going because motivation will come and go. the weather will be crumby so you wont want to go for a run, or something in your life will upset you and you will want to eat a cake, or you will only see a .4 (which come on, is a 1/2 pound!) loss, but today you still got to watch what you eat, go for a walk and be a little better than yesterday. its trite and i really hate nike, but just do it. they are right.
  • fsucrack
    fsucrack Posts: 68 Member
    Everyone that is on this journey has days like this... keep in mind your nonscale victories and just keep moving forward. You can overcome this feeling and you will feel better for not giving up.
  • MagJam2004
    MagJam2004 Posts: 651 Member
    Life and elephants, you take it one day at a time, one bite at a time. Hang in there and chin up. In the immortal words of Anthony Hopkins, "What one man can do, another can do!" Or woman in this case, it still works.
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,870 Member
    The "point" is to become more healthy and you are now .4 pounds healthier. Go you! :drinker:
  • LadyRush
    LadyRush Posts: 95 Member
    I get like that too! Especially when I know I've worked really hard that week. At least the number on the scale is going down, not up. Maybe you need a little reward for your determination! Take a walk, get your nails done, soak in bubble bath or find a new workout disk to try out. Check out how those jeans fit. Are they tighter? If not Woohoo! You're doing it!
  • JessicaLSpindler
    JessicaLSpindler Posts: 29
    One thing that discourages me is thinking about how far I have to go. I try* not to do that. Sometimes, it's hard though. Forcing yourself to stay motivated it hard. We all have bad days. I've been on a bad month currently, but I know it'll pass and I'll get back to it and be successful. It's a very slow process, but slow and steady is the best way to keep it off permanently. You can do it. Just keep going and don't ever give up. Even if you stop for a bit.
  • getsveltEagain
    getsveltEagain Posts: 1,063 Member
    How are your clothes fitting?

    How tired are you compared to before or do you have more energy?

    How many things can you do now that you couldn't before - winded going up the steps and now you don't even breath hard?

    Remember that depending on what you are eating and times of months, you could be retaining water or be bloated.

    Break up the bigger goal (according to your ticker 100 pounds is your goal) into smaller and realistic goals... losing .5 pounds a week is still 26 pounds a year!
  • Elizabeth_in_MN
    Elizabeth_in_MN Posts: 167 Member
    I try and visualize what .4 looks like when I loose .4....for example - that is almost two sticks of butter.

    Then I try and imagine that those two sticks of butter are no longer on my thighs. :)

    I also started weighing myself every day. I know many people will say NOOOO DON'T DO THAT! And certainly it is not for everyone. But I started weighing myself every day and began to see just how fickle that damn scale is. I began looking at weight as data as opposed to an identify.

    And when that switch happened? I dropped 70+ pounds.
  • chaniebee
    chaniebee Posts: 21 Member
    DON'T GIVE UP!!!
    I had this same issue, however it was a WHOLE YEAR, not just a few days.
    Every weekend I'd mess up and wonder why was I even trying? I should give up.
    It took me a whole year to lose 17 lbs... feeling defeated but I kept on trucking.
    During this time of hardship I learned self control in tiny situations in my life that accumulated until this year when everything just clicked and the weight is now starting to come off!
    Push through it... these moments are the ones you look back at when you are down 30 pounds. You'll be so grateful you had them because they taught you perseverance and made you stronger.
    YOU ARE DOING IT.
  • eddiesmith1
    eddiesmith1 Posts: 1,550 Member
    As pointed out you may be converting some of the loss to muscle which weighs more, you may also be retaining some water due to sodium (happens to me all the time) but 0.4 is nothing to complain about a goal of 2 pounds per week is aggressive and that boils down to less than .3 per day, and 1 pound a week is .14 or so per day. So anything you see above those numbers is a success. I keep saying i'm only going to weigh weekly but i find getting on and seeing a big jump[ due to sodium keeps me focused on the water intake too so it doesn't show
  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
    A great quote I read today of all days.

    " Some people quit due to slow progress. Never grasping the fact that slow progress.................Is progress"

    Keep it up we all have sluggish "what's the point?" days, we just have to move on and make tomorrow better.
  • tallieterp
    tallieterp Posts: 257 Member
    I've had two months of this! gained 10 lbs over the holidays and the new years with injury and illness and just losing complete track but it does mean that you can't get back on track and everyone hits stall outs but your body will catch up and get going again... just try and remember what it was like months ago when you were heavier and how maybe clothes were uncomfortable or things you couldn't do... when my pants got tight again it was like my wake up call that what I was doing was definitely not helping... so after I pouted over it I started making some small changes here and there... and hopefully I'll re-establish some of those habits...

    also anyone on this thread please feel free to add me - i'm sure we all know how critical support is when we get days like this! Hang in there! a loss is a loss is a loss and .4 will keep adding up and before you know it you'll be heading to that goal weight!
  • rjmelton
    rjmelton Posts: 37 Member
    Just imagine that .4 lost was due to hard work and perseverance. Had you not been looking to get fit what would it have been a 4 pound gain? Celebrate the little victories along the way. Your body is going to resist throughout your journey just keep on track and you will be able to say, "look where I was now I'm mentally and physically stronger". Feel free to send me a FR I will help keep you motivated when you need it
  • 1princesswarrior
    1princesswarrior Posts: 1,242 Member
    Instead of looking at how far you have to go look at how far you have come. Think about it for a minute, you made the choice to change your life. Maybe you need to tweak some things in your nutrition plan or workout plan, I don't know without looking, maybe you just need to not worry so much. Added stress will make the weight loss slower. Think about this as a lifestyle change and some of us take longer than others to change a habit. I still fight old habits and I still struggle to make good decisions. But the one decision I will never struggle to make is the one to give up, that I will never do.
  • happysherri
    happysherri Posts: 1,360 Member
    I haven't been able to get back into my exercise routine and it is becoming super Frustrating! (I have good excuses - my parents have health problems and cancer, keep going in and out of hospitals)

    Anyway...... I try and focus on the positive. Everytime I make a healthy food choice and look over and see my co-worker eating fast food (and I'm eating salad). Or my clothes are still bagging, means I haven't gained for them to start fitting again! lol

    PUSH!
  • swsays
    swsays Posts: 125 Member
    Hang in there! Focus on today (or even the next hour if the day seems to long) and your goal to do well for that period of time. Stop thinking about the x number of pounds you want to lose or the body you want to have and just focus on getting through this day as best you can. Breathe, focus on all the positives, try to let the scale move to the back burner for now, and know that your defeated feelings are just feelings and they will pass. I had to talk to myself over the weekend like I talk to my children - yes, you have feelings, but do you have to let them control your behavior? No. So just keep swimmin'!
  • palmerdanielle
    palmerdanielle Posts: 341 Member
    I know the feeling, last week I only lost .4 and I've been consistently losing more up until now, so it can be a bit upsetting, I didn't lose any on my weigh in this week, the scale's actually gone up but I'm quite certain it's water retention. Try to remember .4 is still a loss, and you're getting closer to your goal. I don't always feel motivated per say, but I know I need to do this. A good thing to remember on the days you're feeling down that whether you continue to eat well and try to make changes or not, the time will pass anyways. If you give up, and want to start again later, think of all the time that you could have then been working on this. This of the time you've already put into it. It's not worth it to give up, and hopefully after some time of being committed it won't be a struggle anymore, just habit to eat better, get more exercise etc.

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