THE MYTH OF MOTIVATION (AND WHAT YOU NEED INSTEAD)

I agree with your myth about motivation but you say it is lack of discipline, what do you do when you go with out losing weight when you step on the scales even though you have been diciplined

Great stuff

I have actually put my experience in basic training and the airborne to start losing weight.. even though it was over 20 years ago...

I put the goal before me... and go for it... I run and march to cadances and imagine myself going back into time working out to build my body to a lean mean fighting machine... while it may seem crazy... it has helped me..

I'm up to 530 push-ups a day...^^ and 150 sit-ups a set... and walk (swinging my arms) for 2 hours a day... and actually running (airborne shuffle) for 1/2 a mile...

This post is exactly what I needed, thanks!:happy:

"The bigger mystery is why we choose to ignore the need for proper diet and exercise in the face of obvious requirement."


Hmmm....some good points in the original post. I didn't read all of the 300+ responses but it seems the overall consensus is agreement with the 'try harder, do better' philosophy. I know this approach has failed me many times in the past. From reading many posts on the MFP message boards, it seems like that philosophy is not working for a lot of other people either.

It is no longer a mystery to me why we choose to ignore the need for proper diet and exercise in the face of obvious requirement. Human nature is to avoid pain and seek pleasure. It is basic evolutionary survival. When we restrict food and become hungry.....we create pain. (It doesn't feel good....does it?) When we exercise out of obligation or drudgery because we hate our body and the way we look....we create emotional pain. (Again, it doesn't feel good.) It then becomes our natural response to seek pleasure. Food becomes pleasure. Not forcing ourselves to exercise out of self-loathing relieves pain and feels much better. (For a time, anyway.) So binge eating and foregoing exercise is actually our body's natural response to these painful situations.

I can agree that decision has an important role in changing our health. But I would suggest that intention is the key. When the decision to eat foods that move us toward health and wellness comes from a positive intention of wanting to take care of the body and life we have been given.....and exercise comes from the same positive intention of wanting to feel healthy and energetic....it will be an easier and much more joyous process. If the decision comes from a "just do it" attitude....it will be harder, many times a struggle, and more often than not - unsustainable.

I don't mean any disrespect to the original poster. I only offer my opinion here to hopefully help others who are struggling with determination, will-power and motivation to see that there is a reason why they feel they keep failing and that there is another approach. It starts with a positive, loving attitude towards ourselves.

*Just a little side note - I used to eat and exercise from a place of self-loathing....wishing I had a better body. To the point of becoming a super lean, super strong bodybuilder training for competition. It wasn't very joyous and even after I achieved my perfect body....I was still not happy with it. So it is possible to be an extremely fit person but not achieve what it is that we're all truly after......self-worth, self-love, value and self-acceptance.

Exactly what I needed.

This is so true! motivation is far too unreliable

In relation to weight loss, I read somewhere that motivation gets you started, but habit keeps you going. I do recognize that it is hard because you have to make a constant effort to make the good choices like eating good food, exercising well....all that jazz. I also agree with the first post....it starts with the decision...and the rest will follow.

J:drinker:

Bumping as I have a feeling I will need to read this again at some point

Awesome!!