Motivational techniques that have helped you lose weight?

Reading the success stories on mfp keeps me motivated. If they can do it, so can I (and you)!

Joining a group challenge was great for me last August. The challenge was to set a calorie burn goal for the month and reach/exceed it. It worked so well!!
This month I have joined 2 challenges, one regarding quality of sleep, the other for staying within calorie goal everyday.

Paying for a Disney Half Marathon 6 months in advance motivated me to keep training. (safely) Disney races have a cutoff so I couldn't just say "oh well, I'll just walk it."

Pictures have always kept me motivated. My mind in the mirror can lie to me, but the camera lens always tells me the truth and it says, "This is how you look in real life, so you may wanna get back to work."

That's a great trick! Bcos I do believe that my ego has risen causing me to perceive myself looking better in my reflection than I actually do (or maybe I really do look that good ). Thanks

Techniques...hmm...you can promise yourself gifts when you reach a certain goal I also announce my plan to my friends here on MFP and to my family so that they keep me on track. And I look at progress shots(from other mfp users) for inspiration. Hope that helps!

:)xx

BeAds on a string: different colour for daily calorie goal, 10000 steps and working out. When I get to my target, number of beads, I buy a bead for my charm bracelet.

I keep a copy of the picture when I started on my desk, in my wallet and on the fridge as a reminder of what I don't want to look like again, I also set a calender reminder in outlook that says Get off your A** and get it done.

Other than that, I just made sure to make good habits of logging everything, physical activity so now they are just a part of my daily routine, because if I had to rely on motivation to do it .. well it wouldn't happen.

Talk about your mind playing tricks on you. I visualised myself wearing a higher grade martial arts belt but then panicked when I couldn't find it in my bag! I hadn't passed it yet

i like signing up for races. they help keep me focused on a long term goal to prepare for.

I have found that coming to the Motivation and Support forums really helps me get through the day! It's nice to know that others struggle like me. I think I am personally motivated to continue my journey because I finally realized it's possible to lose the weight. It was difficult to make the adjustments to my diet and exercise routine at first, and my bad habits were so ingrained. In the past, it felt like the most I could lose was five pounds, and then I'd fall off the wagon and gain it all back plus some. I realize now that I wasn't being honest with myself about my efforts. And now I actually want to eat healthy, work out and leave treats for special occasions or a once a week thing. My biggest motivators though are a pair of shorts I am dying to fit into this summer as well as feeling good when I wake up! I love waking up and not feeling gross because I ate too much ice cream or cookies late the night before!

Watch "finding Nemo" and "Keep swimming".

I put a dollar in a jar for every pound I lose, but that's less about motivation, and more about the fact that I KNOW I'm going to need entirely new clothes, and I can't afford to do it otherwise

I have some too-small clothes already in my wardrobe that I hung up on my bedroom wall at motivation- want to fit into those jeans? Then get moving!

I have a problem with rewarding myself buying things, because either: I would just buy it anyway, because I need it, or because it's cheap enough that why wait? But there are a few things that I've set aside:

Once I complete the C25K training course, I'll buy the Zombies!Run app. I can't listen to both at once, but I've heard great things about Zombies!, so I want to try it.

In another 17# loss, I'll buy myself some cute undies. I'll definitely need new ones at that point, but I'd usually stick to something utilitarian. So having something fun will be great