Motivation and Discipline

Read self-help books and fitness magazines. Surround yourself with like-minded people.

This is how I think of food, "One bad meal will not make you fat. Just like one healthy meal will not make you skinny."

Don't beat yourself up. Forgive it and move on.

Hello! I was just wondering what you all do to stay motivated? I often stay on track for a week or even a month, but then it is all ruined when I lose self-control and eat something really bad for me. And then I keep eating things that are bad for me and I never see any progress.

Things I try to do is mentally think of all the reason I want to lose weight, imagine "skinny me", look at picture of clothes I want to wear and look up motivational quotes.

Does anyone have some more effective ideas?

If you have a bad day, the great thing is tomorrow is a new day. Why let an off day defeat any progress you made?

What's great is that if you have a bad day, it resets at midnight so you can just move on and start fresh. Don't think of foods as bad for you - unless you have an allergy. Last night at work - we're in the beginnings of a new charting system and super stressed - one of the tech support bought us "Insomnia cookies" - freshly baked and delivered in the middle of the night cookies that are worth every calorie (230), carb (34) , etc. I had one and logged it (chuckled because they're all here in the database). I enjoyed every bit of it and licked my fingers. :drinker: In my old preMFP life, I would have had several. I had to play around with today's food a bit to fit my macros, but it was so worth it.

Sometimes for extra motivation, I read the Success Stories threads here. People's stories and pictures are a great kick in the pants.

Keep going. It's worth it.

I don't motivate myself by imagining how I look skinnier. I look in the mirror every day, that is what motivates me.

I really think it is less about discipline and more about learning the skills to cope with inevitable negative affect.

I eat 5 times a day and/or every 3-4 hours this was something that was difficult to start but after a few weeks has became second nature something I can continue my whole life. When I 'screw up' I log it and just pick up at my next planned meal. No more 'Ill just start again tomorrow' or 'I just won't eat anything for the rest of the day to make up for......' or 'I've already mess up so....'

Thank you everyone! I have a problem of not wanting to keep tracking my calories on days that I start getting close to going over, but am still hungry.

Ah. THIS problem can be addressed a different way. If you are finding that you start "running out" of calorie budget too early in the day, you need to start pre-planning and pre-logging more. Don't log AFTER you eat and then find yourself surprised that you're running out of calories.

One thing that helps me a lot of reserving part of my calorie budget every day for something particularly yummy for the time between dinner and bedtime. That might be a Kind bar, or a graham cracker with cream cheese on it, or a piece of toast with nutella or peanut butter, or a couple of squares of chocolate, or a belt of scotch. Something to look forward to, and something I know I CAN'T have if I blow my calorie budget for the day too early.

When you have a framework of "perfection" of course you are going to avoid tracking on "bad" days.

Changing the way you think will help you greatly.

I don't consider a day I eat more as a "bad" day or as a "cheat" day or even "falling off the wagon". I think of it as a day where I wanted/chose to eat more. It's a day where I won't be losing weight, but if we are making lifestyle changes that are sustainable, we need to allow for days when we eat more (holidays, special occasions, etc.)

Also, you should never be starving when you are eating at a deficit. Cutting out 500 calories, or cutting out 250 calories and doing 250 calories' worth of exercise, is doable and easy.

I have been losing 1 lb. per week eating well, having treats occasionally, and never going hungry. In fact, my focus is on eating ENOUGH of the right foods - protein, veggies, etc. instead of focusing on what I can't have - because I can have anything I want in moderation.

This is how I think of food, "One bad meal will not make you fat. Just like one healthy meal will not make you skinny."

Don't beat yourself up. Forgive it and move on.

Good advice!

What keeps me motivated... seeing the progress i've made thus far. Not just in pounds lost, but in how I feel both physically and emotionally. I've not felt this good in years. I don't ever want to go back to the way things were. Small sustainable goals and life changes is what is working for me. It can and will work for you too if you let it. Good luck!

I don't consider any foods as "bad" foods. I eat what I want and in moderation to fit in my calorie goals. Hunger also motivates me to make healthier food choices so some foods have become occasional treats so I can eat a large amount of healthy food and be full most of the time.

I also have shifted from this being something I do to lose weight to something I do for life. I always want to be fit and strong. Eating healthy-ish and working out help me stay that way.

This^^^^ sumes up my approach,

The other thing keeping me going now is I'm 44 with osteoarthritis,fibromyalgia and sacroilitis. I'm a nurse and work in aged care. So I see what happens with people and how they live with these conditions. Sad thing is to people give up due to the pain. I don't want to end up in aged care at a young age plus I want to be active for when my kids start giving me grand kids. Best thing I can do for me is keep moving. I can sit back in pain and do nothing or I can keep moving with pain and know I have done something to help myself. Move it or lose it they say.