Motivation plateau

jen1jen1jen1
jen1jen1jen1 Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Help!

I am a bit of an intermittent user of MFP, and generally get back on it when my clothes start to get a bit tight (rather than keeping logging, as I know I should). I've never quite reached my goal, and seem to have no trouble losing the initial weight, but whenever I get near my motivation starts to wane. I can cook, I like exercise, but whenever I get within 7lbs of my goal weight the lure of ordering everything in world from Dominos is just too great - and then I fall off the wagon all over again.

I am a decent cook, and I can make really healthy versions of everything, but I feel like I get to a point and then I just... sort of stop. I was wondering how other people keep their motivation and momentum up?

Replies

  • BigT555
    BigT555 Posts: 2,067 Member
    if i feel motivation slipping, i go to the gym. i never feel more motivated to lose weight than i do AFTER working out, the endorphin high gets me every time

    if that not possible, you just have to visualize your original motivating factor (for most people it would be a goal body) and hold onto that thought for dear life. easier said than done, i know
  • jen1jen1jen1
    jen1jen1jen1 Posts: 7 Member
    Ah, right you are... the moment I get myself back on my bike I am all raging to keep going. It is just that starting point of actually *getting* on the bike that I really struggle with.
  • BigT555
    BigT555 Posts: 2,067 Member
    ah i know that all too well. there was another member on here who mentioned at one point that they have a rule, if they have an exercise that is planned and they dont want to do it, they force themselves to do at least the first 5 minutes and if after that they still want to quit, they do. but like you mentioned once you start its easy, so they would rarely not finish an exercise
  • jen1jen1jen1
    jen1jen1jen1 Posts: 7 Member
    That is a great idea - I am going to try that. There is basically no justification for me not fitting in a 30 min cycle of an evening, but perhaps allowing myself to cut it down to five - only once I have started - is a good way to get going. Thanks for the tip :)
  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
    You could just move your goal up by 7lbs, as it sounds as though you're happy there.

    Your question got me thinking about taking semi-breaks. I.e. if you're fed up with exercising then take a week off (but keep eating healthy and at calorie goal). If you're sick of eating healthy food and denying yourself, then take a week off and eat junk (but keep exercising and at goal) and so on. Also, I find if I give myself permission to take a week, I'm normally satisfied after two days.
  • jen1jen1jen1
    jen1jen1jen1 Posts: 7 Member
    Hmmm, that is an idea. I've been thinking that I might just allow myself off one evening a week (HELLO DOMINOS) because then I wont feel like I am punishing myself. I mean, it isn't like I don't treat myself - I do, regularly. But sometimes a splurge feels just necessary!

    I *could* move my goal up by 7lbs, I may move it up a little bit.... hmmm. Food for thought indeed.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Help!

    I am a bit of an intermittent user of MFP, and generally get back on it when my clothes start to get a bit tight (rather than keeping logging, as I know I should). I've never quite reached my goal, and seem to have no trouble losing the initial weight, but whenever I get near my motivation starts to wane. I can cook, I like exercise, but whenever I get within 7lbs of my goal weight the lure of ordering everything in world from Dominos is just too great - and then I fall off the wagon all over again.

    I am a decent cook, and I can make really healthy versions of everything, but I feel like I get to a point and then I just... sort of stop. I was wondering how other people keep their motivation and momentum up?

    standign in front of a full length mirror in my underwear works for me....
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,254 Member
    Copied from a post I made earlier today:

    I have learnt that motivation is not what's required - it's commitment and resignation.

    Motivation can be fleeting, easily lost or diverted, and implies that you need to be enthused, excited and positively working towards this. It therefore means that as soon as you stop being excited, enthused and positively working towards this, you quit.

    I'm not "motivated" to go to work in the morning. I do it because I have bills to pay, things I want to buy, a household to feed, a car to run and a lifestyle to sustain.

    I'm not "motivated" to clean my house. I do it because I have a level of comfort to maintain, a desire to not live in dirty surroundings, a level of health I wish to keep up.

    I don't clean the poop out of my cats litter tray because I'm "motivated". I do it because it stinks and is gross.

    I don't make good choices with my food and haul my *kitten* out to go running because I'm "motivated. I do it because I have physical pain I want to lessen and/or avoid, a lifestyle I wish to attain/maintain, a level of health I want to keep up, and a desire not to live in substandard surroundings - in this case an unhealthy body.

    I have been "dieting" for 18 years. I have joined Weight Watchers more than 12 times. I've done shake diets, I've counted calories and I considered a lapband. I have "fallen off the wagon" because I "lost motivation" more times than I can count.

    Now this time, it's different. Sure, a lot of the time I'm motivated. But a hell of a lot of the time, I'm not. But I'm committed and resigned to the fact that unless I want my body to be unhealthy, miserable, unattractive and broken, I have to do this. Same way as I have to go to work when I can't be bothered, or have to clean my house when I'd rather sit on the couch in my jimjams.

    This isn't optional any more. I've put it in the necessity basket. I'm not doing it because I want to - I'm doing it because I have to. Even if I'd rather be in the eating equivalent of jimjams on the couch ;)

    ETA: This has been about making this my new "normal". For so long, there was "normal" and there was "dieting". Now sensible choices are normal, and the splurges are the anomalies. So there's no needing to get back on the wagon, it's just going back to normal. I think that's what I never got when people said it was a 'lifestyle change'.
  • kk_140
    kk_140 Posts: 518 Member
    Motivation comes from within. Love yourself, remember why you're doing this

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