What keeps you motivated?

Myself. I have zero support other than the drive to do right by me. That my life isn't eternal and each day spent bettering myself even in small ways is an effort well spent. Trust yourself and the process and don't give in.

I want to get down to the size I was at my wedding, which I'm only 3 lbs away from it. But to keep reminding myself of my ultimate goal I use a wallet size wedding pic as my book mark for the current book I am reading. I read all the time so I constantly see that pic and that reminds me of what I want to look like and what my goal is.

Stripping in front of a mirror, looking at myself, and jumping up and down. Ouch. It's eye-opening. The jiggle does not lie.

Nowadays i don't really feel motivated, i'm just that used to it now that i just do it lol

WEAR CLOTHES FROM 10 YEARS AGO? Ummm.. I take it you aren't a fashionista are you? Maybe... check the size of those old clothes... then go out and buy ONE outfit in that size... and toss the Old clothes... if nothing else.. you'll have room for NEW clothes when you get where you are headed

nothing.

motivation is a farce.

it's an empty promise- it's roses- that wither and die.

Your mistake- which you are realizing is relying on motivbation to keep you going- you can't- it is not a question of IF it fails- but WHEN.

Make it the thing you do- there are no exceptions- there are no emotions.
Monday is gym day.
So no matter how tired- how busy how anything I am- when I leave at 730 Am- my bag is in the car- and I WILL go to the gym at 5 PM.

Not "IF I FEEL LIKE IT"

Just pack your back- make an "appointment" and go do it.

Do you stay motivated to brush your teeth?
pick your kids up?
eat food?
do the dishes?
do the laundry?

of course not- but you do them- because they need doing.

Doing things- gets things done.

This!!!!

That I never ever want to go back to the way I was. I've entered a new era of my life and I want ot be ready for anything.

I struggled with this at the beginning before I realized that I needed to change my life. I was the laziest kid growing up so I avoided all activities where I had to exert energy. I also LOVE food (especially "bad" food) to the point where I just accepted the fact that I will be overweight and unhealthy my whole life. This made me sad, but I accepted it.

As I got to my mid-late 20s, I realized I didn't want this life anymore. I did some crazy fad diets (Atkins, Paleo, cutting out certain foods/food groups) and I always cracked a week or two later and ate all of that weight back along with a few extra lbs.

I VERY SLOWLY started changing my habits that I knew weren't good for me, such as eating 2 donuts for breakfast every day. I cut it down to 1 donut, and then a donut every other day, and then a donut once a week, etc. I have one around once a month now and enjoy the crap out of it!! That's what I did with everything else. Replaced soda with seltzer water. I learned how to cook so that I could cook healthy and delicious meals for myself and my bf (and he cooks healthy stuff too). I also introduced exercise in small amounts and tried lots of different things until I found what I liked. It took me 9 months to lose 30 lbs and reach my healthy goal weight, but I did it. A year and a half later, I am still in maintenance and enjoying my new life. A lot. You got this, you just have to realize that this is a big change. Do it slowly.

As one poster pointed out, motivation is a bit of a lie.

We can get around that by forming habits instead. Habits are more powerful than motivation. They are more powerful than willpower (which, like a muscle, fatigues when we try and exercise it 24/7)

I prefer to try and form a habit by being consistent, so that the habit just becomes regular part of my day/week, and I don't have to "stay motivated" to stay on track.

I get asked this alot and I can't say I have a particular thing that keeps me going. I like how active and fit I have become and I continue to use and enjoy the extra energy getting healthy has given me.

You'll need to find the spark within yourself, my guess is that for that 2-3 weeks you're probably restricting yourself with your diet and maybe pushing yourself into exercise and then you start feeling like "is it worth it" or that you're just not seeing the numbers at the scale changing. My biggest advice is to ignore the scale focus on how you feel, get in regular movement/activity and eat foods that are not only good for you but taste good as well, you can't change overnight but you can wake up every day and make another slight adjustment that leads you to a healthier and happier you.

Af first one may simply want to change, to make a small transform. Lose 10 lbs say. Once you begin to see changes, you get excited, which makes you explore other paths to getting healthier, stronger, faster.

Diet, supplements, training variety...group activities, music selections..as in ones that you can work out to. Before you know it, it turns into a life style. You begin surrounding yourself with like mind people. Instead of going out drinking on Friday nights, you meet people early on Saturday mornings to go run with.

You book vacations that include swimming with sharks, jumping off waterfalls, black water rafting...why...simply because you can. Your body has now exceeded anyone you know and you can lift things or run father than you thought were possible for just about anyone..let alone you.

You have now totally transformed, you have become more than what you ever dreamed possible...and to think its even possible that you'd wake from the dream and become simply "normal" again, scares the S&*T out of you.

Ya..that's what motivates me

I'm a student interested learning more about the psychology of what motivates people during exercise. Please help my research by taking my survey and I'll post the results.

I used Google docs to create a survey form. Below is the link:

www.docs.google.com/forms/d/1gCNPbbs3FG6cuj2bqYPu1U63NY3-G-oS8CSYHallsUk/viewform?usp=send_form

WEAR CLOTHES FROM 10 YEARS AGO? Ummm.. I take it you aren't a fashionista are you? Maybe... check the size of those old clothes... then go out and buy ONE outfit in that size... and toss the Old clothes... if nothing else.. you'll have room for NEW clothes when you get where you are headed

Nope, because jeans styles today are pure crap. Also, I like my Pound Puppies shirt, Thankyouverymuch.

Not really anything anymore. Just got tired of being fat. Knew my habits needed to change and now it's just part of my routine.