Newbie whos lookin for motivation, etc

Welcome! I just joined a few days ago, and already I love it. There are so many motivating people to talk to and make friends with. The food diary is easy to use, and already has so many foods saved in it. I am thoroughly enjoying all the support I have recieved since joining!

Hi Krystle.

Welcome to the group. Since you asked, I'll throw in my two cents. Motivation is a tricky thing. Seems to come in fits & starts for me, but I have found some things that seem to help me with it. I'm coming to believe that those things are different for all of us and it's up to each of us find out which ones work for us individually. One of the great things about this site is you don't have to come up with all of the ideas by yourself, you can find out which things worked or didn't work for other people. I think one of the problems with weight-loss fads is they claim to have the answer for everyone when in fact they have found something that works for themselves and quite possibly can work for a lot of other people, the problem seems to come when they claim it will work for EVERYONE.

I haven't had huge weight problems, never more than 20 lbs overweight, but in just trying to keep those 20 lbs under control, I've come to understand just how difficult it is for a person to maintain a weight they are happy with and that has been quite enlightening. I used to think people who had serious weight problems really had "self-control" problems. I now believe that while that may be true in a small percentage of cases, it is not true in the majority, and I regret being so judgmental of so many people.

I've read and studied and tried several ideas and methods and philosophies on dealing with weight loss & maintenance. As with many things, each seems to have a piece of the truth but not the whole truth. So now when I see anything saying it "will work for everyone", I'm immediately skeptical. They probably have a piece of the truth, but not the whole truth.

I've also come to both grudgingly respect the human body's survival instincts and curse them at the same time. What I'm in the process of learning is how to understand and work with those instincts and still achieve the results I want with regard to my health & fitness. With that in mind, here are a few things that work for me. I can't say for sure they will work for you, but they may be worth trying, as will some of the other responses you get from others on this site.. As I said, one of the great things about a site like this is that you can see what has worked for other people. Ultimately however, it's up to you to find the combination of things that will work for you.

#1 Thing for me: PLANNING & PREPARATION:
For me, this is KEY # 1: I pick a day to cook meals for the week. I make 4-5 breakfasts, lunches & dinners for the week at one time. Initially, this was a big time PITA (Pain in the A**) but eventually I realized it's actually a huge time-saver. I've got all the crap out anyway and it's actually easier for me to get it all done in one 2-hour session than to take the chance of not having something good but healthy ready-to-go for a meal during the week. Think of it as healthy fast food. (if I haven't bored you to death already, I'll share with you this week's breakfast/lunch/dinners I made ahead of time) This is not to say you can't make or go out to have a GREAT MEAL occasionally! But for me, if I leave the "Monday thru Friday" kind of meals up to how much time I have or how hungry I am at the moment or who happens to call and say "meet me at Poncho's for margaritas and chimichangas" I know I'll give in to temptation BIG TIME! Preparing this stuff ahead of time for the week sets me up for success instead of failure. And the beauty is, when I do decide to indulge, I don't worry about it and enjoy the hell out of it as I should!

OK, I just realized how much I've rambled already so I leave it here for now except to say that in addition to prepping meals for the week ahead of time, tracking your meals here can also be a huge help. It just forces you to be honest with yourself about your consumption if you're reasonably diligent about inputting what you eat. (You don't have to be accurate to the gram! Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good!)

Obviously exercise is another vital component but I'm overdone here already. I think the meal planning & prep can help most people but I'll leave that to you.

Sorry for the length but I hope it helps.

Dave

I'm new to this site too and so far LOVE it. The support has been awesome. Feel free to friend me and I'll be a cheerleader for you! I think we can all use more of those to keep us on track.

I know what you mean, motivation is everything! It is the ONLY one thing a person needs to succeed. Oh, and smiling helps too. Good luck!!!