Daily Inspiration

jsalzat
jsalzat Posts: 225 Member
edited November 8 in Motivation and Support
I've felt disenchanted with myself over the last couple of months... after losing my longest streak, I gave up trying and stopped logging onto MFP altogether. At first I felt a sense of freedom from the "bondage" of logging, but over time I've realized that the daily habit of logging was not a bondage at all, but a freedom-- the freedom of being aware of what I put into my body. So basically my biggest obstacle keeping me from doing what I know works has been the shame of letting myself and my fitness pals down by not staying consistent with my logging.

The problem is never as big as I make it in my head-- I know that it is simply a matter of reestablishing the habit. Posting a motivational quote in the forum every evening after completing my daily log seemed to help keep me accountable before, so I think making that a part of my routine will help get me back on track. Feel free to post your motivation here as well- I love getting the fresh perspective and support of other members here.

So here's tonight's inspiration- last week a colleague found it in her fortune cookie and shared it with me:

"People do not lack strength; they lack will."

My hope for today is to find the willingness I've been lacking to make this a part of my life again.
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Replies

  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,630 Member
    I don't think you need a fortune cookie. What you said before that provided me with inspiration. Logging isn't bondage it's freedom. For me, it's the freedom to eat what I want without feeling guilty (as long as I am within my macros)
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    fortune cookies = processed carbs
  • BeautifulChaos27
    BeautifulChaos27 Posts: 91
    "Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts" ~ Edward R. Murrow

    Also my profile quote. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:
  • PinkyPan1
    PinkyPan1 Posts: 3,018 Member
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  • jsalzat
    jsalzat Posts: 225 Member
    Thanks!!! :)
    Today began as a rainy day and I didn't complete my usual morning exercise routine. I felt a little discouraged with myself at first because I deviated from my original eating plan when on a whim I decided to stop by Smoothie King to redeem a coupon I'd been saving. The smoothie tasted great but ended up containing a lot more calories and sugar than I planned, and I felt off balance all morning. The storm passed and I went to the kung fu studio during my lunch break to do a short bag workout and go through the forms I neglected to do early that morning. My day wasn't perfect after that, but following through had its benefits. I'm finding that the best cure for discouragement is action, no matter how small.

    "Everybody wants happiness; nobody wants pain,
    But you can't have a rainbow without a little rain."

    I hope everyone had an enjoyable Monday-- keep on keeping on!
  • TheSatinPumpkin
    TheSatinPumpkin Posts: 948 Member
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  • dlr165
    dlr165 Posts: 118 Member
    Love this one.
  • jsalzat
    jsalzat Posts: 225 Member
    Love it :smile:

    I had a rough start this morning so it took a little extra effort to maintain a cheerful disposition throughout the day, but I stayed strong and ended up having an enjoyable, productive work day. Following through with some simple positive actions, regardless of my initial lack of enthusiasm, is what pushed me through the tough spots. My treat tonight was a fun kung fu workout; and I learned a new weapon form which made it even better.

    "Nothing happens until something moves" -Albert Einstein

    I hope your Tuesday included some movement ;)
  • Rugbynutter
    Rugbynutter Posts: 33 Member
    Eric Thomas is an incredible motivational speaker, listen to him when I struggle.

    "If you think it’s going to be easy,

    If you think you’re just going to get that business started without any trials or tribulations, forget about it! Don’t even try to be successful, it’s a wrap!

    It’s not going to be easy!

    But I want you to feel that pain going through your body and as pain leaves your body, guess what’s going to take its place? SUCCESS!

    And so you gotta change your mindset. We gotta stop looking at pain as if it’s something negative. If it was easy, everybody would do it.

    NO PAIN, NO GAIN!

    But I guarantee you if you can outlast pain; if you can get through that pain; if you can get through that discomfort. If you can outlast that discomfort, I guarantee you, on the other side of it is success.

    All roads to success have to go down the road of pain. I told you before, if it was easy, everybody would do it!

    You keep talking about your mistakes, and you keep talking about the past, you keep talking about your trials, and you keep talking about your situation;

    And I want you to know that everybody that’s ever been great—everybody… has had an obstacle to overcome; they had a barrier that they had to climb. There is no individual who’s ever reached success and they didn’t have to go through an obstacle or a barrier to get there.

    Listen to me very closely;

    Sometimes, it’s going to be hard. Sometimes you’re going to look all around you and nowhere do you see success; nowhere do you see anything that remotely looks like success. But you gotta embrace the faith. You gotta believe that although it’s not happening right now, if you keep pressing, if you keep pushing, guess what?

    One day is going to be your day.

    It only takes one extra pushup;
    It only takes one extra mile;
    It only takes one extra grade;
    It only takes one extra effort;

    It only takes one extra something to get you were you’re trying to get to. And the goal is you gotta go a little further than the person who’s trying to get what you’re trying to get.

    You can’t go around it;
    You can’t go under it;
    You can’t go over it;
    The only way you can get to it is THROUGH IT!

    You gotta be able to see it and believe it that when there is no evidence around you, when you got pain in your life; when you’re tired and you feel like giving up and you feel like quitting; when you look around you don’t see anything that looks like success; you gotta embrace the faith and believe that one day is going to be my day!

    Because one day can’t be your day if you give up. If you quit… If you quit, no day will ever be your day!

    Every single day when you wake up you gotta give it all you got. You gotta give it 120%. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that this is year is going to be better than last year if you’re still making excuses.

    THERE ARE NO EXCUSES!

    You cannot cheat success!"

  • jsalzat
    jsalzat Posts: 225 Member
    So true! We have to be willing to do some things we don't feel like doing-- it's not easy to establish and maintain healthy habits... sometimes it just takes going through the motions and pushing through the pain.

    Today began on a much more positive note for me (at least, unlike yesterday, I didn't slip on a pile of sticks left out by the kids the night before and fall off my porch, knocking down the plants and twisting my ankle, for starters) so it was a little easier to stay upbeat. My progress is slow but steady, my biggest challenge will be taming my sweet tooth, but for now I'm just focusing on completing the food and exercise log daily until I've fully reestablished the habit.

    "Successful people are simply those with successful habits" -Brian Tracy

    I hope you had a successful day!!!
  • jsalzat
    jsalzat Posts: 225 Member
    Happy Friday Eve!!!

    *Whew* Long busy day today rewarded by a nice workout. I fought discouragement at some points, but instead of letting it consume me I pushed through the feelings and kept moving- pretty soon I forgot why I was discouraged.

    "Sometimes you win; sometimes you learn."
  • jsalzat
    jsalzat Posts: 225 Member
    Reestablishing good habits is not coming easy- continuing this is going to take more courage than I previously estimated. I don't think there can be much difference between courage and willingness. The strength is going to have to come from a deeper place than where I've been drawing from. No more starting over-- this time I must keep going.

    "Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise." -Victor Hugo
  • SarahJohnson1234
    SarahJohnson1234 Posts: 23 Member
    I know the feeling

    I bought a food diary to help me log foods. I've tried a few diaries and found an easy one to use 'food diary and exercise log by dr Joseph Reece'. The calorie counting diaries was a bit tricky to work out when being out and about so I used this one to quickly log foods. It has motivational quotes at the top of each page which is fun and keeps you going But everyone has different uses :)

    I find it helps me keep ontop of foods and I highlight junk food so I can flick through to see what I have eaten that's bad. The less highlighter I see, the better :)

    Good luck!!!!
  • jsalzat
    jsalzat Posts: 225 Member
    Good idea -Thanks for the encouragement :)

    Today was a better day- I started off a little discouraged when I got to boot camp... it had been several weeks since I'd attended (bad weather, other commitments, etc) and I felt as if it were my first time again. As the workout progressed I realized that I hadn't, in fact, lost all of my conditioning, that it was mostly in my mind, so I encouraged myself as I pushed through the workout.

    As I worked through the rest of the day's activities, I found myself enjoying myself and feeling very at ease in my own skin. Even though on the surface I still have much to do and a long journey ahead, I feel satisfied with my current progress. It's a feeling I haven't felt in a while. It's nice to be back on track.

    "Start where you are.
    Use what you have.
    Do what you can."

    I hope your weekend is going well !!!
  • jsalzat
    jsalzat Posts: 225 Member
    "Do not spoil what you have now by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for." -Epicurus

    I hope you found time this weekend to enjoy the progress you've made :smile:
  • Bruceapple
    Bruceapple Posts: 2,027 Member
    Thanks for the Quotes, I enjoy reading them :)
  • jsalzat
    jsalzat Posts: 225 Member
    Thanks! It encourages me to keep going ;)

    Happy Monday! The perfect day to set the tone for the whole week. I hope yours went well. *Whew* I'm exhausted (in a good way)

    "Don't be upset by the results you didn't get with the work you didn't do."
  • jsalzat
    jsalzat Posts: 225 Member
    Today I completed day 10 of logging and weighed in at 1 pound less than when I began. My hope is to continue doing what I am doing for a full year. My goal is to within the year both reach my goal weight and be able to do a pull up.

    "Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment." -Jim Rohn
  • lilmisfit1987
    lilmisfit1987 Posts: 183 Member
    I believe Dory said it all with "just keep swimming"....however if that doesn't do it for ya this is my favorite quote.

    "Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit." - Conrad Hilton
  • tinamg72
    tinamg72 Posts: 6 Member
    Inspiring! Thank You!
  • jsalzat
    jsalzat Posts: 225 Member
    Thank you!!!

    I tried to keep moving today... it wasn't my best day but I guess it wasn't my worst either-- I'm still here :)

    "The only bad workout is the one that didn't happen."

  • 23kat23
    23kat23 Posts: 62 Member
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  • tbutcher8
    tbutcher8 Posts: 6 Member
    Had a great day logging food, even though the early day food choices weren't good ones. I stills stayed in my calorie limits, logged my food, drank my water, and got in a great workout. My workout included the 100 overhead tricep presses, and it was challenging but I got it done. Thanks for the inspiration, and it's good to be back after a long time away.

    My three action goals for this week are:

    Drink 2 quarts of water per day and limit crystal lite to two pint glasses
    Log all my food
    Workout 30 minutes per day at least 3 times per week.

    Day three and I'm improving a bit each day.
  • jsalzat
    jsalzat Posts: 225 Member
    Way to go!!! Sounds like a great plan :wink:

    "Do not wait for the perfect moment. Take this moment and make it perfect."
  • jsalzat
    jsalzat Posts: 225 Member
    SUCCESS:

    See your goal
    Understand your obstacles
    Create a positive mental picture
    Clear your mind of self doubt
    Embrace the challenge
    Stay on track
    Show the world you can do it
  • Shirley61
    Shirley61 Posts: 7,758 Member
    Here is quote you might like, I use quite frequently at the end of my posts.

    "Life is short...forgive quickly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably...and never regret anything that made you smile!!!
  • jsalzat
    jsalzat Posts: 225 Member
    I love that one :smile:

    Today I wrecked on my motorcycle and I'm very lucky to be alive posting this. It was probably the most memorable birthday I've had thus far... There are so many good-hearted people and things to be grateful for in this world. I'm so glad I get the opportunity to experience this for another day <3

    "Spend each day the way you want to spend the rest of your life."
  • jsalzat
    jsalzat Posts: 225 Member
    Still very sore but doing much better. I went ahead and attended Kung Fu class today for moral support, but I mainly just did some very simple stretching and tai chi. The movement helped me feel better. I think my previous tai chi and martials arts training may have influenced how well my body took the impact of the blow of the wreck. I still don't understand how I managed to jump off the bike in time to avoid getting trapped under it, but I'm very grateful the outcome wasn't as bad as it easily could have been.

    "Love the life you live; live the life you love." Bob Marley
  • TFaustino67
    TFaustino67 Posts: 551 Member
    Good to hear the outcome wasn't any worse.

    "..because the next few months will go by whether you workout or not..make them count."
  • jsalzat
    jsalzat Posts: 225 Member
    Thanks! Me too :)

    I may be back on track sooner than I expected. The T'ai Chi is helping tremendously ;)

    THINK Positively
    EXERCISE Daily
    EAT Healthy
    WORK Hard
    STAY Strong
    WORRY Less
    DANCE More
    LOVE Often
    BE Happy
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