How to stay motivated

I think until you truly decide you want to lose weight, you won't find the desire to do it. You have mentioned several good reasons to lose weight; to stop knee pain, to have a second child, for your son, to boost your self-confidence but until YOU WANT to make a change for yourself there may not be much anyone can say to help motivate you. I am not saying that to be mean, but in honesty. I wasn't ready to lose the weight until the pain from my fibromyalgia reached a point that I was tired of being miserable. I also received a wake-up call when my father died before he was 60 because of heart, cholesterol, and high blood pressure problems.

You may need to think about WHY you want to lose weight and WHY you have quit in the past. Are you setting your expectations too high or setting unrealistic goals that are impossible to reach? Have you tried setting smaller goals for yourself, maybe losing 5 pounds in a month, exercising a few times a week by taking your son for a walk or having him play some workout games with you, or cooking a few lower calorie meals each week? Have you moved your exercise bike so you can watch tv while you ride? For the first 20 pounds or so that I lost last year that was mainly what I did, rode my bike and watched Netflix.

For me, I stay motivated by keeping a journal of my measurements and exercise accomplishments. When I start feeling depressed about my lack of progress I can look back and see that I have improved fitness wise and lost several inches as well as pounds throughout my attempt to lose weight. I like to complete fun runs and virtual races, I am definitely one of the slower people there but I am having fun and improving my health. I quit relying on a scale to check my weight to see the amount of weight I lost because if I didn't see the results I thought I should see, i would get frustrated and would quit. I rely more on my journal, the way my clothes fit, improving my time in the mile, and how many inches I have lost. This has given me a better feeling of accomplishment and I don't feel as bad if I make mistakes, because there are going to be times that I am going to make mistakes. Trust me on this, I lost 48 pounds in the last year and wanted to lose 100!

If you would like to send me a friend request and we can support each other, please feel free to do so. I wish you nothing but the best in the upcoming year.

You don't need to exercise to lose weight

I am absolutely in the habit camp. I know that when I was younger I created the habit of going to the gym 5 days a week. It stopped being a question of will I or won't I but became a case of I go Mondays Tuesdays Thursdays Fridays and Saturdays. That simple.

Right now I am working on habit forming. I know once I get to the stage that it is a habit it will be SO MUCH EASIER to do. To that end I have purchased an iPod shuffle which will hopefully be winging it's way towards me soon. Upon arrival it will be given to DH to hold onto, I won't be getting my grimy little hands on it until I have worked out 5 times a week for a full month. So January is my goal. I will probably reward for consistency again in February to make sure it sticks (probably a new top or some pants, maybe something else IDK) but after that rewards will be achievement based.

Oh yeah!! Reward yourself! Find something you REALLY want but that you wouldn't ordinarily get (a new top, a piece of equipment, something pretty but NOT food!) and use it as a motivator. I know that when I get down to a size 8-10 (aus sizing) I will be getting a new wardrobe of cute clothes, DH and I have already discussed it. That is my ultimate goal, but along the way I am rewarding myself, a $10 pair of workout pants here, a $20 top there when I reach a significant milestone, 10kg down, 20kg down, run 5km in 45min, run 5km in 30min you get the idea.

I can appreciate that working out around your kiddo is hard, have you considered a gym with a creche? 1 hour in the creche will be a fun time for him and it gives you a chance to get your workout in. Or perhaps waking up early and going for a walk/run before DH leaves for work in the morning. I also look for alternative reasons for getting out. I know for a fact that I am much more motivated to get things done on the mornings that I have gone out for my run first thing, it's like it multiplies the time that I have available to get stuff like housework and study and stuff done.

While you can lose weight without exercise the results that you will get from exercise make the effort worth it.

I agree with making it habit..once you start exercising you do get used to it. I've been doing it for years now (even exercised until 38 weeks pregnant) and I feel stressy if I don't exercise.

You also need to think about why you want to lose weight. Being slim and fit for trying for another baby was one of my motivations (not now, I have three!) but also being fit and active for my children, and not wanting to be the fat mum at the school gates. My eldest is 5 and in year 1, and they're aware of weight and size. I don't want my son to ask me why I have a big tummy. Luckily he hasn't, but I'm not huge, just bigger than I'd like to be 8 months post partum.

I find it a bit sad that you don't want to take your son for a walk. My kids are really active and love going out. If anything, do this for him. I sometimes wish my kids were lazier lol, but I'm glad I've encouraged them. My 3 year old sometimes brings me my shoes and asks to go out. Kids also copy our eating habits. If I ask my kids what they want to eat, it's things like chicken and broccoli, ham, tuna and jacket potato, and my 3 year old snacks on fruit. They're always asking about what's healthy.

Is there a local gym with a crèche? My gym has one. I don't use it that often as my husband works shifts so I can fit my gym sessions round those, but it's handy to use if there's a morning class I really want to do and my husband's at work.

I just got a Fitbit for Xmas, which is also motivating. I got a Zip, and they're not that expensive, so maybe consider one. It's nice watching those steps add up.

Rewards are also a good idea....a haircut, new make-up, me gym clothes etc.

I have to admit I see my gym time as 'me' time and that motivates me too. I could stay home and do laundry/tidy/Hoover/look after kids etc or spend an hour on my own, not being a mum.

I know people say you don't need to exercise to lose weight, but I feel so much better for exercising, and I also like being fit, and challenging myself to do more things, like recently I ran just over 5K.

Sounds to me like you listed all of your (should be) motivation: painful knees at a young age, desire for baby#2, your current child, low self-esteem. I guess it depends on how badly you want to change these things.

I, too, find it sad that it's "too much work" to take your son for a walk. What age are we talking here? Stroller age? Load him up, give him some toys and get out there. He'll enjoy it. Old enough to walk with you? Go on an adventure: collect leaves, throw snowballs, or look at the clouds, etc. Be active and LIVE and don't view moving around as a drudgery. That will get you no where.

All good suggestions; I'm paying attention.

I tried to motivate myself with a reward several times but it didn't work for me. I'm more than willing to give up things that I want, apparently. So now I've decided on a penalty. If I don't lose at least 2 pounds in a month, I have to cut off 1 inch of hair. This is important to me because I have a goal of growing my hair as long as it will grow. My first month (over Thanksgiving) I had to cut the inch. I don't want to have to do that again!

Of course I don't know how good a housekeeper you are, but I was kind of a minimalist. I kept things reasonable - washed the dishes, wiped spills, etc. I decided that my first line of exercise would be to become a better housekeeper. I've spent hours scrubbing/cleaning old grout, mopping, and waxing floors since then. Wow - does it ever look good in here! I also have a gym membership until the end of April. I probably won't renew that as I have discovered that I hate going to the gym. But for right now, I need to get offline and get ready to go to the gym.

Good luck!