What do you do on a daily basis to keep yourself focused and motivated?

that has been my biggest problem. I lose interest in things very quickly and weight loss has definitely been one of them. I looked at myself in the mirror while at the mall over the weekend and was disgusted. That will be my motivation. I have several pics of myself at this weight and they keep me from eating that extra plate of food. I started rewarding myself with stickers when I do well and when I collect 30 stickers then I buy myself something new. Needless to say I have not gotten to 30 stickers. this is probably may gazillionth time starting. lol

I go in phases and restart a lot. It is actually so much more than motivation if you think about. Why do you give up? Is it just because you lost motivation? Did you get tired of tracking? Did you say to yourself "I can eat this" over and over because you had success? Did you not see change fast enough and get discouraged?

Saying that you lost motivation is just really one piece of the puzzle.

After saying that, I am restarting today. I didn't lose motivation per se. I got bored with the redundant food. I didn't want to think about everything I was eating, basically got lazy. Lastly, my house was so cluttered and I was overwhelmed at home, so staying on track with food became another thing "I needed to do". My daughter was home and between her and my husband I had trouble balancing and making me a priority. By the time she went back to school I felt like I was being pulled in so many directions by the two of them that I was not important. I was always bending to them. I used to be able to balance, but my kid is in her 4th year at college (started today) and I was not used to having her around. We can add work being miserable and seeping into my daily life. I can go on and on, but it is more than motivation. The thing I think that works is to find the key thing that causes you to derail.

So what works for me in the long run (and why I am not back to where I was before) is the following:

1- I am a priority
2- Eating right makes me feel better
3- Working out makes me happy
4- I am important
5- How can I maintain the balance?
6- Don't eat that right now (not I can never have it, this is not for now)
7- ME TIME!!!!
8- focus on the positive, not the negative
9- get enough sleep!!!!

I like seeing my streak days number go up. So going on MFP at least to journal in my food everyday is my focus point. Yes I am only on 23 right now because I did lose focus but I am back now.

I have decided to focus on the process only, stop worrying about the scales, and take the pressure off. I don't need laser sharp focus if it's easy peasy. So I make daily exercise a priority (not for the calories it burns but because it makes me feel good), and the moment I feel overly hungry or annoyed with living with a calorie deficit, I "practice maintenance" ( ie up my calories till I'm ready to go again).

SueInAz wrote: »

My secret is... I don't rely on motivation. As you well know, motivation comes and goes. It's completely unreliable as a method of keeping yourself on track.

Rather than relying on motivation I create habits and then I use commitment and determination as needed.

^^ So. Very. Much. This.

The only thing that has kept me on track has been the fact that I've made logging, staying within a deficit and being more active a habit. I don't even think--I just do what needs to be done. BUT having progress pictures definitely doesn't hurt, lol.

urloved33 wrote: »

suffer

Lol. Yes, if you are extremely motivated, you can suffer gladly. I've done it before. But situations where we are extremely motivated for long periods of time don't come often. Why not just lose slowly and suffer less? You need only a modicum of motivation, and some decent habits.

Stepping on the scale and seeing that the number it shows is smaller than when I started this process, watching my BMI move closer to the middle of my healthy range, logging my calories and getting as close to goal as I can, and seeing physical changes for the better in the mirror all help keep me going. At this point, it's not so much motivation as it is commitment to my new way of life.

I do what Goldthistime does. If there's a special event or reason to eat more ill go to maintenance calories for the day. That helps a lot. Like Osric's graph I also gained weight when I stopped logging, so now I've decided that at goal weight and on the way there I'll use MFP.

My reason. I watched a thin friend of mine retire at 70 and promptly gain about 60 pounds in a year. It was probably half her body weight. I'm not 70 but my goal is to just get to my desired weight and stay there. For forever. Because it doesn't ever get any easier so might as well make a lifestyle change for good.

Jessyd76 wrote: »

What else do you do on a daily basis that keeps you focused and motivated on your goals?

It's just something I do.

I brush my teeth in the morning because that's what we do.
I get dressed ... society kind of prefers that.
I go to work ... gotta make money.
I go to university ... gotta set myself up for the future.
I have to get to work and university which requires me to both take the bus and walk.
I eat because my body expects that ... so right now I might as well eat foods that help me remain within in my max calories.
I enjoy cycling ... so I get out on my bicycle whenever I can.


Losing weight (eating fewer calories) is not a big part of my life. It's just one aspect and it slots into my life where you might expect it to. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks. Just more variety and fewer calories than I was eating before.

Fitness might be a slightly bigger part of my life because I love being active and have some sport-related goals, but I'm up to my eyeballs in work and university right now, so at the moment I squeeze walks and bicycle rides in whenever I can ... it's just nice to be out in the sunshine and fresh as much as possible. Helps to ease the stress.

And ... seeing results helps too.