Feel like a failure... 50lbs just seem undo able

Motivation can't be given to you. You may get inspired, encouraged, and cheered on, but if you lack the motivation yourself to do anything, none of that will matter. So ask yourself, "Do I really want this?" If you really don't, then it's easy NOT to stick to any goal of any type.
It may have to start with just changing the size of plates you eat off of. Use a 9" plate instead of a 13" plate.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Me in February 2015 (372 lbs)



Me in November 2015 (155 lbs later)


Good Luck. You can do anything if you want it bad enough. You have complete control of your destination and the path you choose to get there. No excuses - pure beast mode. You can't dip your toes in the water when it comes to losing weight. Either jump all in and take the plunge for the results you want. Or stay and watch from the shoreline. It really is that simple. Go all in or you are wasting your time. Said with love!! xoxo


Sorry about the "graphic photos" but it is what it is.

This may be a silly means of motivation and some people may not agree with it but it was actually in part a Cracked article that helped me get kind of in the right mindset for working out and changing how I looked at exercise and diet.

http://www.cracked.com/article_18611_the-10-most-important-things-they-didnt-teach-you-in-school_p2.html

Check out #4.

Ninerbuff has the right of it. Ask yourself: "Is this what I really want? Do I want to feel healthy and more attractive? Do I want to be excited about trying on new outfits?" Etc, etc.

Just know that you will have to fight very hard for it. The body and better health that you're looking for is at the center of a piranha-filled moat! That is the nature of weight loss when you're coming from a lifestyle of less than stellar diet and physical activity. It also doesn't happen overnight. It's taken years for me to change how I looked at food and exercise. It's a lifestyle adjustment!

So many people on this website have been in the same position as yourself. I promise. It's a warm, supportive community. Check out the pics in the Success Stories section! It's quite exhilarating.

That's my two cents. I know everyone has their own style of motivation. I'm the type of person who is willing to go through big challenges if I know there's a pretty good chance of success as long as I've really pushed myself.

You can do it! Dive into that treacherous moat and swim!

Ask yourself "Is this the life I want to have one year from now? Am I on the path to having the health I want?" If the answer is no, then you will find the motivation do what it takes. No number of looking at thin people will do that to you. You have to be honest with yourself, about what you want, about what you are willing to do, and about what you eat.



One year ago in November I had that moment. Today I'm more than 70 lbs lighter. Its a daily commitment to my future. I hope you can make the same commitment to yours.

Learning yoga gave me the feeling of being in control of my mind and body and made it easy to stick to my goals!

Christmas 2015

February 2013, 75 pounds earlier

I also have a little over 50 lbs left to lose. For me, its been cutting out soda. I'm a little over a week into it and have lost 5 lbs. I used to drink anywhere from 3-6 cans a day, it was actually pretty ridiculous. Now I just drink water or milk when I feel like it but I log everything. I feel like this is a big step for me so that's what I'm focusing on right now for the first 30 days. After I feel like I'm confident in my soda intake and I don't have to think about not drinking it, I'll move on to another area to focus on. I'm just doing baby steps at a time. No deadlines. I'm focusing on the inside and how I feel and the outside will follow. I have never, ever been able to see weight loss this way, I was always a "all or nothing" kind of person but that hasn't gotten me anywhere in the last few years so I'm taking it slow. I seen a quote that really stuck to me... "workout because you love your body, not because you hate it". I think if you're doing it for the wrong reasons (like I was all those previous times before) then it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Nothing is impossible. Maybe you won't lose that much, now, but any loss is a good start and a success to be celebrated with a non-food reward. Lifestyle changes and healthy habits are also to be commended. For example, having some fruit topped with a little light whipped topping for a bit of sweetness instead of a slice of cake. Swapping one thing for another can help. Make healthy swaps wherever you can as consistently as possible, while still indulging, within limits, every now and then. Enjoy the process and find some sort of fun exercise.

The worst thing you can do is nothing... The second worst thing you can do is whatever you think you 'should' be doing but don't really want to do! I decided I was only going to do what I liked, no matter how long it took. I did not set weight or time goals or deadlines. Instead I set up 10-week sessions. I had been inactive and out of shape for about ten years so I calendared one ten-week session for every year of sloth & inattention. I found MFP & it just reinforced my inclinations. Eat clean?... Nice but not necessary! Spot tone (my former bane)?... Myth! Juice cleanse? Just nope!!! Hahaha. The first session I simply tracked a calorie deficit and walked. I liked it. The second session I got interested in macros and noticed I feel better with a little bit more protein than I had been eating and a little less sugar (that's just me, listening to my own body, not recommending anything to you). Now I'm in the third session & im giving yoga a try, and doing a big hiking challenge. I have averaged about one pound a week weight loss. Sometimes it picks up steam & looks like 1.3 or 1.4 a week but then a little plateau will come along and cut that number. At the holidays I ate at maintenance & for the first time in my life really understood what that meant! And I didn't gain but enjoyed the break immensely.
Stop kicking yourself NOW. Treat your sweet self & your body like the fascinating travel companions they are on this long strange journey we call life. Do the things that pleasure, delight & entertain your travel companions and they will reward you with health and happiness. XoL

Here are some posts you might find helpful.
Definitely read sexypants.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10012907/logging-accuracy-consistency-and-youre-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819925/the-basics-dont-complicate-it/p1

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/872212/youre-probably-eating-more-than-you-think/p1

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/833026/important-posts-to-read/p1


"Most weight loss occurs because of decreased caloric intake.
However, evidence shows the only way to maintain weight loss is to be engaged in regular physical activity."
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/physical_activity/index.html


Goal setting, including weight, calories, and macros
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MKEgal/view/2014-06-08-setting-goals-667045

Motivation & encouragement (explained in blog post)
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MKEgal/view/2014-07-24-motivation-encouragement-680938

- Set small intermediate goals & celebrate every one.
- Take measurements.
- Take pictures.
- Weigh yourself regularly.
- Be flexible; forgive yourself.
- Celebrate the non-scale victories (NSV's)
- Don't give up!!!!
- Don't make any food forbidden.
- Eat real food; less processed is better.

Starting small works well for a lot of people. It's ok to start small and build on your small successes. Large goals are made up of many smaller ones, so breaking your goal down into smaller steps will help you keep on going. What I did was log everything for a couple of weeks to see what patterns there were. Then, I started making one change at a time, giving myself time to get used to that change before another one. Yes, it's slow! But here at the end, I'm confident that I'll be able to keep the weight off, which is worth it!

As for motivation, that has to come from you. You have to take a good, honest look at why YOU want to lose weight. And it doesn't have to be 'to get healthy'. That wasn't mine. I knew I needed to lose weight, my doctor told me to lose weight, but it wasn't until I got my wedding pictures back that I found the motivation to do so. I look fat in those pictures, and I didn't want that. That was my motivation for losing weight, and it worked. So find your OWN motivation, not what you think it should be or what others tell you it should be. That's how you'll keep on the track. You'll pause along the way, and sometimes you'll wander off to the side a bit, but as long as you come back to that track and keep going, you'll get there.

Passionately_Positive wrote: »

Me in February 2015 (372 lbs)



Me in November 2015 (155 lbs later)


Good Luck. You can do anything if you want it bad enough. You have complete control of your destination and the path you choose to get there. No excuses - pure beast mode. You can't dip your toes in the water when it comes to losing weight. Either jump all in and take the plunge for the results you want. Or stay and watch from the shoreline. It really is that simple. Go all in or you are wasting your time. Said with love!! xoxo


Sorry about the "graphic photos" but it is what it is.

Passionately positive, this really inspired me. Thank you for your post!

Ive lost almost 100 pounds...Visalus was what kick started me...its a protein shake you use as a meal replacement and it helps curb all your cravings and appetite, you buy it on line...

Honey, you CAN do hard things! I went from 410 pounds to 135 pounds for a total weight loss of 275 pounds!!

dliv90 wrote: »

I am new here, but I would say this. Forget about being motivated....and forget about having goals. Totally punt on willpower. Just do this one thing: Honestly and accurately log what you eat.

Don't try and be a better person, don't try and be super healthy, super sexy --- or whatever. Don't go hungry, don't ever trust in willpower to help. Just log what you eat -- everything -- every...little....thing.

That's what I did, and looking at the logs after a week I was amazed at how much crap I ate that was high in calories that I didn't even really enjoy! Find something in the logs that you don't like much and can do without.

Then find something in the logs that's kind of healthy and that you really enjoy -- and have more of it. Little by little, step by step, you can adopt better habits that will last for the rest of your life because it won't require pain or suffering or sacrifice. The pounds will come off as a side effect of these better habits that start with what you buy at the grocery store.

#TRUTH

It's not until you log honestly and accurately that you realize just HOW MUCH calories you're taking in. I didn't think I was that bad until I logged for a week, and that was before I got a food scale! I started swapping out some things, like drinking unsweet tea with Equal instead of soda *which cuts 200+ calories out of each meal with one change!*, and slowly started working on relearning what portion sizes actually were instead of just eating what I pull out or put on my plate. Took me 3 years *well, 2 if you don't count the 6 months and two moves where I wasn't paying attention!* to lose 50 pounds, and I feel much more confident about my ability to KEEP it off now. ^_^

I didn't lose the weight with exercise, though I'm trying to add walking back in as it's good for getting my asthma under control. Exercise is good if you can do it, but it's not necessary to losing weight. Weight loss happens in the kitchen, exercise just helps you balance your body and keeps it in better working order.

To all of the above advice I'll add that my motivation is at an all time low, after 7 months of diligence. Have I gained weight? No. Am I committed to continuing the journey? Yes. Do I want to weigh what I weighed 7 months ago? Hell no! Do I still work out every morning and log every bite? Yes, because those are the habits I've set in place over the past 7 months. Do I feel motivated? Not at all. But this will pass.

Motivation comes and goes in life. Make a commitment to your health and your future, ignore the little voice in your head, and- just do it, one step at a time.