How do you motivate yourself??

I just make sure I try my best to do better the next day. There are going to be bad and good days, how you deal with the bad ones is what matters.

I can easily throw up my hands in the air and quit, but then I won't reach my goal ever. Or I can get back on track the next day, and my goal might just be delayed by a little bit, but I will still reach it.

It's also helpful to remember that this is a change I make in my lifestyle, a permanent change, so it's not something that's going to end like a diet. That means there's plenty of time to fix mistakes.

My goal this year is to run a marathon. Like most marathon first timers, my goal is just to finish, and while I have certain hopes about times, it's all about crossing that finishing line, even if I have to slow down at times, or even walk, or even pause to catch my breath/throw up/pretend to tie my shoelaces while I wonder why this was something I wanted to do.
I see weight loss the same way. Out there, somewhere in your future, is your goal weight. It would be nice to stay on pace 100% of the time and get there as soon as possible, but the main thing is getting there. So if you have a bad day? Week? Month? As long as you don't give up, all you've lost is a bit of time. You're still on the right track, you're still going to get there.

tomteboda wrote: »

My personal trainer has a "no excuses to miss a workout" attitude.

Aww he's beautiful.

I tell myself it's okay. I screwed up - people do at times. Then calculate the extra calories and add time to my workouts to make up for them. This is a lifelong eating habit change not temporary so I also look at how o was feeling at the time; because I tend to be an emotional eater. I self medicate with food.

I am starting to feel like motivation is overrated. At this point I see exercise and eating well as necessities in my life. Like showering or wearing clothes or putting gas in the car. You gotta do what you gotta do.

When I overeat-no big deal, get back on track or-I have 7 days to fix this.
When I skip a workout-I have 7 days to fit this one in.

I think some of us who are not lifetime exercisers/moderate eaters overestimate how excited or "motivated" other people are to get in a workout or eat within their calorie limits. Diet and health advice can sometimes make this worse by implying that you to lose weight and keep it off, you need to make healthy meals "delicious" or that we need to find activities we "love." Sure, those things are great when they line up, and they can certainly help compliance, but if you get in to a mindset of only doing things you feel highly motivated to do, and only sticking with the plan for as long as you're perfect at it, you will probably stop when you hit a roadbump like something being difficult or boring or inconvenient.

jemhh wrote: »

I am starting to feel like motivation is overrated. At this point I see exercise and eating well as necessities in my life. Like showering or wearing clothes or putting gas in the car. You gotta do what you gotta do.

I love this. Moving more and eating less can't be motivated for long for most of us strictly by inherently loving them *or* by their immediate positive results. I don't (and I imagine you don't) get up in the morning and brush my teeth because it's a super fun activity, or because I get a big immediate thrill out of having clean teeth. I do it because I want to have healthy teeth in my head and tolerable breath, I want those things forever, and I'm aware that to avoid having nasty breath and rotting teeth that I have to brush my teeth consistently, forever, even though there are probably more entertaining ways to spend that two minutes.

And if for some reason I'm truly unable to brush my teeth one morning, I don't beat myself up about it- I do my best for the day by chewing some gum or grabbing a toothbrush at the drugstore to brush after lunch, and I get right back in the habit by brushing them that night. I don't ruminate on how I've failed at dental hygiene forever and I'll never be a person with clean teeth and give up on ever brushing again. And I don't delude myself that oral hygiene is a short-term thing, that I can brush my teeth a LOT for a few weeks and then not brush for months or years and hope to maintain clean teeth, or worry that a single day of imperfect flossing and brushing is going to derail my overall progress. It's a long-haul thing. I'm "motivated" by accepting that it just is what it is, and that the alternatives to brushing are having rotten teeth and other, even more painful problems. That's my motivation to keep doing it.

Likewise eating less and moving more. The alternatives to doing it are gaining weight, hating how I look and feel, and knowing that I'm at increased risk for cardiac problems and diabetes that run in my family. That's my motivation.

Moving your body around and eating an appropriate caloric intake for your size is, in that way, just like brushing your teeth. It's not a quick fix or something that I think most people do out of sheer love for the activities themselves, but because it's a necessary, forever part of maintaining a healthy body, and if you don't do it, your body will gradually break down, just like unbrushed teeth.

bisky wrote: »

How could you say no to that face! I love walking/hiking with my dogs.

Exactly!!!

You don't motivate yourself. You just keep going keep pushing and keep making the decision, the feelings come later when you see awesome results!!!

I set long and short term goals. Mostly weight lifting based but at this time of year also fat reduction for summer.
Short term works to get your workouts efficient and your calories in check/weekly and long term goals keep you going when you have troubles.