Long-term motivation tips needed

My long term tip - forget motivation. I posted this blog a while back:

Motivation is a fickle, changeable thing which can be fleeting, easily misdirected or lost. It means being enthusiastic and positively wanting to do something, which is great while it lasts, but what about when it goes? All you have to do is look around MFP to see how people struggle with a loss of motivation.

I'm past relying on motivation. I'm not motivated, I'm committed... I'm determined... but most of all I'm resigned. I'm not excited and well keen to get heathy, I HAVE to do it. I NEED to do it. It isn't a pass-time I can pick up and drop at will.

I'm not "motivated" to go to work in the morning. I do it because I have bills to pay, things I want to buy, a household to feed, a car to run and a lifestyle to sustain.

I'm not "motivated" to clean my house. I do it because I have a level of comfort to maintain, a desire to not live in dirty surroundings, a level of health I wish to keep up.

I don't clean the poop out of my cats litter tray because I'm "motivated". I do it because it stinks and is gross.

I don't make good choices with my food and haul my *kitten* out to go running because I'm "motivated". I do it because I have physical pain I want to lessen and/or avoid, a lifestyle I wish to attain/maintain, a level of health I want to keep up, and a desire not to live in substandard surroundings - in this case an unhealthy body.

I have been "dieting" for 18 years. I have joined Weight Watchers more than 12 times. I've done shake diets, I've counted calories and I considered a lapband. I have "fallen off the wagon" because I "lost motivation" more times than I can count.

Now this time, it's different. Sure, a lot of the time I'm motivated. But a hell of a lot of the time, I'm not. But I'm committed and resigned to the fact that unless I want my body to be unhealthy, miserable, unattractive and broken, I have to do this. Same way as I have to go to work when I can't be bothered, or have to clean my house when I'd rather sit on the couch in my jimjams.

This isn't optional any more. I've put it in the necessity basket. I'm not doing it because I want to - I'm doing it because I have to.

This has been about making this my new "normal". For so long, there was "normal" and there was "dieting". Now sensible choices have to be normal, and the splurges are the anomalies. So there's no needing to get back on the wagon, it's just going back to normal. I think that's what I never got when people said it was a 'lifestyle change'. It's kind of like when I quit smoking. For the longest time I was a smoker who had quit. Then eventually, slowly, I was a non-smoker. This kind of feels like that.

Alatariel75 wrote: »

My long term tip - forget motivation. I posted this blog a while back:

Motivation is a fickle, changeable thing which can be fleeting, easily misdirected or lost. It means being enthusiastic and positively wanting to do something, which is great while it lasts, but what about when it goes? All you have to do is look around MFP to see how people struggle with a loss of motivation.

I'm past relying on motivation. I'm not motivated, I'm committed... I'm determined... but most of all I'm resigned. I'm not excited and well keen to get heathy, I HAVE to do it. I NEED to do it. It isn't a pass-time I can pick up and drop at will.

I'm not "motivated" to go to work in the morning. I do it because I have bills to pay, things I want to buy, a household to feed, a car to run and a lifestyle to sustain.

I'm not "motivated" to clean my house. I do it because I have a level of comfort to maintain, a desire to not live in dirty surroundings, a level of health I wish to keep up.

I don't clean the poop out of my cats litter tray because I'm "motivated". I do it because it stinks and is gross.

I don't make good choices with my food and haul my *kitten* out to go running because I'm "motivated". I do it because I have physical pain I want to lessen and/or avoid, a lifestyle I wish to attain/maintain, a level of health I want to keep up, and a desire not to live in substandard surroundings - in this case an unhealthy body.

I have been "dieting" for 18 years. I have joined Weight Watchers more than 12 times. I've done shake diets, I've counted calories and I considered a lapband. I have "fallen off the wagon" because I "lost motivation" more times than I can count.

Now this time, it's different. Sure, a lot of the time I'm motivated. But a hell of a lot of the time, I'm not. But I'm committed and resigned to the fact that unless I want my body to be unhealthy, miserable, unattractive and broken, I have to do this. Same way as I have to go to work when I can't be bothered, or have to clean my house when I'd rather sit on the couch in my jimjams.

This isn't optional any more. I've put it in the necessity basket. I'm not doing it because I want to - I'm doing it because I have to.

This has been about making this my new "normal". For so long, there was "normal" and there was "dieting". Now sensible choices have to be normal, and the splurges are the anomalies. So there's no needing to get back on the wagon, it's just going back to normal. I think that's what I never got when people said it was a 'lifestyle change'. It's kind of like when I quit smoking. For the longest time I was a smoker who had quit. Then eventually, slowly, I was a non-smoker. This kind of feels like that.

Hear, hear!

And, as one of the older ones here, the longer you are on this earth, the more non-optional it becomes. Getting up from the floor becomes more difficult each decade that passes. And they pass fast. Your annual check-up becomes a run of tests and appointments, and they are not optional. Whatever your age, folks, do it now. Not because you have an important date coming up, not because you want to look good at the beach or at the gym, do it for your current and future health. You do not get a 'do over'. Take care of your joints, your diet, your strength, your mental and physical health and the rest gets easier. You, and a life with years of living in it, that is your motivation.

What has helped me is to have mini goals. Last year, starting out, knowing that I had to lose almost 95 lbs seemed overwhelming. Motivation only lasts for so long. I decided to reward myself when I reached mini goals of 10% weight loss. I'm just over a pound away from my 3rd mini goal and have lost almost 65 lbs in just over a year. Consistency is the key.

The other thing that has helped me is remembering one bad choice isn't going to derail my weigh loss. It's how I react to that bad choice. I may have a meal or a day when I go over calories. Oh well, it's life. Before, I'd say "screw it, I'll start again Monday or next month or whenever" and it gave me an excuse to not care. Now I say, "okay next meal will be better or tomorrow I'll not go over". In the 13 months of my weight loss, I've only had 7 weeks that I gained weight and not two weeks in a row. I knew why I gained and what I needed to do to fix it.

Lastly, I'll say don't deprive yourself. Too often we feel that we can't have something, it's "bad" or "tempting" or whatever wording you want to use. Today I had chocolate cake and pizza. I ate it, I enjoyed it, I'm not worried about it. Staying within your calories is key. Some days the chocolate cake isn't worth the calories, some days it is. This isn't about what you can do in the short term to lose weight, it's what you can do forever to enjoy the foods you want to enjoy and lose and/or maintain your weight (depending on your goals at the time.)

I feel like motivation is more of an emotion or feeling, but commitment is an action. To commit to a goal is to see it through, to be motivated to start is only the very first step. You don't need motivation, you need commitment and dedication to a specific goal.

That's the way it's a lifestyle change I love my training sessions am in the gym everyday before work and I swim every other day to mix it up. You know the saying no pain no gain it's very true indeed