HELP

Think about what it was that motivated you to begin with. For me, it's my husband and my kids--if I lose the weight I'll be around a lot longer and hopefully diabetes-free. There are a lot of people here to motivate and support me in my journey too. Do you have any kind of support network, either from family or friends, or here on MFP? You can always add me if you'd like! I will help in any way I can! You can do this!

Boy, I hear that. Motivation really is "all in our heads", and it can definitely ebb and flow. I've been where you are a bit more than I'd like recently myself. So let's motivate each other by thinking about this sort of stuff.

You've invested some bucks along the way, right? I'm about to, with a gym membership. Let's agree that we're NOT gonna waste our money; we've worked way too hard for it. Deal?

Next, are you exercising at all? If not, go do it. Now. Or first thing tomorrow. Work hard ... and remember that insanely great feeling that comes with knowing you've just done something really healthy for yourself.

Next, refuse to accept failure. I've had a few myself lately , and I don't like the way it makes me feel at all. But I'm not gonna beat myself up about it; I'm going to learn from it. My biggest lesson so far: anticipation is way, way different from reality. I invariably discover that indulging something I really want (but isn't good for me) is NEVER as satisfying as I think it's gonna be. Likewise, when I dread the thought of exercising, actually doing is it NEVER as bad as I thought it'd be. Know what I mean? Anticipation can really skew things. So stay the course.

Remember that indulging in something you want but shouldn't have will make you feel terrific for, like, 5 minutes. Changing lifelong habits for the better will make you feel good for the rest of your life.

Finally, don't give in to apathy. We're better than that, and stronger than that, and we can and will win this thing. We're changing our lives for the better ... and who deserves it more?

Want another friend along for the journey? Feel free to friend me, if you want. Forward we go!

Can you take the motivation out of the situation? I've been changing since December. I'm still waiting for the motivation in a lot of ways. What works for me is not waiting for the motivation but just accepting that this is what I need to do. Exercise programs that tell you when you need to do something work for me. They have a schedule and that is what I have to do that day. Its like work -- I'm not always motivated to go there but work needs to be done. It is an unmoveable.

Like work, it is good to have a fixed time to do something. So exercise is done at a certain time -- in the morning before I wake up and become awake enough to protest (I have my stuff ready the night before and in the bathroom for after I've done my morning necessaries). I walk at lunch with friends for 2 or 3 miles. We keep each other going at work and at lunch is some time I make sure I take for this. Besides, I am more awake for work

As for food, I just accept that my calorie limit is how much I have to eat. Maintainance calories are my ultimate limit. That is it. If I want to lose weight I have to be lower than that. So I need to accept that. I can want it to be different but really it is a fixed thing.

I have had to accept that I'm not good at portion control and that I need to figure it out. This site is helping me do that. I have to accept that if I want to be healthy I have to eat less, then eat better and then keep it up.

Try not to do too much at once. It is overwhelming. There is nothing wrong with just doing walking for 30 minutes each day and watching how many calories you eat. It is good. It is healthy and consistency is the key. Do what you can sustain. You can eat better later. You can exercise more later. It is better to just tackle your calorie intake and stick with it. I started out doing that for the first 2.5 months. Then I added exercise. I'm still struggling to get the exercise in (5 months down the road). I'm not eating as well as I could but I'm going to work on that in a while. I've only been doing this since December last year. I haven't had the time to do everything yet.

Bite off what you can chew. Be consistent about one thing first and then add something else. Keep them sustainable. Give your self fixed times. Forget about being motivated for it. As Nike says -- "Just Do It". Motivation will come when you get in a smaller size and then will disappear when you have a crisis that you need to deal with. Just do it. Have a minimum level that you will not drop below -- no matter what.

Best of luck. You can do this. If you can be a single parent, you can do anything.