How to get started? Fed up of being like this :(

Consistency is the only advice I have really. It's either be consistent or fluctuate and keep on starting and keep on starting and keep on starting.

And repeating the start takes way more out of you than just developing the good habits and getting on with it.

You might get fed up of looking after yourself and being consistent, but you're fed up already Might as well be fed up and and start feeling physically better and looking badass!

Just make the decision to start and stick with it.

You've done a degree! You're obviously able to commit to working towards an end goal, give yourself some credit, petal. Just now there's a new goal.

GET ON IT PAL GET IT DOOOONEEEE!

Hi Lucy,
(first of all excuse my english, its not my native language)
Good to see you here and probably a good decision to ask here for motivation
Im pretty sure you will get lots of tips here within the forums.
Without knowing more details about your daily life it will be hard to make them more personal though.
Anyway, here are the Basics imo (and sorry, you might know them all but sometimes ist good to read them again):

- Make sure you know your energy balance, finally all comes down to "eat less calories then you burn", its as simple as that. Use one of the calculators once and you have the data.
- To make this work you will have to note every single bit of calorie you eat, at least in the beginning but hey thtas the reason you have mfp
- and now for the special smartass-tip loosing weight without moving / making fitness/sport will probably not work...
- try to find food that is healthy AND you like it. That sounds easier as it is maybe but usually there ARE such tiny valuable products out there where you dont have to restrict yourself too much
- community and friends might help, both online and offline (you can add me if you like - or others for motivation purpose). Also sport works better when done in "herds"
- replace "simple" food like white bread and normal noodles etc with whole grain variants, not less calories but alot longer satiety (is that word correct ... no idea, sorry, my excuses)
- try to no more eat too late, if you get hungry late in the afternoon, try not to grab the chips and gummy bears, better a carrot (which i admit i do not myself ) or if you must, there are other alternatives, even a bit of cheese is better. I personally have good experience with restricting carbs on evenings

This was for sure a lot of text and not all is easy to follow, especially in the beginning. I myself for example take a (both physical mental) jouney every day to my wifi scale. I know it might be better to do that only in weekly turns but... ist sooo tempting...
There are a lot of good starts in a day doing this but there are those days... it simply does not result in weight loss every single day, which is natural. Last smartass phrase: loosing weight is a long term process ... never heard that i bet

But to end this with at least some kind of motivation: im down from 236lbs to 202lbs in ... lets say clearly less than 3 months. Details if you want.

Enough for now, you will get LOTS of other tips here.
Good Luck and confidence on your new journey, we re all here to help

Hi!

I've had the same thing, until I was fed up with it, too, 6 months ago.
Consistency really is key.. Had a bad day? Never mind, tomorrow is another one. I don't try to compensate for bad days (because then you quickly become extreme in eating too much, trying to compensate by eating too little or work out much harder, which leaves you drained with no energy to cope the next day with healthy food and a normal workoutregime).
So I just do my best everyday and if something goes "wrong", no biggie, I just jump right back on track.

I compare it with a walk of adventure towards something really beautiful. Sometimes I fall, but then I get up again and start walking again. Some people start running after a fall, because they want to make up for "lost time". But it'll get you tired way sooner than just keeping your steady pace

Being "fed up" with how I looked was my motivation. I started by logging what I ate. Being honest when I logged stuff and actually ending up horrified by how much I was actually eating. Then I started eating less. Not necessarily differently (at least not to start with) once I felt I had more control over my portioning I started to change the foods I ate. Gradually it all started to come together and now it has become a habit to just log on and log what I eat. After a few weeks of logging & diet change I then started to add exercise into the mix. First just Cardio and more recently bodyweight exercises. I'm now over 4 months into it and I honestly say that I have to force myself to have a rest day.

I would start by going to the success page for motivation, if you can find the thread about unintended/unexpected results of losing weight, it's particularly good.

Then I would clean out the cupboards and go grocery shopping. Choose foods you like but try to pick as many veg as possible as they are a great way to add volume to a meal without too any calories. Also buy yourself a treat that you enjoy but isn't too crazy on the calories (think dark chocolate or skinny cow ice cream in single servings) I think knowing that you have a treat coming at the end of the day makes it possible to resist the rest of the time.

If you have foods that tip you off towards binging (can't eat a small number of chips or eat a whole tub of ice cream) throw them out for a while until you've got yourself under control.

Watch your salt, it makes you remain water and water looks and feels a whole lot like fat (luckily it goes away a whole lot easier though).

Exercising gets you more calories if you are feeling extra hungry, and a long walk is good when you're not motivated enough for an intense workout.

Read the boards...it helps to know other people are in the same boat as you, and even that you can help too.

Good luck

Determination and consistency. Motivation doesn't really matter because there are gonna be bad days and days you just don't feel like counting calories or being active. That's where the determination and consistency come in. Remember that feelings are temporary and if it's really important to you you gotta think of the end goal. I used to start and stop all the time for a couple years actually. Since February I finally got fed up with doing this half heartedly and decided to just do it. I've lost 13 pounds so far and have less then ten to go. On the bad days don't beat yourself up and if you over indulge start over the very next day and remember it's more about a weekly deficit then a daily one so if you go over one day and eat a little less the next it will all even out. No need to give up and say screw it and just quit. Remember why your doing it and how great your gonna feel when you reach your goals. one last thing DO NOT DEPRIVE YOURSELF OF THINGS YOU ENJOY. Main reason I quit so many times before was becuase I was trying to "eat clean" and then I'd end up getting fed up or had bad cravings and would quit. Losing weight is all CICO so if you really want a candy bar, eat it and log it and make it fit in your calories. Your still gonna lose weight. Goes for any kinds of foods. You can always make them work either by logging it and planning around the food or just having half a serving or less of it. You got this! You can do it! And were all here to support you.