How do you keep it going when motivation and enthusiasm dips?

Momoyafah
Momoyafah Posts: 29 Member
edited November 18 in Motivation and Support
I assume that I am not alone in that my motivation and enthusiasm for my workout and food routine rises and falls, typically throughout a given month. Some weeks, I'm almost religious about sticking to my goals, and others its a miracle I can meet my goals more than once a week. How do you deal with dips and falls in motivation? What do you do to keep it going?

Replies

  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    I just keep going. You still have to eat, log your intake. Make a habit of logging, good or bad.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited May 2017
    On the exercise front, I primarily cycle...I love to ride and a day without a ride just seems empty...not too much motivation needed there...so in that regard, you may need to think outside the box...do an activity you enjoy that is active and then it doesn't seem like a chore. I would friggin' want to die if I was relegated to cardio equipment in the gym or jumping around my living room to some DVD...don't like those things so I don't do them.

    Food wise, I eat pretty healthy...I enjoy healthy eating and I cook like a boss...my healthy meals are not only nutritious, but delicious. What are you doing food wise? I ask because many people have a very myopic view of healthy eating and think they just need to sit there eating salads and plain chicken breasts or they have to cut out anything that is remotely tasty...that's simply not the case.

    I also have do things like "treat" myself to pizza on most Friday evenings...but Friday is pretty much it...or going out with my boys every so often for ice creams...it's not an everyday thing, just a little something to look forward to and gives me some good quality time with my boys...stuff like that.

    It doesn't have to be this 100% all or nothing proposition and I think that's where a lot of people get hung up. The notion that you're going to be "perfect" is simply not a realistic one. I always try to look at the bigger picture of what's going on...what am I doing most of the time? Because what I'm doing most of the time is what actually matters.

    Now, I must go and get ready for a kid birthday party and eat cake...
  • Geocitiesuser
    Geocitiesuser Posts: 1,429 Member
    My fitness routine is ingrained in my daily routine. I can't escape it :) A lot of my exercise comes from Taekwondo, so I find it's easy to keep momentum when I am constantly practicing. If you're not already I really recommend some sort of group class or activity, because then exercise becomes fun, and exercise has a way of keeping your mood elevated and on track.
  • Momoyafah
    Momoyafah Posts: 29 Member
    Ok real talk. We all make great plans and do all the things were "supposed to" What about the emotional inspiration side? How do you keep slogging through when enthusiasm or give-a-shitness is low? Like when the week is tough and you're extra tired, or feel like youve made some progress and want to just enjoy without rules? How do you get your head back in the game?
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1346163/change-your-mindset
  • MaryIM
    MaryIM Posts: 159 Member
    Followed the link and read the post -- very inspiring!
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    lrzr72v5uvuk.jpg
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,262 Member
    Well I gave all my large sizes to charity there is no going back
    I hate exercising and miss eating unnecessarily large amounts of food but I don't want to be obese ever again
    So I snap out of it quickly and carry on
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Momoyafah wrote: »
    I assume that I am not alone in that my motivation and enthusiasm for my workout and food routine rises and falls, typically throughout a given month. Some weeks, I'm almost religious about sticking to my goals, and others its a miracle I can meet my goals more than once a week. How do you deal with dips and falls in motivation? What do you do to keep it going?

    You just keep doing what's got to be done... like paying bills and brushing your teeth... not always fun but very necessary!
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    edited May 2017
    Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »
    I just keep going. You still have to eat, log your intake. Make a habit of logging, good or bad.

    Pretty much this. I've made everything I do a habit. Habits keep you going when motivation fails you.

    In the beginning, I conscientiously set out to do what I was doing in certain pattern on a certain schedule for a month because I knew that by the end of the month, if I had stuck with it, I'd have formed a habit.

    I was right.
  • Geocitiesuser
    Geocitiesuser Posts: 1,429 Member
    Momoyafah wrote: »
    Ok real talk. We all make great plans and do all the things were "supposed to" What about the emotional inspiration side? How do you keep slogging through when enthusiasm or give-a-shitness is low? Like when the week is tough and you're extra tired, or feel like youve made some progress and want to just enjoy without rules? How do you get your head back in the game?

    LOL I am a complete mess, but that's why, as stated, my fitness routine is something I just "do". Everyone approaches this differently, but a large part of it is *mindset*. In that sense, I see it as a responsibility to myself to eat healthy and exercise. There are MANY days where I am so stressed out/depressed/whatever that I feel like I'm 3 feet from jumping off a building, but that is completely SEPARATE from fitness and health, in the sense that I go to the gym and count my calories as regularly as I brush my teeth in the morning. It's not something I think about, it's not even always something I look forward to. I just "do it". It's a responsibility.

    So when the excitement fades, that's all good and fine, I'm still going to the gym. I'm still eating the same amount of lunch. They aren't really optional the same way showering isn't optional. It is a personal responsibility that gets done.

    TLDR like everyone else said: Habits.
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