Those who have lost a significant amount of weight, how did you stay motivated for the long haul?

kimothy38 · November 2017

I ended up having a session with my trainer on my birthday last week. I wasn't happy about it because it was my birthday dang it and I didn't want to go to the gym on my birthday. It was the only session I could get though so I agreed to it. OMG I was so happy though as I finally achieved goal #2 to back squat 100kg. Yusss! I even did a wee victory dance.

As a friend pointed out, I've started my 45th year as I mean to carry on. So true, I hadn't thought of it like that. My heart was telling me 'it's your birthday so don't do anything that requires too much effort, take the day off from the gym' but fortunately I didn't listen. So it boils down to habit doesn't it. When motivation has up and left, what you're left with are habits. Achieving my goal was the best present ever.

annagashi · November 2017

I was on the same boat as you- till I approached my friend a provider in Stanford hospital in Cali. She introduced me to an awesome dense nutrition that I use to replace one meal a day. Lost 16lbs in 2 months! now that I have all the energy I do 80% nutrition and 20%exercise. and I feel great and love the results.

laurenebargar · November 2017

I'm still losing weight but I just find that every day im excited to see if theres a change, or if theres something new I can do.

Fitting into new clothes and having people notice keeps me motivated, so do NSV like being able to do a hike I wasnt able to without thinking I was dying 8 months ago.

I ate a little more than usual this past weekend and didnt track as much as I should and I cant tell you how great it felt to get back on track today. It was a special occasion (I got into a school I had been hoping to and my husband had his birthday and started applying to medical schools) but its amazing how different my life and choices were at the beginning of 2017 and at the end.

twinkles4 · November 2017

I keep thinking about my Dad. He played hockey and soccer. He was a distance runner and enjoyed rollerblading. You would never believe he was in his 60's by how young and vibrant he looked. Injuries and illness have completely destroyed that. He would give anything to be able do these things again.

So, I keep on track, if it's a workout day, then I workout. Because I am literally grateful af that I can.

tess5036 · November 2017

I have lost 75+ lbs, but am not always motivated. I have developed good habits, which are now second nature to me. Even if I'm not motivated it doesn't matter as my habits keep me on track, at worst I go to maintance levels.

JasonMcS · November 2017

I am working on 38 pounds. I have only been here for 81 days or so my streak says. I wondered the same thing several times. Why will this time be any different than the last time? What will keep me from giving up and going back? I gave myself 2 answers.
1) I am really enjoying this! I like being able to fit clothes better. I like watching that scale falling. It feels GOOD to see those small goals and progress toward the big ones. I am smaller than I have been in 15 years or longer. I just like this better than feeling miserable after trying to eat half a chocolate cake. I love it!

2) If I fail I fail. So what (not that I want to). If I decide to go back to eating everything I see tomorrow It still don't take away the fun I am having today. I am doing this for me because I want to. I want to. I always plan for failure and it always looms over my head. Not this time, not this battle. If it happens that I forget the things I have learned and start gaining again, I will still have had the fun of killing these goals and hitting these personal bests that I keep hitting. This is my journey, for me. The experience will pull me back if I fall off because it feels so good to loose.

I say to have a blast doing this for you. That is my plan! I know you said you wanted input from folks that have been successful but I couldn't help jumping in. Enjoy your journey!

ruqayyahsmum · November 2017

I'm down 153lb currently after a little regain
I keep going because I don't want to go back to being 387lb and barely able to move
I deserve better than that and so do my family

JoLightensUp · November 2017

I love this thread. I'm still losing (and only a moderate amount) so I'm no expert, but one thing I am noticing is that good habits can be just as powerful as bad ones. We often focus on how hard it is to break a bad habit, but I feel uncomfortable when my good habits don't go to plan as well.

Just an example: Wednesday night is my swimming night. I am in such a routine that it annoyed me when I was running late for it the other week and had to cut my session short. That's when I realised my new habit had stuck and had power. It would have taken more energy for me to decide not to go. I'm just trying to gradually add good habits bit by bit.

And I love the mindset suggested by @VintageFeline of not having an endpoint.

Stationagentjules · November 2017

Down 100+ lbs so far. I have a fear that the same motivating switch that turned on when I started making significant changes will suddenly turn off again at any moment. It's happened before with various hobbies, and sometimes losing weight feels like a hobby too. For me, that's a dangerous way of viewing it. Hobbies can be picked up and set aside at any time. Weight/obesity management needs to be different and permanent. So I remind myself that fitness and calorie control isn't temporary and can't just be dropped when it's tedious.

I do what some others do to stay on track. I set up my environment to minimize choice. The less I need to test my undependable willpower, the better. So, When I wake up, my workout clothes are ready, and I'm out the door as quickly as possible. I don't let myself choose each day whether to exercise or not, I just go because that's what I need to do. No daily decision required.

Food is harder. I have mental tricks and roadblocks set up to help take away the decision process of what to eat or not eat. For example: Make the hard choices at the grocery store not the kitchen pantry. Don't keep high calorie snacks laying around. Eat only at the dining table. weigh measure track, don't watch pizza commercials. whatever helps. you know, tricks and roadblocks. Minimize the need for constant food decisions. Minimize the need for motivation.

I make lots of mistakes, and have yet to reach the maintenance stage. Those who've mastered maintenance are absolute rock stars! If they offer advice, listen.

kq1981 · November 2017

Love this thread. 14.5kg lost so far. For me it's laziness not lack of motivation. Motivation is fleeting I get lazy. I have had a few weeks recently where I've not been honest logging and that's ok. I won't put on all those kg lost. No way. I've worked to hard. I no I can do it, I'm committed to doing it and all the small things are so worth the journey. Painting my toenails and shaving my legs with ease, seeing collar bones, having the towel actually wrap around me! I chose not to be lazy any more. It's about choices for me too. I chose not to be fat anymore and do something about it. Good luck

jasummers76 · November 2017

For me I was tired of feeling bad both physically and mentally. I was not comfortable going out with the family, missed kids school events because I didn't want them to be teased for having a fat dad. The list of why's can go on an on...

Now that I have lost over 100 still have more to go. But it isn't a race anymore for me. It is coming off and will continue to. I no longer allow a burger or a chocolate to throw me into a spiral of "all is lost" I just log it and move on. Thinking I will never indulge in fast/unhealthy food is a joke.

I have a completely different outlook on life/eating then I did during my yo-yo dieting days. I am much happier eating everything I want just not as often or as much. The health benefits are great, but I am a happier person on the inside that is what counts the most. I have sagging skin on my stomach, maybe one day I will address that but who knows if not I am and will be a happier person with some sagging skin then a person embarrassed to leave the house. I am not going to let food control me, watch ideally by as my children's lives go by with me in the shadows.

LAWoman72 · November 2017

60 lbs. down here and I am taking a diet break (maintenance) because yes, my motivation is dwindling. We need to remind our psyches and our bodies that life is not all looooong march of months and months of eating below maintenance. Just a suggestion.

hale03071 · November 2017

Its not motivation at all, its a lifestyle and habit change. Its not easy, but once you retrain your brain that eating a certain is "normal", it becomes much easier.

Mr_Knight · November 2017

breefoshee wrote: »

So what were the things that helped you to keep going? How did you set your short-term goals?

I don't manage weight to hit a number - I hit a weight number so I can do something I otherwise wouldn't.

IE - weight loss isn't the goal - weight loss is what I need to do to reach the *actual* goal.

tomteboda · November 2017

Taking care of my body used to be my very last priority. Faith. Family. Work. Community... these things all were far, far ahead of spending time or energy on myself. And then I had a major reality check. Its impossible to take care of all these responsibilities if my body falls apart.

My mom reached 525+ lbs. She had four strokes. She suffers from charcot fractures in both her feet. She has lymphedema that makes her feet and legs swell up so much like water balloons the skin bursts. She gets constant infections; yeast and bacterial. She can't toilet herself. She can't sit or lay comfortably at all, and she can't stand unassisted, and forget walking entirely. She suffers from heart palpitations that leave her gasping for air as her heart is enlarged to more than 4x the size of a human heart. Her blood sugar being out of control has destroyed her kidneys. She has a prolapsed bladder, and she's almost entirely blind. She's 61.

Not all of her problems are caused by weight. Many of her problems have roots into bad genetics, bad health care, and just plain bad luck. But ALL of them are made more challenging because she got so heavy.

I don't want to be my mom. You don't want to be my mom. Nobody wants to be my mom, not even my mom.

So one day I stood on a scale, and honestly looked at the number and said "wow. This is really getting out of control. I'm headed down the same awful path. I can't do this. I can't let this be me." And I realized that yes, my weight was affecting my health and my stamina and my ability to be the person I want to be and do the things I want to do. My weight was officially A PROBLEM, and I finally recognized it.

And that was that. 3 years and 115 lbs later I'm no less aware of just what a terrible toll having a lot of excess weight did to me, or does to my mom and anyone else. If anything, I'm more aware. I'm aware of how much easier it is for me to move and to do things and live and just be. Walking and eating with a conscious maintenance goal is the price of life being much, much easier, and my odds of being miserable and making others miserable are so much lower. Even if I do become completely disabled, my care will be tremendously easier that it would've been and that alone makes it important.

Taking care of my body is important, because it is my responsibility that must be fulfilled to meet my other responsibilities and desires. And I guess that's a motivation that just isn't going to dissipate as long as I've not given up on life.

p.s.
Mom is down to 300 lbs now from 525. She's going for 200. My only regret is that we didn't recognize how important maintaining physical well-being was many, many years ago.

SeikoMonster · November 2017

I'm right at 300 pound lost so far (205 this year alone).
The only motivation I have needed is remembering that I am doing it for myself and noone else.
Going from a 6xl t-shirt to a large in a year is pretty dang cool too! Or from size 70 pants to 40....

mgotto1997 · November 2017

This was a great feed to read. Thank you for all who shared. I’m 51 down and the support and MGP friends I have met. Wonderful network of folks here! ❤️

firef1y72 · November 2017

This time around I've been working on getting healthy for just over 2 years, losing just under half of my bodyweight (142lb) and gaining a lot more. When I started the numbers were just so high that I was over awed, so I set myself lots of little targets. And by resetting those little targets as I hit them along with not demonising any food and ensuring I only had a moderate deficit (I've very rarely dropped below 2000 Calories) I've managed to stay motivated.

Right now I'm coming to the end of a maintenance break and most of my targets are fitness/strength based, but in the new year I'm going to work on losing the last 12lb or so to get in to "normal" BMI. This 4 month break from actually losing weight has been brilliant, not only to help motivate me in my goals both now and for the new year but also to help me learn to eat at maintenance (I'm extremely active so I get to eat a lot).

93pear93 · November 2017

It's lifestyle I would say, not motivation.
Once you work out on your habits, diet, workouts just keep going, why would you stop ?

rheddmobile · November 2017

108 lbs in a year. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I disagree with others here about motivation versus discipline. I have no discipline. I have no ability to form good habits. I've been going to the gym regularly for months now and if I could, I would stop tomorrow and never look back. I hate running and do it three times a week. I whine every day.

My motivation, on the other hand, keeps me going even when I feel like deep fried dog turd. I don't want to go blind or lose the sensation in my feet due to diabetes. Being temporarily unable to drive or read because of bad vision made me very aware of what will happen if I don't keep my *kitten* together.

Motivation waxes and wanes only when it's not really a good enough motivation. Most people are strongly motivated to pay their bills often enough not to get their homes repossessed. Most people are able to get up every day on not enough sleep and spend hours at a job they loathe because their children need health insurance. All over the world, grown children endure living hell to help their aging parents be cared for during their last critical illness. Not all of these people have discipline - they have motivation, something they care about strongly enough to keep working even when they would rather jump head first into a box of bees.

If you have something in your life that motivates you that strongly to lose weight, remind yourself of it.

Those who have lost a significant amount of weight, how did you stay motivated for the long haul?

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