Stuggling to get motivated...

I can understand that. Motivation is so hard for me to find, as well. What's keeping me going is realizing and remembering the fact that if I hadn't given up counting and logging after 8 months, I would be at my goal weight and well into maintenance right now. Knowing that actually ticks me off. I'm using that frustration with myself to stick with it all the way this time.

RainbowCandle24 wrote: »

Last year I was trying to lose weight and I was pretty happy with my effort but in December I went on holidays and gained back a bit of it..

Now that I'm back home, I'm struggling to eat healthy again and struggling to find motivation to do excercise. I know that I want to but I find myself craving bad food or feeling lazy.. and often giving into those cravings.. and even though I've done it before I can't seem to get myself back into a better mind frame and resist the temptations.. any help? Or suggestions?

OK, your current self wants so-called "bad" food and inactivity. What does your future self want and need?

I'm now 62, and formerly obese (until age 59). I have friends my age (+/- 10 years) from my exercise activities. Most of these friends are at a healthy weight, some maybe a little overweight, but all physically active. I have other friends around my age from my sedentary arts & crafts hobbies. Many of these people are quite over weight, a fair number very obese, and nearly all are physically inactive.

Compared to the active, healthy weight people, the inactive overweight people have more chronic health conditions (high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea, etc.). They get sick more often from routine viruses and infections (colds, flu, etc.) and also serious illnesses (kidney dysfunction, cancer, etc.). They need more frequent surgeries or other intrusive major medical treatments (joint replacements, kidney/gallstones, etc.). When they have illnesses or injuries or surgeries, it takes them much longer to recover, and they experience more complications on the way. They spend more money on prescription drugs, and more time in doctors offices.

In personal lives, the inactive/obese people often need help with routine chores, like yard work, flipping the mattress, minor furniture shifting, etc. They require bigger time commitments from their children and friends to help them.

Furthermore, to the extent that I know my friends' extended families, the middle-aged (30s-50s) children of the inactive, overweight group are themselves inactive or overweight, with developing or full-blown health issues of their own. The children of the active/healthy-weight people are more likely to be active and healthy themselves. The parents' examples have shown the children what is normal adult behavior, and most follow the parents' example.

The overweight/inactive people are more constrained in what they can do for fun, too. My active friends and I do things like go to music festivals, art fairs, maker fairs, big quilt shows, museums, athletic events at big arenas, and more. In most cases, my inactive friends find that things like that require too much walking, standing, or stairs, so they don't usually do them (when they do, they often pay for it with fatigue or pain). Many of them have trouble with things like fitting into a restaurant booth, or getting onto a chair at a high-top table. They need close parking spots for errands (many have handicapper tags or license plates), and can't get in or out of the car in tight parking places.

At this stage, if my active friends want to splurge on food or drink on a special occasion, most of them can and do, no big deal. For some of the inactive/obese people, doing that could cause an acute health crisis, so they can't do it.

Overall, the inactive/obese people spend a much larger fraction of their daily lives sick, in pain, depressed, and generally unhappy. Though it's untrue, they believe it's too late to make any improvement. This makes me sad.

So: You know what your current self wants. What does your future self want and need? It's your call.