Motivation

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Kimberly8929
Kimberly8929 Posts: 1 Member
in Getting Started
Hello I really want to lose weight and every time I try and work out the next day I eat the pounds back on and I dont workout until the next month or 2 months. How do I keep myself motivated?

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  • PigHerder
    PigHerder Posts: 89 Member
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    this might be useful: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818701/the-myth-of-motivation-and-what-you-need-instead/p1
  • Kathryn247
    Kathryn247 Posts: 570 Member
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    You don't have to work out to lose weight, you just need a calorie deficit. I lost my first 25 pounds with no extra exercise. As for motivation: what PigHerder said. It takes determination, a good plan, and patience, not motivation.
  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
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    Firstly, motivation in general. Motivation is fleeting. It's a powerful but finite resource that you can do wonders to get something started. To keep it going you need something else. You need non negotiable decision.

    Think about it this way. How do you think an employer would react if their employee called up and said "Oh I'm not coming to work today. I'm just not motivated"? or if someone said "How do I stay motivated to do the laundry so I have clean clothes"? or dozens of other things everyone does everyday that don't require motivation as they're just not negotiable. Your approach to weight management should be the same. A series of non-negotiable decisions that don't rely on willpower or motivation to stick to.

    As for motivation with regards to exercise there's 2 things.
    1. Exercise while good for your health and fitness will have a very minor impact on your weight loss as the number of calories working out contributes to your daily calorie burn is pretty insignificant when compared to the number of calories you burn just existing and, as you've noticed, workout depletes your energy so you tend to be hungrier and therefore consume more calories to replace the ones you burned. Focus on your calorie intake, that's where the big influence on your wight occurs. Lose weight in the kitchen, get fit in the gym. I, and lots of others here lost significant amounts of weight without 'working out'.

    2. The exercise you like best is 100x better than the best exercise. By this I mean to find something you enjoy doing and do that even if it's not the super-duper-optimal-exercise routine. You're far better off doing a 60% effective exercise program that you love and will do frequently and long term than a 100% effective program you hate that you'll quit in a week or months time once the motivation to force yourself to do it runs out. 60% effective done all the time is still 60% effective. 100% effective done never is zero. So find an activity you enjoy. Run, cycle, swim, dance, tennis, whatever. As long as it gets you moving, gets your heart rate up and you look forward to doing it you'll get the fitness and health benefits and it won't even feel like 'working out'.

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