What's the best piece of motivational advice you've ever been given?

Motivation won't see you though, building new habits will.

hmm... it really comes down to NIKE.. Just do it! Don't whine.. don't excuse. yourself into staying in the rut you've made for yourself. as Cher said in Moonstruck.. "Snap out of it!!!

I also read something Tony Danza said long ago ... he learned to tap dance when he was in his older adult life, I think his 40's which to. most would seem ridiculous. He said.. time is going to pass by anyway..why not learn something new.

Molliepops35 wrote: »

What piece of advice did you receive that really resonates with you?

Here are a few of my favourites:

"Dreams don't work until you do"
"Losing weight is a mind game - Change your mind, change your body"
"Diets are like a marriage - you can't cheat and expect it to work"
"No-one ever got in shape by thinking about it - they go up and did it"
"Would you rather be covered in sweat at the gym, or covered in clothes at the beach?"

"The days will pass, whether you are working towards your goals or not - what are you waiting for?"

"You've done it before and you can do it again"

"Don't look too far ahead - set small, achievable targets - every small win, every day you've reached your goal, you will feel better. Soon those small wins will add up and you will look back to see how far you've come and how much you've achieved. If you have 100 lbs to lose, you will feel better after 5lbs lost - keep building, step by step.."

Do not look back in 6 months' time and think "I wish I'd started in February" Take action now!

Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.

seltzermint555 wrote: »

"If you start now, in a year from now, even if you don't hit your goal, you'll be so much better off than you are right now"

That advice & attitude helped me a lot. It was actually advice for a friend regarding credit card debt but I applied it more to my health & fitness and later, weight loss. I stopped needing crazy fast progress & focused a little more on the long term.

Smart. Incrementalism is a very valuable concept. Incrementalism as practiced at the gym can be reverse engineered into weight loss.

If you always fo what you have always dond, you will always be where you have always been.

True for most if life, not just weight loss.

I love all of the. A few of my faves are:

Comparison is the theif of joy.

You don't have to make the sandwich. (This one is for when I'm tired or depressed and don't have the energy to make food. Those times that your want to reach for the easy calorie laden stuff. It basically means, your can eat the parts of what your would make. There is little nutritional difference between making a sandwich or eating some lunch meat and cheese slices with a couple leaves of lettuce and tell slices of bread. It doesn't matter what shape the food takes as long as your getting the nutrition.)

You'll only be 80% of your maximum in a real world situation. (I know this one seems like kind of a downer. I hadn't realized that this is how I love much of my life until one of my instructors had said this. I had been talking about wanting to get my form and technique as perfect as possible so that I set my standard for myself as high as possible. When it comes to a real world fight, I'll only ever be at 80% tops. The better my 100 is, the better my 80 is. I don't know if that makes sense. But it means I set my standards really high so that when I don't meet those standards, I'm still really well off.

A goal without a plan is just a dream.

Losing weight is hard. Being overweight is hard. Choose your hard.

seltzermint555 wrote: »

Mine is pretty much along the same lines as OP. I've always been a very all-or-nothing, black and white thinker though trying to work against that. I felt overwhelmed by the amount of weight I needed to lose (over 100 lb).

"If you start now, in a year from now, even if you don't hit your goal, you'll be so much better off than you are right now"

That advice & attitude helped me a lot. It was actually advice for a friend regarding credit card debt but I applied it more to my health & fitness and later, weight loss. I stopped needing crazy fast progress & focused a little more on the long term.

I read this somewhere (probably here) and it stuck with me. I didn't want to be overweight and suck and excersise for yet another year.

Other sayings that help propel me through life:

Perfection is the enemy of good. I tend to want to be perfectionistic at the things I do. Which sets me up to be more stressed then I should be. Being good enough most of the time is better then striving for perfection and only attaining it some of the time.

ANY Progress is better then no progress. Comes in handy when things don't seem to be going well, or are slower then I would like.

You don't need motivation to lose weight.. Making the decision is what it takes...