MOTIVATION

You’ll find some of us are motivation skeptics. Motivation will come and go. Its too unreliable to be the foundation of something as long term as significant and lasting weight loss. We just can’t work our programs when it feels good and expect much by way of results.

Try to focus on building good habits. It does take some motivation to get started but maybe think in terms of determination and persistence. Trying to change your habits will test your concentration. The old ways will try to sneak back in. Especially when you’re tired or stressed.

I think the best habit is a food diary. That means using a food scale whenever possible. Calculate a modest calorie deficit and make a plan to try to hit your number. Don’t go to pieces if you stumble around for a few weeks. There’s a learning curve. Keep your food diary no matter what. Even if you go wildly over your number, keep logging everything. If you find you have no idea how many calories are in a particular meal or dish, use the generic numbers here on MFP and make a good faith guess. Keeping the process going is more important than the numbers.

The good new is that, given enough time, calorie counting works. Keep working and you can do this.

Remember that you only need to be healthy today. You need to make a good food choice today. You should go for a walk today.
Don't tell yourself "I have to exercise every day this week", you just need to play on your wii fit TODAY. You don't have to eat healthy EVERYDAY for FOREVER. You just need to watch your calories and macros today. You might find that you can have sf/ff pudding today
I have a one year goal. Kick 120 to the curb by the end of July 2020, so I can go horseback riding at the vacation home on an equestrian ranch during my family reunion. If I approached it "I have to diet/eat healthy/exercise perfectly for 15 months"... I'd fail the first week. I only have to make good choices TODAY. I control today.