Keeping that motivation

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Draculza
Draculza Posts: 61 Member
in Motivation and Support
How does everyone stay motivated/find the motivation to keep on going?

I started off strong and lost about 40kg over the course of a year and was doing well and then lockdown happened and things changed for everyone. I know it's no excuse because you see some amazing stories of people during lockdown doing amazing things... Me on the other hand, have picked up about 25kg of the 40 that I originally lost.

Things have opened up again and you can do most everything again but I'm just struggling to get back in the groove and back on that pony.

What I'm asking of the community is, what do you do to get you out the door and exercising and eating well and staying away from that damn drive-thru?

Replies

  • LiveOnceBeHappy
    LiveOnceBeHappy Posts: 432 Member
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    Ask yourself why you did it the first time. If you did it to feel better and to be healthier, did you accomplish that? Do you still want that? I never, ever go through the drive-thru anymore. I just turned down the cookies that came around on a cart for teachers. It's not that I don't want to eat a McDonalds quarter pounder with cheese. It's not that I wouldn't enjoy the chocolate chip cookie. It's that I want health and longevity more. The "why" leads to choices, I think. Hope that helps!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
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    Draculza wrote: »
    How does everyone stay motivated/find the motivation to keep on going?

    I started off strong and lost about 40kg over the course of a year and was doing well and then lockdown happened and things changed for everyone. I know it's no excuse because you see some amazing stories of people during lockdown doing amazing things... Me on the other hand, have picked up about 25kg of the 40 that I originally lost.

    Things have opened up again and you can do most everything again but I'm just struggling to get back in the groove and back on that pony.

    What I'm asking of the community is, what do you do to get you out the door and exercising and eating well and staying away from that damn drive-thru?

    I lost 40 Lbs 10 years ago. I put on 20 Lbs over the last 2 years with COVID stuff. I was still somewhat active, but in a much more in a recreational sense. Prior to COVID I was pretty big into endurance cycling and I would do a few events every year. I spent a good 5-6 years training for long cycling events pretty much year around which lead to a bit of burn out and COVID allowed me to get pretty lax...nothing to train for.

    I'm in the process of dropping those 20 Lbs and I know one thing that gets me moving is having an event in front of me to work towards. In my early days it was 5Ks...then I did a couple of GoRuck events...trained for a sprint triathlon that I never raced due to an injury a couple weeks before the event, but that's what got me into cycling.

    The fact that I never raced the sprint has always kind of bothered me just as a bucket list kind of thing so I decided to register for one that takes place in August and just started training. Once I get moving and things become routine, it's no biggie for me...but sometimes I need that little push to get started and get me into a routine. Knowing I have to train to perform helps me get off my butt on those days I just don't feel like it and after awhile it just becomes a normal part of my daily.

    I probably went overboard there for awhile with cycling so at this point I'm limiting myself to one or maybe two events per year to actively train for. One thing good about COVID is that it changed my perspective somewhat in that I really started to just enjoy outdoor recreational activity rather than relentlessly training for something all the time and going forward I'd like to keep a better balance of that kind of outdoor recreation and actively training. Too much structure burned me out...not enough structure let me get pretty lax.
  • JessiBelleW
    JessiBelleW Posts: 815 Member
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    Habit! Sounds like such a crappy answer but make it your habit to eat well, pack lunch, prep breakfast Sunday and when motivation fails you habit will carry you
  • Draculza
    Draculza Posts: 61 Member
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    Thanks guys, for the responses. @LiveOnceBeHappy, that makes. Finding why I started this in the first place, that feeling of being healthy and feeling better. I know why I did this to start with and it scares me to think that I've let myself gain the weight again after, exactly as you said, feeling better and healthier. That is definitely something I need to reconnect with.

    @cwolfman13 I've actually been toying with that idea. I do the Parkrun (5km) most Saturdays when I don't volunteer but it's a fun activity outdoor so I don't really train for it. I was thinking of doing a cycle race which is a yearly event that they call the 94.7 cycle challenge here in Johannesburg. There are different races and the shortest is about 30kms. The pros do almost 100km though. The biggest problem is that nobody wants to do it with me. I know it's no excuse and that I can do t myself but it's more fun to have someone with you that can push you. But definitely something to look into.

    @JessiBelleW, I've been trying to get back into the habit of prepping my meals 2 or 3 days in advance so all I need to do is cook proteins. I pack my lunches for during the day but weekends and Friday evenings are my problem. I usually go out to visit friends or family and I don't always take my packed food with me.

    Thanks guys, you've given me something to think about :smile:

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