Staying motivated... how do you all do it?!

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  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
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    When I came to the realization that the time is going to pass by anyway, and the small daily things I choose over the long run are going to be the things that add up.

    Even if you don't log it, even if you don't consciously think of what you're choosing, your health is going to reflect what you do, what you've eaten, whether you've exercised.

    Having a goal on the horizon is what I needed. So this is what I did: I planned a big vacation birthday celebration for a milestone birthday. I had a couple of years ahead of me before I reached it (I was 32 when I began), and I just kept plugging away and fantasizing about how much I was going to enjoy my 35th birthday in a healthy size. My closest family and I went to Las Vegas and had a huge party and I love every single picture I took while I was there because I accomplished my goal of reaching size 8.

    I made it happen.

    You can, too. Just pick a spot on the horizon, short or long term, and keep going, keep doing a great job until you get there. Then lather, rinse, REPEAT.
  • amyowens08
    amyowens08 Posts: 107 Member
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    Since I've started I haven't missed a workout yet and I don't plan on starting now. I think of how disappointed in myself I'd be if i just skipped it after all my hard work. After a while it just becomes a way of life, honestly...i really can't see myself going back to my old ways.
  • mandypizzle
    mandypizzle Posts: 633 Member
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    I ALWAYS struggle to stay focused after about a month. I fall all the time! And this time around I did exactly that BUT this time, after two weeks of failing and gaining some weight back, I snapped out of it and remembered how hard I keep working FOR NOTHING. I can't keep doing that. It's so pointless! Sometimes when I feel like that I get on mfp and start reading success stories. That helps me a ton. Keeping myself surrounded with like minded- healthy minded people helps me a lot.
  • momtobe06
    momtobe06 Posts: 81 Member
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    let yourself indulge once a week.( a small bowl of chips/a few cookies)... but the rest of the time... stay on task
  • Impy84
    Impy84 Posts: 430
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    I look at myself naked in the mirror and remember how bad it still makes me feel and how far i've come. I simply no longer want to be fat. For me that's all it takes.
  • lizzybethclaire
    lizzybethclaire Posts: 849 Member
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    I keep a paper in my purse with all my goal weights listed. When I want to eat just to eat, I look at it and see how far I have come. I labeled it "shrinking debt" in case it falls into evil hands :devil:
  • NorthWoodsLee
    NorthWoodsLee Posts: 92 Member
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    I haven't been doing this for 7 months and I'm worried about losing my motivation at that point, too, so I can't speak from experience. But I just read your awesome profile and I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't read it for awhile. If you read it again, I suspect you'll remember what got you motivated in the first place and, likely, will get a second wind of motivation. Sincerely hope this helps! (I'm counting on the MFP community to help me when I get to 7 months, 12 months, 24 months, etc.)
  • mem50
    mem50 Posts: 1,384 Member
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    Keep it realistic and fun as much as possible and it's not hard to turn it into a routine lifestyle.

    Adopt good habits like eating healthier foods and exercising.

    The key is to find things that you enjoy so you'll stick to it on a regular basis.

    While I avoid eating a lot of foods (such as high sugar and/or sodium food), I eat a great variety of things that I really enjoy that keeps me happy and satisfied. I'm not hungry or missing anything and drinking more water helps keep you more full too.

    I don't focus on what I "can't" eat (avoid) but on the things that I can eat. I eat things like pizza, ice cream, whole wheat bread, cheese, bacon, pasta, dark chocolate, Fiber One 90-calorie brownies.

    I incorporated more healthy stuff that I enjoy in my regular diet like black beans, berries, yogurt, grapes, lentils, almonds ...

    The foods on my "avoid" list are things like Chinese food and soups that are high in sodium but I will still eat those on occasion, just not as often.

    So, that's the key. This is not about deprivation or temporarily cutting out things. It's about making permanent changes that you can live with and be happy with.

    ^ this ^
  • jkestens63
    jkestens63 Posts: 1,164 Member
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    bump
  • Cheri_Moves
    Cheri_Moves Posts: 625 Member
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    slankemotivasjon02.jpg
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    ^^These^^
  • 75Juniper
    75Juniper Posts: 376
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    1. When I decided I needed to lose weight once and for all, I made a list of all the problems my weight was causing in my life. Everything from blood sugar issues to not being able to tie my shoes. My goal was to cross every one of those items off of my list.

    2. I set mini weight loss goals. I don't use a static figure. I pick a weight that's meaningful and shoot for that. When I hit it, I pick another goal, etc.

    3. Logging my food and getting exercise even when I don't want to. It doesn't really motivate me, but it keeps me on track when I just don't wanna do any of it any more. I allow myself to throw a pity party and whine about it all day, but I still have to log.

    4. As I get stronger and healthier, I pay attention to all those small NSV's that come up.

    5. I don't deprive myself. My rule is I can eat whatever I want as long as it fits in my goals for the day. It's all about portion control, and knowing I get a cookie later on motivates me to eat the salad now.

    Good luck! :flowerforyou:
  • schmittie01
    schmittie01 Posts: 31 Member
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    Lately i've had a hard time getting motivated! I want to get up in the am and work out becuase how hot it has been out. On the weekends i forget to log my food on here but i'm really good at doing it on weekdays. The heat makes me tired or just wanting to drink beer =o) Dang you fun summer! I need to get back to my gym, i havent been in a couple of months and i pay for the stupid thing... I've lost 15lbs and never want to get up to that again, but would like to lost another 20.... I have a wedding next year and dont want to go back into my old habits and not fit in my dress. I eat healthy (except this weekend...) I still try to eat on the weekends healthy wise, but sometimes it hard. Need someone that depends on me to be there, but my friends are undependable when it comes to work out..

    What can i do!
  • bailuna
    bailuna Posts: 56
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    I only started a few days ago with my husband, so I'm still in the "yay, this is new, I'm super excited about it!" phase. But I've already had a few moments where I eye that bag of chips that's in the pantry from when I USED to eat chips ... and having my husband motivate and help me has been the main thing.

    We both need to lose a significant amount of weight and having someone who has the same goals is always a boost. On days I don't feel like hitting the gym, I know he's counting on me, and once I get there, I am glad I went. And it works both ways. We are doing this for ourselves and for each other .. we both need the help and so far, in this short period of time, we've done well.

    We also allow ourselves one cheat day a week. We have a week day where we go out with friends and don't study the calories of every meal. It gives us something to look forward to, and the meal always tastes waaaay better when it's a "treat" and not a regular occurance.

    Remind yourself why you're doing this and what you want YOUR life to be like. The hard work will be worth it!
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    Keep it realistic and fun as much as possible and it's not hard to turn it into a routine lifestyle.

    Adopt good habits like eating healthier foods and exercising.

    The key is to find things that you enjoy so you'll stick to it on a regular basis.

    While I avoid eating a lot of foods (such as high sugar and/or sodium food), I eat a great variety of things that I really enjoy that keeps me happy and satisfied. I'm not hungry or missing anything and drinking more water helps keep you more full too.

    I don't focus on what I "can't" eat (avoid) but on the things that I can eat. I eat things like pizza, ice cream, whole wheat bread, cheese, bacon, pasta, dark chocolate, Fiber One 90-calorie brownies.

    I incorporated more healthy stuff that I enjoy in my regular diet like black beans, berries, yogurt, grapes, lentils, almonds ...

    The foods on my "avoid" list are things like Chinese food and soups that are high in sodium but I will still eat those on occasion, just not as often.

    So, that's the key. This is not about deprivation or temporarily cutting out things. It's about making permanent changes that you can live with and be happy with.

    This is pretty much how I manage food wise. I know my "diet" attempt have failed in the past because of deprivation. I could maybe live without those certain foods I couldn't have for a few months but then once I got a craving, it's all I coudl think about and once I had it, I figured I might as well give up. This time around, nothing is off limits. I allow myself to have whatever I want, I just limit my portions of those things. That's not to say there are things I dont' eat that I used to, I just decided they're not really worth it especially when there are much better alternatives (ie eating a Hershey's bar isn't nearly as enjoyable as a couple squares of really good dark chocolate). It's just not a matter of "can't" anymore, it's a matter of "I don't care to".

    Also, I think you have to keep things interesting in the fitness department. It sounds like you've got a good exercise routine going so you're probably all set there but remember if it gets stale, there are tons of other options out there. Or you could, say, keep running but sign up for a 5k or a 10k so that you have something specific to train for, which would provide motivation.

    Good luck!
  • erikatoth
    erikatoth Posts: 26 Member
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    Before eating it, ask yourself: "This is going to delay me. am I OK with that? Yes? No?". works for me EVERY time.
  • Brandicaloriecountess
    Brandicaloriecountess Posts: 2,126 Member
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    Hey people. How do you guys stay motivated?

    I started this whole "lifestyle change" this past December when I was going out shopping for new clothes and nothing really fit and the things that did fit were sizes of embarrassing proportions! Yahhhhh. But yeah, from that day I decided, "enough."

    7 months later I have lost 58 pounds, which I am super excited about, but at the same time, I can feel myself slipping back into a lot of old habits... well, really two habits... snacking and not caring about what is the snack. ha!

    Meal time I can do wonderfully... just inbetween is killing me.

    I am still super motivated to work out and I'm doing that on a very consistent basis, either running and/or lifting weights, pretty much daily.

    I still want to lose another 90ish pounds, but, yeah...

    How do you guys stay motivated? How do you not slip up?

    Thanks! :)

    Snack, I eat smaller meals and allow for snacks so I don't ever have to feel hungry. I stay motivated by dropping sizes, looking good in clothes and having found workouts that I LOVE and can't wait to do.

    Big congrats on your weight loss so far :)
  • tanyaslosingit
    tanyaslosingit Posts: 178 Member
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    My #1 and long-term motivation: My daughter. I want to be there for her high school graduation, her college graduation, adjusting her veil on her wedding day, around to see any grandchildren if I have any... I keep a vision in my head of myself attending these events looking fantastic! Being housebound, wheel-chair-bound or coffin-bound is not how I want these scenes to unfold!

    My short term motivations consists of setting up weekly mini-challenges for myself (this week, it's eating in this heat!) and focusing on the baby steps.

    I also have joined a couple of community challenges (one for Halloween and another for Christmas) that keeps me accountable to others.

    Finally, I got rid of all the clothes that I down-sized out of. I'm not giving myself permission to go back there!
  • RuthSweetTooth
    RuthSweetTooth Posts: 461 Member
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    Check out this link and it will perhaps be motivating for you. When I found out how high my risk of stroke was, it was a good motivator.

    http://www.heart.org/beatyourrisk/en_US/main.html

    I have had to conclude that even though I ate pretty good meals, I destroyed all that good nutrition by eating cheetos, cookies, and too many glasses of wiine on top of it. In other words, you can negate a good diet with the bad additions.

    Maybe you should open your diary. Make yourself accountable, it does help.

    Ruth
  • cobaltis
    cobaltis Posts: 191 Member
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    Focusing on your goals... I tried to reflect on my decisions as often as possible, and every time I tried to weight it against my goal... Is that cookie worth it? Is it better than what I am after? Keep counting calories and you can afford to feed your cravings, and it keeps it limited. I also found staying aggressive lead to constant good results and kept me motivated as I constantly saw and felt improvements. I kept setting mini goals physically so I was always pushing myself at the gym, running etc, and ate to support those mini goals as well as the long term one. Use goals, set mini ones, and focus on the long ones is my advice :)
  • brendaschmitt1
    brendaschmitt1 Posts: 218
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    1.I think about how if i quit I will be very unhealthy and keep on gaining and have low self esteem and not be able to move so comfortable.
    2. I think about back problems and health problems.

    3. When you are in your twenties you just want to lose weight to look good but as you age you realize that you are basically shorting your life span when you are over weight.
    4. It is a never ending battle that you have to tackle through your whole life. if you give up you might be on the road to no return.

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