How did you find your Motivation again?

Anyone else ever lose their motivation for a long period of time (like over a year)?

What did you do to get it back?

I've been at the same weight for over a year, but I have over 60 more lbs to lose. What can get my spark going again?
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Replies

  • Stephanie08
    Stephanie08 Posts: 1,023 Member
    No one out there?
  • ThePersnicketyOtter
    ThePersnicketyOtter Posts: 147 Member
    Just do it. Don't be motivated--just do what you KNOW you have to do. Diet wise. Don't worry about exercising because if you're not motivated you won't get much out of it and you'll quit. Once you get into the habit of a healthy diet for a month or two, you'll find yourself to have more energy and WANT to use it, and exercise and motivation will come naturally.

    That's the best advice I can give. Also, the more weight I see myself losing, and the more I can tell, the more I want it, and the more I put into it.
  • MizSaz
    MizSaz Posts: 445 Member
    Someone very close to me asked for my help in creating a meal plan for them. It completely renewed my sense of purpose. I've been half assing things lately, and knowing that someone thinks I'm capable of helping them was a huge motivation boost. If I'm going to help someone else, I need to rededicate myself to my own cause!
  • Maurice1966
    Maurice1966 Posts: 419 Member
    to paraphrase the great Anthonny Robbins - when the pain of doing nothing is more than the pain of getting going. Create a vision for yourself, feel it, taste it, want it, then, GO FOR IT.
  • nmazahearti
    nmazahearti Posts: 10 Member
    You could think about you're health and where you want to be when you're old. You'd probably rather be taking care of yourself than living in a nursing home. Even if you feel fine now, the way you treat your body now will have dramatic effects on your body in the future.

    I hope that motivates you. You can go to a nursing home and talk to several residents. It might make you sad, but it could make you want to take care of yourself now.
  • I did Jenny Craig and some other diet last year, stopping around July and just gave up on healthy eating and exercise. I only got back into it last Saturday because a friend was losing weight and she motivated me to start eating healthy and exercise. In the short couple of days, I've just been motivated to stay focused on my goal and not giving up anymore :)
  • bexxgirl
    bexxgirl Posts: 260 Member
    I don't know what your typical approach to this whole thing is, but for me it's a combination of eating within cals (although not too strict on WHAT it is I eat) and exercise.

    I lost my motivation for a couple of months and just got it back about 6-8 weeks ago. I realised that for me, exercise is key.

    If I'm not making the time to exercise, then my motivation to eat well just diminishes, very rapidly! But if I'm getting the exercise in, the endorphins kick in and I'm more in tune with my body - eating for fuel, rather than to satisfy emotional eating urges and cravings for salty/sweet/fatty foods.

    This is why I'm terrified now that I have the flu. I've dropped 2.5 kgs (5.5lbs) in the past 5 weeks (since I got my mojo back), but this week I can't even get up the driveway without feeling like passing out, cos my lungs aren't working properly!

    I need to make sure that I get back to the gym ASAP, to keep this motivation rolling!!

    So yeah, for me it's simple. I've identified my trigger than galvanises my weight-loss motivation (exercise), so I'm trying to make sure I've got my finger on that trigger all the time!

    :smile:
  • if you find out let me know mine has been gone for a while. The only reason i do anything is my best friend and i are supposed to run a half marathon in November! Good food choices have gone out the window as well.
  • yo_andi
    yo_andi Posts: 2,178 Member
    Anyone else ever lose their motivation for a long period of time (like over a year)?

    What did you do to get it back?

    I've been at the same weight for over a year, but I have over 60 more lbs to lose. What can get my spark going again?

    I looked in the mirror and decided that I didn't want to be me, the new me, the fat me, the unhappy me, anymore. So I went for a walk. Then I went for a run. Then I started tracking my food. Next thing you know, I'm in full beast mode being an athlete again and loving every second of it.

    Go take a good hard look in the mirror and make a decision.
  • jnewsome62
    jnewsome62 Posts: 13 Member
    finding motivation is different for everybody. Try to find a "buddy" on this program and keep each other motivated. I am often encouraged by posts made on here by other people. And, sometimes it is just sheer will power to do whatever you know you need to do. After I exercise or walk the fact that I always feel better is what motivates me. Good luck- we all have less motivated days.
  • Sjenny5891
    Sjenny5891 Posts: 717 Member
    I actually gained weight after having my now 4 month old. I'm 60 pounds overweight and tired of feeling fat and tired.
    I've started cleaning my diet. It's better, but has room for improvement. Now I'm going to find time to exercise even if it's just 30 minutes a day.
  • TexasRattlesnake
    TexasRattlesnake Posts: 375 Member
    I saw my fat self in the mirror, and the skinnier clothes I bought were getting too tight and I was about to have to go back to my old sizes. NOT FRIGGIN' HAPPENING!
  • jayhawkX
    jayhawkX Posts: 48
    Wonderful topic.

    I actually had a little stomach bug, nothing major, that kept my appetite in check for a couple weeks and I lost like 20 or 30 pounds and that made me want to keep it going. I've been going strong ever since, granted it has not been that long.

    I kick myself in the butt all the time for gaining all the weight that I lost back, and then some. It took me a while and several tries to get my motivation back but this time seems like it will stick. The first time I lost 187 pounds it was motivated by a severe depression oddly enough.
  • DoingitWell
    DoingitWell Posts: 560 Member
    A sexy young man in uniform. He flirted, I giggled. I exercised...LMAO
  • EKarma
    EKarma Posts: 594 Member
    I lost my motivation for about a year! maybe a little over a year! I met my husband and then we got married. I turned thirty in April and realized that I had gained 20 pounds back! :noway: So I decided I had to get serious again. I'm almost done with the couch to 5k program.!! So I'm running again, and eating healthy, and not being hungry. I almost thought I had forgotten how to lose weight, but then the weight started coming off again. I think that's the biggest motivator.. Getting up and just doing it, cause you know you feel great afterwards. :drinker:
  • milaxx
    milaxx Posts: 1,122 Member
    I didn't use it for a year, but I did lose for a few months I think what got me was I got pissed off at my doctor. She seemed to be throwing shade on my endeavors to eat right and exercise. It annoyed me when she didn't seem to be listening to me and instead offered me both a liquid diet and GPS. First I switched doctors then I got myself back on track because I know with a little bit of effort I can do this.
  • Bobby_Clerici
    Bobby_Clerici Posts: 1,828 Member
    to paraphrase the great Anthonny Robbins - when the pain of doing nothing is more than the pain of getting going. Create a vision for yourself, feel it, taste it, want it, then, GO FOR IT.
    We either have that drive or need to find a way to ignite it.

    To light that fire, be honest, and answer for yourself:
    Why do I want to be healthy and fit? Discover the real answer, and attach great pleasure to that as you set your goals.
    Feel and experience that joy when you think of being healthy and fit.

    And then ask yourself why do you NOT want to be fat?
    Connect with that reason burning pain that you can really feel every time you think about being fat.

    This is the key to internal motivation.
    Few people can actually do this which is why most people fail in their efforts over and over.
    Take the time to do this, and you'll touch off a powder keg of determination and drive.
    Sure, you may have challenges; we all do, but you'll keep punching and reach your goals.

    All Is Possible!
  • chunkydunk714
    chunkydunk714 Posts: 784 Member

    I looked in the mirror and decided that I didn't want to be me, the new me, the fat me, the unhappy me, anymore. So I went for a walk. Then I went for a run. Then I started tracking my food. Next thing you know, I'm in full beast mode being an athlete again and loving every second of it.

    Go take a good hard look in the mirror and make a decision.

    Love this!!
  • sgoessling
    sgoessling Posts: 119
    Lower your goal, do 10 lbs at a time. Do what you are doing now and post!! Add lots of friends and do MFP status updates regularly. Start small. Im currently about to start a 100 day challenge where all you do is drink as much water as you can and work out just 15 mins a day! Start logging your food, even if you aren't trying to watch your calories or your not working out. Try new work outs! promise yourself to just take a 10 minute walk once a day. Hope any of this help! Be easy on yourself! You have accomplished so much!
  • nmazahearti
    nmazahearti Posts: 10 Member
    I wish this was Facebook and I could "like" this. You're funny!

    Wait... I don't know how to reply to a person. This was meant for the lady who said the thing about the guy in the uniform. Haha.
  • musclefat2k
    musclefat2k Posts: 89 Member
    When life itself begins to get hard and noone else understands and take the smallest of life's conveniences...
    Even if you start over everyday, even if you start over after your last crazy meal. Make the very next thing you do be exactly what you need to start over right then and there. Dont wait till Monday, Dont wait till after a holiday, Dont wait till after a vacation. Start right then and there. This is what I always tell myself...
    #JUST START
  • I started a group with a few girlfriends and gotta say we are all having so much fun loosing weight together! It's nice to have someone to work out with every once in a while and also people who will encourage you to keep going. Money is also a great insentive, we pay up if no weight lost within a week and at the end the biggest loser gets the $$$!
  • dajn44
    dajn44 Posts: 13
    I lost 60 pounds over a period of a year I lost my motivation about five months ago and started to gain weight. I have gained 20 pounds in this last five months. Have just started tracking and exercising again about two weeks ago. The thing that got me started again was looking at all the new clothes I had bought that I am not fitting into an my middle is starting to hang over my pants again i hate that. I got out all my old fat pictures and put them on the fridge so I can see how far I let myself go and this helps keep me honest. I also quit beating myself up about getting off track I am not perfect I am human and am allowed to make mistakes. Give yourself a break dont look at is as 60 pounds to go look at it one day at a time. this helps it is easier to look at just one day of life changes. Add me as a friend and we can encourage each other. I need all the help I can get.
  • Stephanie08
    Stephanie08 Posts: 1,023 Member
    Thank you all for your insights. I'm noting many recommendations :)

    I think I have to look at motivation this way:

    What if you lost $1,000 cash in your house, what would you do? How would you look? Would you stop looking until you found it again? Would you sit down and cry? Have concerns about where it may have went? Or would you just keep doing nothing to find it and hope that one day, just one day that it showed up again?
  • iRebel
    iRebel Posts: 378 Member
    look under the bed.



    Form a habit. once you get used to doing something (or not doing something) it gets easier. :)
  • TOOFATTOMOVE
    TOOFATTOMOVE Posts: 25 Member
    :0
  • Katahna
    Katahna Posts: 326 Member
    Motivation is just a word, don't attach anything you do to motivation, that way, you won't need to rely on motivation to do something =]

    What I did was, if I didn't feel like doing something, I did it anyway =]
  • I have fought a weight problem most of my life. It seemed that every morning I would make a committment to start a diet and by that night, I had failed (once more). Then one day my husband and I decided to try nutrisystem. The diet helped me to learn portion control and it was very easy to follow. I lost 35 pounds in 15 weeks. My daughter and daughter-in-law turned me on to this site and this is only my second day here. I love connection to other people who are trying to become healthier too! I still need to lose another 35-40 pounds. We can all do it, if we encourage each other! Good luck.
  • mamacita721
    mamacita721 Posts: 194 Member
    I find that I do better when I have a concrete tangible goal with a firm time table. Right now I am training for a half-marathon. My workouts are basically planned for me for the next 82 days and I know that if my diet is not on point, I will not be as successful.
  • bexxgirl
    bexxgirl Posts: 260 Member
    I started a group with a few girlfriends and gotta say we are all having so much fun loosing weight together! It's nice to have someone to work out with every once in a while and also people who will encourage you to keep going. Money is also a great insentive, we pay up if no weight lost within a week and at the end the biggest loser gets the $$$!

    What a neat idea! I love the idea of making a game of it and 'winning' something at the end of a week, even if it's only a couple of bucks.

    Great stuff!