How do you stay motivated?

[CMeyer2001]

I am one of those individuals that will do really well for a month or two and then fall off the wagon when life gets too busy.  While the Fitbit is a great device to help with motivation, what else do you do to help maintain your focus, drive, and motivation?

[wtksk8r]

It is hard, especially at holidays.  My wife helps.

Some things we do/did:

1.  Weigh myself every day at the same time wearing or rather not wearing the same clothes.  I don't obsess over the daily weight but use a 10 - 20 day moving average to let me know how I am doing.  The trend is more important than the absolute values.

2.  After I lost nearly 50 pounds two years ago (my wife lost 40) I/we bought all new clothes.  We don't plan on moving up is size and the relative tightness of the clothes is a reminder of what I need to do.

[SunsetRunner]

I've lost 55 lbs so far this year. The Fitbit has been quite a motivator for me. I check my progress several times a day and love to feel the tingle of my Force when I hit my step goal! I've also found that reading the Fitbit boards is motivating ... reading about how others are doing ... checking out their tips & tricks ... it lets me see that I am not alone. Along that same line, I've friended several other Fitbit users. Their encouragement helps move me on my journey to better health!

[Odyssey13]

Staying motivated with some things is harder than others. For me, I look at the day in smaller segments. If I can just walk a few extra steps in the next hour, if I can wait another twenty minutes for a snack, if I can get up a half hour earlier - smaller is sometimes better.

It's like the old question of "how do you eat an elephant?" with "one bite at a time" as the answer. Same with making ourselves get up and be more active. It's harder when you look at the big picture, so focus on the smaller, obtainable goals. After you see that you're making those small goals, make bigger ones.

When you put everything into one big goal, it's easier to get discouraged and give up. The trick for me is to make smaller goals to boost my confidence in being able to make and keep larger goals.

As for life getting busy, that is part of the struggle. There will always be work to do, things around the house to get done, the car needing an oil change, the spouse or kids needing attention, the dog barking, the washing machine breaking down.....oh yeah, life is never dull.

Remember, take care of yourself and don't give up on making yourself stronger and better.

[Colinm39]

An interesting saying about being busy....

My 83 year old b-in-law was talking to me yesterday about being busy and he said,

"An 8 year old thinks the next Christmas is 8 years away, an 80 year old thinks it is 8 weeks away"

How true, I seem to be busier now than when I was working and say to others "How did I find time to work", of course Fitbit takes a couple of hours of planned activity.

[SunsetRunner]

"When you put everything into one big goal, it's easier to get discouraged and give up. The trick for me is to make smaller goals to boost my confidence in being able to make and keep larger goals."

I think you've hit on something so simple it is pure genius!! Series of small goals! Thanks, Odyssey13! I'll remember this. And put it into action.

[TandemWalker]

Staying motivated for me is real easy.  I was 213 last December, now I am 177.  Whenever I feel that the motivation is starting to wear out, I go to my closet and pick up a pair a jeans I user to wear when I had an extra 4" around the waist. Then I go to the bathroom, naked, and look at picture I see in the mirror.  At 65, trust me, it's nothing to rave about.  But it's a hell of a lot better than what the mirror showed me a year ago!

These two motivators work for me all the time, without fail!

[Colinm39]

 Hi Bob

Same motivator for me, same weight loss but still a little to go. After the first year with Fitbit my slacks were getrting very floppy around the exterior and my wife suggested I get jeans. I have never had a pair of jeans in my life. To my surprise I went from 42" to 36" and being retired I save a  fortune on dry cleaning. Also the view in the mirror for a 74 year old is getting better and my Physio's suggestion of swimming is working, the shape is changing for the better.

[TandemWalker]

Hi Collin.  Yes, I also have a few pounds to go.  At 5' 10", I now weigh in at 177.  My initial goal was 180, then 170; and ultimately I'd like to get down to 165. 

I seem to be stuck in a rut, as I haven't lost much over the last three weeks or so; but I think I know why: Once I reached my initial goal of 180, I thought it was time to start toning up and build up my muscle mass a little.  As you know, as we get older, we lose muscle mass, hence the importance of trying to keep it up.  So I started to do some calisthenics and resistance bands.  In doing so, I gradually lost the energy to stay a full one hour on the stationary bike.  I kept on with my walking regimen, but cut down the stationary bike by half, sometime even more. 

So the combination of reduced cardio and increased toning/muscling up resulted in binging my weight loss to a screeching halt. To make things worst,  I have also gone back to a very very very bad habit of munching on snacks in the evening.

Resolution - no more snacks after dinner, and resume the daily one-hour stationary bike sessions.  I might cut that one hour into two half-hour sessions to make it easier.  The bike alone will increase my caloric burn by about 900-1000 calories, should that should produce some positive results.

When I had 30 or more pounds to lose, and I was losing them relatively fast, I had no problem with motivation whatsoever; no so now!  I find that it is becoming increasingly difficult to STAY motivated once you're in the "range".  There is a saying that says that the last few pounds are always the thoughest to lose - I coldn't agree more!

[Jim_M]

Bob.  5'11" here.  first goal 180, then 175, then 170, then 165, now 160.  Hit a few plateaus along the way, and am on one right now.  This last 5 seems to take forever!

[TandemWalker]

@Jim - At 5' 11", isn't 160 on the low side, perhaps a little too low?

[Jim_M]

Bob - At 165, my BMI is at 23.1.  In college, I weighed under 150. 

I'm about 2/3rds of the way up the "normal" BMI range right now.

[Shelley]

Having the Fitbit and the Aria, watching the trend line on weight and BMI heading downward - keeps me thinking in short term goals to get to the longer term goal.  I will weigh and think I am gonna try to be 2 pounds less by the end of the week.  Then, getting to see it on the trend line is super gratifying.  But also, I watch documentaries on health and nutrition and exercise and read books.  I have two books I am reading right now that are motivating.  The Hunger Fix by Pam Peeke and Starting Moday by Karen Koenig.  Information is motivating to me.  I belong to the Dr. Joel Fuhrman website and get emails daily with information about the cancer prevention qualities of certain foods and new recipes.  Between my fitbit and the communities and the reading and documenaries, I have lost about 23 pounds in the last 12 weeks!

[Colinm39]

I use this link as a guide to my weight because years ago my then doctor had me measured and determined I was Heavy Boned and that gave me a guide. My son is the reverse, he is light boned and follows my wife's side of the family, lean and mean.

Here is the link

http://www.healthycalculators.com/body-weight.php

At the bottom of the linked page is the wrist measurements to determine body type

[studentforlife]

In July on 2012, I weighed in at 275.  I am 5'10" and was not happy with that.  fast forward to March 2013.  Weighed myself at 173... 100 pound goal was met.  I have since run my first half marathon & am planning my first Ragnar for next June. Today I am hovering between 175 & 183 and happy with that.  What keeps me motivated?  when people ask me, I have the picture of me from July 2012 on my phone.  I show it to them & say I don't want him to catch up... he might eat me.

[TandemWalker]

@studentforlife- HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!  That's a good one.  You got my vote and I'll make sure to put a fat picture on my ipod too!  Cheers!

[Razzi]

Life is for sure busy for some of us, with all the dynamics of family and work it can take some organizational and discipline skills to stay focus 😄 But for me I can say that just trying to live a healthy lifestyle over all if the motivation and with fitbit tools it just get a little easier to track progress. One thing i don't loose sight of, is the fact that nutrition is the best and most effective means of staying healthy with a combination of exercise. I am a techie guy and constantly checking my fitbit app to review daily or weekly progress and determine next task 😄 Fitbit is fun and now some members of my family and friends also joined this movement. Cheers.

[Larry]

I'm very goal-oriented.  Setting a goal on the Force is very effective for me.  Must. Make. Goal...

Last night, I was 5000 steps short of my goal.  Yep, I made it before I cold go to bed...really worn out.

I also set long-term goals, and so far, I'm ahead of those goals.  And, yes, I use trend-measuring software to monitor weight loss.

[carlene]

August 2011 I weighed in at 143.8 kgs and I'm 5 foot 1 inch tall, I had problems with my knees and could hardly walk around the house. Today I weigh 59.3 kgs. I am fitter/stronger than I have ever been in my life and love how that feels. What keeps me motivated is knowing I'm getting the best out of my life, I'm happier in myself which makes my family happier. You just have to take it one day at a time and find what works best for you.

[PastaLuver14]

My focus, drive, and motivation are the dogs I walk, people that wave to me and also my music.