Motivation. How do we KEEP it, and how to get it back once you feel you lost it...?

[motivation]

I have lost it. My motivation.

I had been food logging religiously,

then started slacking... I try every day to keep up, but procrastinate,

and then 2-3 days go by ,

I have have missed a meal  or 2 each day... 

BLAH!!!!

[FatalStephy]

Thank you 🙂

[Skinny-Squirrel]

I'm trying to find The Hunger Cure.  I'm finding all kinds of books with a similar title but not that specific one.  Can you tell me the author?  BTW, I find your post to be very helpful and true.

[Shelley]

Hi Skinny Squirrel!  I wrote the name of the book down wrong!  It was "The Hunger Fix" by Pam Peeke.  I hope you enjoy it.  I wrote that post back in December.  I got the Fitbit in Sept and it is now July.  I have lost a little over 50 pounds now!  Good luck to you!

[Jabrat]

Buddy groups !! make yourself accountable !!

[LewWagner]

Whether it's motivation or discipline or just plain grit, you say tomahto, I say tomayto....

Bottom line is all the buddy groups, support, and well wishes of others won't amount to much if you yourself aren't determined to get to a healthier you state.

I've become very OCD and psychopatich about making sure I exercise and don't "slip" on eating right.

Yes, I've binged a couple times over the past 9 months, but by far and large, I've managed to stay on track.

It helps to build up your ego by keeping metrics of your campaign (weight chart, nutrition, exercise, etc.) so you can see over time how far you've come.  Don't sweat the daily ups and downs of your weight.  Look at the trend.  I find that can be a big morale booster.

I practice what I preach above.  Result?  From 300 lbs in Nov 2013 to today 181 pounds and 11 pounds away from my initial target weight of 170 pounds.  I'm taking in about 1,100 - 1,300 calories a day and burning around 2,700 - 3,000 calories a day.  Not saying it will work for everyone else, but my motivation (or what ever you want to call it) is to get off my Type II Diabetes Metaformin and reach my wellness state.

Lew

[Jabrat]

Of course it begins with YOU - but encouragement from others is great along with friendly competition - And I speak from experience !! Lost 50 pounds and was determined but those down days - my friends kept me afloat and everyone has down days 😃

[Nirave]

So here is the deal...

I start something, then get bored and lose....

I started gym a few years ago, after 7 months, bored, lost 12 kgs though...

started working out at home, then work took me over.

just 2 months ago i started a brilliant new diet plan, failed to keep up in just a week...

and now its FitBit... but this time i dont wanna lose the motivation... How do I keep up?

my friends and family are no worth as they have given up on me...

can anyone suggest?

[Trooper]

Just keep it simple and real. " Do you want to be thin and healthy or fat and in bad health?" Your choice. Prolong your life by years and years or die young of cardiovascular disease or diabetic complications. Your choice to wear a size 52 pants or a size 34 pants  or a XXXL Shirt or a Medium one. Your choice. Those are just some of things that motivate me. There are probably hundreds more that I am not thinking about. But I wish you the best of luck on this difficult journey we all are on. " Don't quit the race, keep going, and stay on the track!"

[SunsetRunner]

Don't diet, change food habits instead (opt more for having natural foods mostly) though if wanting one day some pizza, have some pizza. Keep making healthy choices overall (eating natural foods as minimal as processed if possible, eating until comfortably satisfied, not stuffed). Trying to eat only when feeling hungry.

When craving some piece of cake, allow to have with moderation.. or any of your favourite food.

When not feeling up to exercise, allow your body to rest. If not liking to go to the gym, do something else like walking (walking is natural exercise).. when going to the store by car park for example at the furthest place.

Getting leaner by losing body fat is great, exercise is important to even in the form of walking to not end up being thin & weak. It's possible to be at a higher weight range due having more muscle mass though being healthy & strong (our bodies may have another healthy weight range in mind than the fixed number striving for & there's natural fluctuations as well.

Make every day healthy choices & your body takes care of it's healthy weight range automatically with sending hunger signals, letting know what it needs, how much & when having enough (if eating natural foods mostly though rather than junk foods (processed cookies, processed foods..) which can mess with these signals, since these foods are also designed for leaving more hungry, higher in calories, eating more from since tasting good, & still wanting more if not carefull).

Experiment which foods make you feel healthy, most satisfied. Natural foods also provides the body to thrive instead of having a food plan filled with cookies, junk food.. since it's also about the nutritients the foods contains.

Our bodies can be perfectly happy with less calories overall as long the calories / nutritients come from quality foods mainly (Fruits, vegetables, eggs, meat, fish,..).

When using a scale, if knowing doing everything right, since there are daily fluctuations (changes happening inside the body), try measuring once a week to keep in check and see a trend, also reduce stress from daily weighing.

[Lightsinger]

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@Nirave wrote:

So here is the deal...

I start something, then get bored and lose....

I started gym a few years ago, after 7 months, bored, lost 12 kgs though...

started working out at home, then work took me over.

just 2 months ago i started a brilliant new diet plan, failed to keep up in just a week...

and now its FitBit... but this time i dont wanna lose the motivation... How do I keep up?

my friends and family are no worth as they have given up on me...

can anyone suggest?

---

Sticking to a regimen cannot be for anyone else but you.  How do you want to feel?  What kind of quality of life do you want?  I want to enjoy the best health that I can for as long as I can.  I want a good quality of life for as long as I have life.  I see so many people my age who are mobility challenged:  walkers, canes, wheelchairs, reliant on others to get around.  That day may come, because, well, life; but I'm trying to postpone that day as much as I can.  What you do right now will impact the rest of your life, so make it good. 

[Nirave]

@SunsetRunner I guess to some point you are right. Ever since I have started working outside of my family home I have been much reliant on packaged and ready to make foods. I never looked up for the nutritional information, but last month, after reading a book written by a professional Nutritionalist about diet and all, I started reading the info on packs and that blew my mind. I am a vegetarian and so there are not many options available, and those which are available are mostly fried.

I had been literally slaughtering my digestive system with all that food. And since the book read, I decided to bring it to a stop. Before I decided on FitBit, I had already started to learn to cook small simple recipes and plan my diet, but the load that I have already gained, will only be reversed by activity. Tomorrow rises a New SUN.

[Nirave]

Its strange how we humans find motivation in such different things to do such different works....

Like I found to push me to go for walking....

I am a born foodie and since I live alone, dinner is mostly a tough choice.half the time i am eating at these small dine-ins nearby and some better ones a couple of kilometers away. Yesterday I realized that if I were to go to the far ones I would generally take my bike, which adds to the food cost coz of expensive petrol here. So thinking the revelation came that why not walk there, get the food packed and walk back. will have both works acomplished, walking as well as dinning in the comfor of the house while listening to my fav music... 

And Voila... Yesterday I had my first serious walk since months, and after i was back i wasnt even tired (surprising coz i am 145 KG and walked 3 km)...

So finding something motivating in my biggest weakness made my day... 20000 steps and counting... 🙂

[LakeLady]

I have recently had two major operations resulting in three large incisions. Prior to the surgery I had unwillingly lost a great deal of weight- even the shopkeepers commented on my looks. I was in the position of looking forward to gaining (!). I'm still in my recovery stage, but due to the steroids and inactivity I have gained 22 pounds in about a month. I look horrible. I can't believe the gain. I know all about steroids but this is too much to believe!

I need to get my motivation back to overcome this weight gain- not to get back to the prior number but at least to drop 8 pounds or so. I need to walk walk walk. But it is hard to do much with my walker or cane. As soon as my balance is back I can shed the walker, but not now. Just getting up the stairs seems like a victory.

Any and all comments of assistance and encouragement are welcome. I am in a tad of an emotional slump with the discomfort, inactivity and now the extra pounds. I'm sending loving vibes out to each of you who understands. Best, LakeLady

[KiwiRobyn]

That's great motivation then isn't it.  Don't give up and don't beat yourself up, you are doing something good for yourself, feel proud you have made a really positive step in your health and well-being.

[Paulette3028]

The definition of the word motivation is: motive for action.  No one can give you motivation, you can't buy it a store or read it in a book, you can't take someone else's motivation either an make it yours....YOUR motivation has to come from within.

Are you motivated to lose weight to:look better, feel better, do things you can't do now, hopefully live longer and healthier.....in the end and in the beginning you need to find what will motivate you to 'get started' and then keep changing the motivation to keep it fresh and challenging....but it all starts with YOU and no one else.

[TJFIT]

@Nirave  I am vegetarian but all my food is 100% home cooked except for breads, cheese and some yogurt (mostly in winter; in warmer weather I can make my own).  I buy lentil and beans from Indian grocery store.  I have pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker.  I make my own brown rice.  Pressure cook beans.  Put the spices I like and eat with either whole bread or brown rice.

I also buy lots of vegetables and fruits from farmers market.

[Boopsbetty87]

You are right! It's our choice!  I chose to get my 1994 body back. lol  My family doesn't think I can do it.  I used to be an exercise guru - faithfully 2.5 hours every day (combo of weight lifting, running, and yoga).  I tipped my scales at 210 and have lost 17 lbs since I got a fitbit through work.  My sisters remember me at 112 lbs. then toned with weights at 115 lbs. they scoff saying I shouldn't set my sites to 135 lbs. to be happy to make it to 150.  Nuts to that!  That's part of my motivation, the family that doesn't believe I can do it!

Hope this helps others as your motivational text has 'motivated' me.

[Boopsbetty87]

I so agree with this; change your lifestyle gradually.  I don't do well with diets and see others around me with fad diets.  I believe, as you do, eat what you want (in moderation) but exercise.  I can't keep a food log because it's depressing to see how little i've consumed for the day and how many calories I've taken in.  So, I just eat in moderation what i like and what's good for me and keep an activity and water intake diet.

thanks for the post.  if more people read your post they'd be happier and in better health.

[USAF-Larry]

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@Boopsbetty87 wrote:

 I can't keep a food log because it's depressing to see how little i've consumed for the day and how many calories I've taken in. 

So, I just eat in moderation what i like and what's good for me and keep an activity and water intake diet.

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For some reason, those two statements seem to conflict with one another - you don't want to see how many calories you've taken in, so you eat in moderation what you like?  Isn't eating what you like contributing to the number of calories you don't want to see?  Just an obersvation....

[maddiem]

When I am feeling unmotivated to exercise, eat healthy, etc, I just think about how much better I will feel after I run or on the flip side how guilty I will feel after I eat a bunch of junk food.