What do you do for a little motivation?
 

Hi to all my 3FC friends. I have become a lurker when I used to be really active on this forum (crazy, busy life), and my weight has gone up slightly because I lost focus for a bit. I'm getting back down, though. "Hello" to all those who were here in my more active days, and hello to all the newbies that I see. This is great!

I was just thinking - what do you do for yourself on days when you feel the "blahs?" You know - those days when you just need to read some inspiration or a reminder from somewhere/someone to keep you focused (or get focused again)? I know the progress pictures and success stories on here are definitely motivators, but what do YOU find motivates you the most to keep on keeping on? We all know this lifestyle takes determination to keep putting one foot in front of the other day in and day out, and life can also get us sidetracked from our weight focus as well, but I just wanted to see what you all do, read, say to yourself, etc., when you just need to be reminded of why you attempted weight loss in the first place.

Can't wait to hear from you all.

I read blogs. I also review mine from months past to get the mojo back.

I come here and surf around a bit. I usually realize I am not alone, that a lot of members struggle every day.

I try to be aware of how my clothes are feeling...they may be the same "before" clothes but they are lot comfier.

I make five pound loss rewards list...this time it was a massage which I cashed in today.

I look at the clothes in magazines, or I read one of my Superfoods books, or I look for a new healthy recipe to try.

Sometimes it is a "sinful" reward..as in..have a "clean" week and you can have some wine on Friday night...etc.

I read blogs and surf the maintainer's forum. Honestly the difference I see in myself is motivation enough to keep going by now. I couldnt live the way I was again. :hug: hi ritzy! :wave:

These are really great motivational tools. :-) I love to hear from others who are in the same journey as I. I'm like you, mollymom, it is encouraging to realize I'm really not in this alone. :-)

Here's wishing you all much more success on your journey to your goal weight. I can't wait to hear from others on this topic.

Hey Ritzy, it's great to "see" you around here again. I'm glad you've returned!!!

For motivation -

-looking at my old, starting weight picture
-looking at and trying on my old skirt, that wraps around me 2X - both which are painful to look at, but great reminders of where I came from and where I never, ever want to return
-looking at my current pics
-looking at my wonderful closet full of gorgeous clothing
-thinking about my wonderful medical results - BP, sugar, cholesterol, etc..
-stopping and thinking about just how much better my life is now, as opposed to 160 something lbs ago.

Really there are tons and tons of reasons for me to continue on and many things that motivate me to stay trim, fit and healthy. But the truth is, I don't rely solely on motivation, because although there are sooooo many reasons to keep forging ahead, the motivation isn't always around when there's ice cream, pasta and what not everywhere I look. That's when I turn to the commitment that I've made. Commitment is much more lasting then motivation. Having made the commitment to a healthy lifestyle - forever - is what keeps me on track. And what takes me right back if I should falter.

Welcome back and I look forward to you becoming an active participant once again. :)

Hi Ritzy... so glad you posted!!

Folks have listed many of the ways and means that I too use for motivation.

I think, for me, it changes as my life changes sometimes.

At first it was to get my lab numbers down to a normal range.

Sometimes I just think about food sanity vs food insanity - the latter of which I've lived with most of my life. I don't want to go back to bingeing, sneak eating, stuffing my face etc. (sometimes I still struggle with those - but, day to day, I am much improved).

I think about how good it feels physically - to be 80 pounds less. That's amazing to me. To be able to get up and down from the floor easily.

I think how I don't have to wonder if I am going to fit in a chair.

One great motivation for me is a know I have found a plan that I have lived with for nearly one year. I had never stayed with any plan in my whole 'dieting career' for more than four months. Calorie counting seems to fit for me. It seems like something I can live with. Also - when I stray from my plan as we all do - I find much comfort in knowing that planning my food and writing it all down will bring me back to the food sanity I want to live with.

It's been fun to get new clothes.

It's been fun to see folks I haven't seen in years and their reaction to a much trimmer me.

As others have mentioned, I come to 3fc and always find a thread that says something I need to hear to help me carry on if I am struggling.

And, my number one tool when I am struggling is meditation and visual imagery. I believe that's one component of my life plan that is essential. When I feel overwhelmed or stressed and want to head right into the food, I bring out the CD's and listen for a while. It is very calming and helpful to me. I try to include meditation or guided imagery in my daily plan. My doctor says that meditation releases seritonin into the body - just like exercise - so it makes you feel good.

Thanks for posting this.

When I need a short burst of "umph" I:

- Look at old pictures.
- Close my eyes & visualize myself at goal.
- Go browsing online for possible goal weight clothing.
- Think about my next mini-goal, and how excited I will be to get there.
- Put on my old pants & top from my high weight. (I kept one outfit.)
- And sometimes I luck out! Just two days ago, I came home from work... tired... thinking about my past mistakes... not wanting to make dinner because it would require some work... feeling a little blah... I turned on the TV to sit with my feet up for half an hour and I happened to flip past a cheesy little weightloss challenge on the Oxygen channel. (Normally this is not my sort of channel.) But, suddenly seeing these people do it, made me want to, as well. I was so grateful, like maybe the universe was saying "Here, you need to see this." :)

But, as always, what RockinRobin said about commitment. ;) "Old faithful" as I call it. :lol:

I love reading all these tips.....It has actually helped, I was needing to read this. Thanks

One of the best ways for me to fight the blahs is to literally drag myself from whatever I'm doing - and some days it's rough, you should hear me arguing with myself - and head to the gym or hit the road on my bike.

About ten minutes into exercising I feel so much better and never regret forcing myself to go. It reinvigorates me, makes me feel better and gets my mind where it should be.

It's a difficult thing to do when I don't feel like doing it, but it's never ever failed me.

I also love the cheesy weight loss shows. Love them! I have a stockpile on my DVR for exercising at home.

Welcome back!

I love the idea of commitment being more valuable than motivation! I wrote that down.

I haven't really tried the visualization thing. To me, being at goal weight is way off in fantasyland. I just focus on one pound at a time. Like baby steps. That one pound is real to me, achievable. But that one pound doesn't make any difference in my life tomorrow versus my life today.

I want to try it. How do you make it real in your mind? Or is that a stupid question?

Piper...just think of 4 sticks of butter - that's one pound. It's a good visualization for me sometimes when I am lamenting losing "only one pound." It puts me in my place to look at four sticks of butter.

Not a stupid question at all!


To explain is a little weird... and embarrassing :o but this is what I see in my mind:

I take a deep breath. I close my eyes. And I imagine myself in the future, a year after I've made goal... I can see myself from the back. I'm a lot smaller than I've ever been in my entire life. I'm in the kitchen, wearing my work out gear (a blue top, and some running shorts) as I've just come home from a great run. I'm cutting up some apple for my lunch salad.

That's it. I only do it for a minute, but that's an example of what I see. Myself in the future. I specifically like to think of myself a year after I make my goal. So not only have I made my goal, but I'm sticking with my habits in the future.

If I need motivation I schedule blood work about three weeks out (usually either cholesterol or A1C (glucose). Makes me stay on plan in anticipation of the blood work and then the results encourage me to stay on plan (either out of fear and dismay at the results, or out of excitement that I am seeing some positive changes!).

This thread has been very helpful. Thanks.