Hi there. Tonight is the last night of week 1 of this new portion of my weight loss/health journey. I have counted every calorie, exercised 6/7 days, and eaten really cleanly.

Of course, week 1 is alway easiest. I am down 7 lbs. also (remember -- week 1). So, how have you all stayed motivated past the initial high of week 1?

Congratulations! What a great success for your first week!

One thing I do to keep motivated and on track is to track my weight (I use some of the threads here, and also an excel spreadsheet I made), and each week I don't just look at the amount lost that week, but the total amount, and this keeps me going. This past week, I lost 0.2, which is yucky considering how much I worked, but knowing that I have lost 41.4 reminds me how far I have come!

I admit to waning a little bit after six months here, which is one reason I'm jumping into some of the challenges here, to keep me going!

The first week is the best isn't it? I have been losing between 2-3 pounds a week since March 1st so although it is not a huge amount it is enough to keep me motivated. My other big motivating factor is every week my clothes get baggier and baggier. That keeps things exciting as well. Good Luck!!

I actually think week one is hardest, that and week 2. That's the early stages when your cravings are at an all time high. When you're not used to eating these types of healthy foods, when you haven't gotten into a good groove. When you haven't found delicious, yet healthy foods to enjoy. When you're not used to telling yourself no and finding the self discipline that is needed. For me it got easier and easier as I got more and more into it.

Motivation? Hellllooooo - 7 lbs off of you, if that isn't enough to keep you going, I don't know what is.

But seriously, did you start this venture to lose 7 lbs or did you start this venture to get to a *normal*, healthy weight? Because if you started this venture to get to that normal, healthy weight, ummm, I gotta tell you - you're not there yet. You've got to finish what you've intended to do!

At least that's how I felt about it. But you see I didn't rely on motivation to get the job done, because that comes and goes and is never around when the pasta, cake and cookies are - no I rely on the COMMITMENT that I made to *do this*, once and for all, no matter what and permanently.

Having made that ironclad commitment, being, feeling motivated no longer played a role in whether or not I do what needs to be done.

Commitment aside, I DID find it incredibly motivating, thrilling and exciting manipulating that scale through my healthy eating. I really found the whole process very motivating in and of itself. I had a blast during the losing portion of my journey. It was a wonderful time of self growth and self discovery.

I look forward to hearing of your continued progress.

Congratulations on that 7lb!

I have been a serial dieter but I know that when I'm succeeding (Day #39, no slips or cheats) it's because of becoming super-geek:
I track my food and exercise in DietPower, because I like the way it reminds me about my nutrients, not just cals/carbs and weight.

Next, purely personal, once I discovered the WOE I started on May 24th was giving me bathroom problems, I set up an A3 MS Publisher page to track what my reactions were to given meals, and what my carbs, fat, fibre, protein, weight and calories are.

A couple of days ago I re-found my sparkpeople page and have been logging all my food in there too - I like the way it gives detailed pie-charts for each meal.

It's a bit time-consuming, better than consuming too much food though; and so far, its' working!

Thanks everyone. Good reminder RR about commitment vs. motivation. I made myself accountable to my husband, close friend, and checkbook this time and that pushed me through the week.

I have always eaten healthy foods. I am a healthy eating vegetarian, so there wasn't anything to get used to. I just eat WAY too much of it when I don't count calories.

I found a few extra tricks this week, though -- one is, when I want something salty, I reach for (AND LOVE) roasted seaweed. I notice that a craving for something salty is just that -- a craving for salt -- and it happens to me in the summer, not the winter. So seaweed, at 30 calories per large serving and cheap when bought at an Asian grocery, is really helpful.

The other trick is to take one of my older kids, who are incredibly athletic, with me for my workouts. They are better than any trainer ever! My son had me biking almost an hour and 20 minutes the other day.

Of course, the most important thing for me is to count all those calories. It always has been the number 1 reason for success.

I already planned our 4th of July so that each family is bringing our own food to fireworks, instead of sharing. This was, I can control what is available to eat, pre-measure, and pre-count.

Thanks again.

Oh...and the actual scale measurement for today's weigh-day was 6.4 lbs. - a banner week.

Congratulations on a successful first week and losing 7 pounds. Like Robin, I found the first week very difficult. I don't know how many times I started but did not finish the "first week". You have done great with your first week! Now to week 2, don't worry about the motivation. Decide what you need to do today to help yourself and then do it. Take it one day at a time and before you know it, you will have finished the second week, and the third week, and ................!