<Rant>

Life kicked me in the groin last year and I fell all apart. Now I am finding it terribly difficult to get motivated and get back on track. I keep saying I am going to, I need too, but I can't actually seem to DO IT! I am so tired and frustrated with myself and my lack of will power and motivation!!

<End Rant>

Hugs

I have no advice, I struggle with motivation too

Since I found this site, I use the site as motivation. Seeing what the people here have accomplished makes me want to accomplish it too!

2012 was an awful year for me personally and I decided that all the miles I walk now will take me physically away from 2012 and deep into 2013, the more the better!!

I wish you lots of luck on your journey and hope that you find the same enjoyment I do with this site. (Reading all the posts and typing replies also keeps my nose out of the fridge!!)

Really I spent Sunday night watching the Biggest Loser with a bag of chips and a bowl of french onion dip. LOL! How awful is that?

You aren't the first person I have read about that watched that show and ate while watching it. I am starting to think there is a pattern here and that show is a trigger making some of us break down and eat poorly.

In any case, I wish I had some good advice for you on motivation, but I am empty handed. I tried for 3 solid months, night after night , trying to motivate myself to get back on track. I tried being nice to myself and promising how great it was going to be. I tried berating myself about how awful I was being to my body. I made myself promises and threatened taking away treats forever. Nothing worked. I just woke up one morning and suddenly I knew I was back on track. Granted it has only been a week, but I already feel much better.

Maybe baby steps will work for you? Instead of being 100% on a plan, practice saying "no" to the bag of chips or allowing a small portion you pre- measure into a bowl plus an apple? It's not ideal, but it would be a small victory that you could feel good about.

Good luck on getting motivation...that is one of my biggest problems too. I am trying to remember how I feel when I exercise or eat right. I too have been using this website as motivation. Everyone is awesome, and it's helped me!

That was Sunday!! It's so 2 days ago!!

Don't worry about the past, we can't go there and change it nor should we worry about it! Today is a brand new day! (I know it's hard to think like that but somehow a magic switch in my head turned on when I started my diet and I'm so thankful for that!)

And.....the food temptations for the players on The Biggest Loser used to make me want to lick my tv. GROSS!! lol

.

I was going to suggest what Pacifica Bee said - use your user name as your motivation and start with small steps. Pick one thing - committing to 20 minutes of activity or journalling your food or replacing one high cal item a day with something lower calorie. Those are just random suggestions, but pick something that works for you, that you can nod your head and say "yes, I can do that."

or what has worked for me was to pick a day, a few days in advance, and say this is my re-start day. I cleared out the off-plan food as best I could, I went shopping to make sure I had the foods I needed, i cooked and prepped what I would need to eat (my plan is very restrictive but in some ways, that's easier for me, because I can just go on auto pilot!). For me, having something specific that I was working towards, but enough time to get used to the idea (about 4 days) was what I needed.

I think looking at the Goal and Mini-Goal areas of this forum are great motivation. They make me excited to do my best so I can make one of those posts one day.

You just need to find what works best for you. Some people like to gradually slide into changing their diets and lives by removing a particularly bad trigger food or adding a 20 minute daily walk. Some people have to throw everything in at once and be extremely strict with themselves to stick to a plan. Figure out what motivates you and give it a go.

Know what motivates me the most? My ticker. Nothing makes me go YEAH! like getting to update it to a lower weight.

It's when I plateau for a long time that I have issues with motivation.

So...why wait to be motivated?

You are an adult. Ultimately, you are in charge, right? You're getting your food, you're deciding what to do with your time. These are decisions that you, and you alone, are in charge of making.

Don't wait until you WANT to do it. Don't wait until you're MOTIVATED to do it. Just do it.

When you do it, you'll feel better, and probably lose weight. And then you'll be motivated for real. But you don't have to be motivated to do it...you just have to decide to do it.

Edited to add: I was re-reading, and I wondered if I was too harsh, so I'm sorry if it came across that way! For me, this is a real empowering message...I am in charge! I make the decisions! I don't have to wait for the motivation gods to rain willpower from the sky to get started!...that's the point I was trying to make.

Mandalinn82 is so right! I suffer from depression and lose all motivation from time to time. Since I started my recent weight loss journey I fell into depression once and didn't really care for keeping up with exercising and eating right, but I did it anyway. I couldnt really see the big picture during that time but forced myself to push forward.
Just think of how healthy u will be, if u have or want kids think of them, think of the clothes u can shop for, think of how much better u will look, think about how much better u will feel overall. If. none of that helps who cares, just Do it!

I agree with mandalinn - you have to think of commitment as empowering. I have to keep telling myself that I'm stronger than my bad habits, that I'm worth the effort, that it's all on me to make my life better.

All of us here are motivated to a certain extent or we wouldn't be on 3FC, but motivation isn't enough. We have to make good choices, over and over and over again.

You're strong, you can do this!

Is there anything in particular that is zapping your motivation? Desire to eat bad foods? Fatigue?

Are you taking a good multi-vitamin? Sometimes I feel like that makes all the difference in the world.