I feel like I'm living the same day over and over and over for 10 years now and I desperately want to break the cycle. EVERY SINGLE night, I go to bed saying "ok this is it! Tomorrow I get up and things change!!!" and EVERY SINGLE morning I get up and I say "uuuuugggghhhh" next thing I know, 1/2 the days over and its the same old same old....HELP!!

Make small changes throughout the day.

The stairs instead of the elevator.
Water instead of soda pop.

Lots of little changes add up!

I used to tell myself I'd change all the time, but something in the back of my mind kept saying "Yeah, right," and I wouldn't believe that I actually could change so I would give up before I started. Now, I absolutely know I can change because I am changing! I started out by making healthier decisions, changing one thing at a time. Like Mozzy said, find something small to change & stick with it. Then you can build on that & before you know it, the cycle is a faint memory

In a nutshell, I finally decided that I had HAD it with living with my body and eating crap and being unhealthy.

I met with my doctor's office to start a medically supervised diet (I knew I couldn't do it on my own) and it took a couple of weeks to get started since I had to have tests etc. Between the time I had my appointment and started my new plan, I had lost almost 7 pounds by phasing out the junk but having some awesome "last meals".

The good yummy food will still be there when I am in maintenance but for now, it's healthy, wholesome food. And I love it.

I wish you lots of luck. It's so hard to get started but once you do, it feels awesome!!

For me, I was never serious about changing, until one day I was. I'd just had enough with being so unhealthy.

What helped me is recording all my food and sticking to a strict calorie limit. I find that doing this religiously has turned it into a habit. I know I'm going to stick to my limit, so before I eat anything now, I'm thinking about how many calories are in it, whether I can eat it, or whether eating it will mean I have to skip a meal or something later. Once I started thinking of the consequences before eating anything, I found it a lot easier to turn down high calorie food/snacks/drinks. I've gotten into a habit of making a conscious decision about every single thing that passes my lips. I actually like it, because I know I wouldn't have thought twice about the stuff I was eating before.

Change, real change doesn't start in the morning---it is an all day everyday mindset. My advice: plan out all the food you're going to eat for the entire week. This way your food choices are already made, no surprises.

If you really want to change, you will but it takes hard work. You can do it.

Some people are all or nothing. For me it was one minor change in the beginning, no carbs at lunch. Simple, one meal for the day had to change. Then, after 30 days of that it was no sugar. Now I don't have sugar at all...I honestly can't remember the last time I had anything with sugar in it. The biggest thing is, I don't want anything with sugar in it.

Just make a plan to change one thing at a time. It really helped me.

Both of these comments are basically how I started my journey. What's that saying??? A year from now you will be glad you started today. I'm a little over a year out and a little over 100lbs lighter. I'm ECSTATIC that I finally started when I did. And I KNOW that this time... there will be no going back!
Everyone is different though so I guess you just need to find what really motivates or inspires you.

Weighing myself every morning puts my mindset right for the whole day. I want to see that number go down!

You may not be ready for change yet... you may be in the pre-change timeframe where you're still thinking about it. Or you've moved to the "preparation" stage, but aren't quite in the "action" phase.

Granted, it's not linear. I know I do a LOT of contemplation and prep, and then dip my toe in to action, and then pull it back out and do more prep, and then go in up to my knees, and then jump right out again... and so on.

One of the things I do to kick myself into the action phase is to post more often on the boards (this one, a low carb one, and a couple diabetes boards) to get myself more involved in the community. And I pull out a document of "health scripts" I've written for myself, that outline why I want to do this. And encouraging things I've picked up from more experienced weight-loss folks. And anything else that helps. I read that over and over again, until I start hearing THAT in my head instead of the "You're a failure, just give up" voice.

that feeling of "ugggh" is hard
feeling tired and sluggish and sick, is really hard
making a plan and sticking it, is crazy hard
saying "no" to treats you want, is insanely hard

I guess you just have to pick what kind of hard you want to take up your days, they're going to pass regardless of what you do, so you might as well make 'em worth it

wow, lots of advice here! This is great!

I am definatly an all or nothing person. But is this something I should try to fight, or embrace? I never really thought about stepping on the scale daily maybe I'll give that a try. And thanks for the member that said changing doesn't just happen in the morning...you are so right! Its very much something to remind myself of.

I am sick of feeling sick!!! My health has taken a big nose dive this past year. I'm having lots of breathing problems, my dct wants me to get another test b/c the last one said I was pre diabetic (which runs in my family) AND my heart rate is too high...for all these things I've got lots of testing coming up the next 2 wks.

I really appreciate the support I've received thus far...would NOT have happened at another forum I have been on for a year now.

What's the trigger that pushes someone over the edge from thinking about change to doing it? Some people don't have a trigger and just do it. I like to call those people "lucky"

For some, it's a concrete event or reason - something tangible. Having chest pains did it for me. It also helped that I had a Disney trip planned in the future.

You've got to find that reason, that reason to start and keep going. Maybe you have kids, maybe you have an event coming up, something...anything specific and not a vague "I want to better my health." Something that will last awhile so that it continues to motivate you.

Just some thoughts.

thanks Vex! I do have a few things I need to remind myself of. Our vacation to Nashville is coming up and I fear I will not be able to handle the walking. ALSO, my dct, just this week said my blood levels were pre diabetic...scary stuff!

I think it's important to be mentally ready and a lot of us think we are, but we aren't.

Making too many large changes at once is just setting yourself up for failure. It can be overwhelming. What is helping me is making a lot of small changes gradually and having a buddy I'm doing this with to keep me accountable. I can't skip a gym day because she's counting on me. I won't have the extra cookie because I don't want to disappoint myself or her.

Hope this helps. Good luck on your journey. We're all rooting for you.