I'm at my first "cycle" on this new weight loss journey of mine, and I want to mindlessly eat. I have no motivation, and I need to find it somewhere. I weighed in for my second time at WW and gained .4 this week. I know that it's nothing, and that it could be water weight, but I know I am not following the plan like I should. Why is this? I want to lose the weight, I really do, but why can't I stay on track?!?!?!

Hi there! And welcome!
So, this might sound harsh, but here goes --
Do you really want to lose weight? Or do you really LOVE the idea of losing the weight and being slimmer? And do you want to do what it takes? Or what you THINK it will take?
Once you answer those questions, you'll be able to decide if this is the right time for you to diet because if your mind isn't in the right place, you most likely won't get the results that you want.
Kira

Harsh is what I need....harsh is what I give everyone else but myself. I DO really want to lost the weight and I want to do what I have to do. I can feel how overweight I am, and I don't like it. My joints hurt and I am always tired.

Greetings!

My guess is that some part of you is engaging in magical thinking. "Oh, this little X won't hurt, so I can eat it and not count it." Obviously that's not going to work.

Be sure you write down everything you eat. Everything. And figure out the points. Be sure you are tracking how many points every day, every week. Leave nothing out.

Remind yourself every time you reach of that little something that it DOES count! And you can't keep eating the "old way" and lose weight!

Jay

Then you've just found your motivation! You need to adopt a healthy lifestyle so your joints don't hurt and you don't feel so overweight anymore. And I see in your avatar that you have a most precious and beautiful little one on your knee. There is another motivation -- to get out there and play and run and be the best physically that you can be so you'll be around for years to come.
NOW, you need to kick yourself in the butt, and start seriously analyzing what you eat, and plan so that you eat within your points.
Boring, tedious, but there is NO way around it because this is what it is going to take. This IS what is necessary to get where you want to go.
You CAN do it! And there is a great WW thread on this board where you'll see that pretty much ALL of us have been in your place before. So jump in, read up, log in, post, plan your meals and JUST DO IT!!!

Kira

There is a mind trick I used on myself a couple years ago, to get myself in the mindset of losing weight. This may or may not be an "approved" way, but I know it worked for me, to find that mental place I needed to find to be able to lose weight.
There was a guy at work that I really really liked, but he never looked twice at me. When I had a craving for something, for example a cookie, I told myself "Tim doesn't like girls who eat cookies," "Tim likes girls who work out," etc.
Again, this might not be the best way to do it, and it may or may not work for you. What I do know is that after a couple of months, Tim wasn't on my mind about food choices, they became automatic.
That weight loss occurred during a time period when my husband and I were separated. When we got back together, I fell off the wagon and gained back all the weight I had lost. However, I'm still glad I did the Tim-trick, because when I started my journey in March, I found that mental place immediately. I know I wouldn't have if I hadn't found it before. Does that make sense?

HI and welcome. My 2 cents is this: commit to what you want to do, then you won't need motivation. I know that I don't want to be fat anymore, so I decided in my heart and head that this was it. Since then, nothing has gotten in my way and nothing ever will. I'm committed to myself, what I want to feel like, how I want to dress, how healthy I want to be. Even when I don't want to workout or eat right, which doesn't happen that much, I think about the promise I made to myself. I refuse to be fat. It's just not working for me.

Thanks.....I love your quote in your siggy....that hit home for sure!

Thanks Kira, for giving me that first swift kick to the arse!! I needed it!!

Hi Ms M Dizzle! Hope to see you on the WW boards soon!
Kira

I can definitely relate. There is plenty of motivation around me--my children, my health--and yet I still struggle at times with motivation, which in turn brings on the guilt. When you find the answer..please let me know. I honestly, think it is a line of thought, that we have maintained so long, it simply becomes another bad habit that we need to take control of...I would say once you conquer behavior modification, you've won half the battle with weight loss. I think..

Forget motivation. Forget it. Forget it. Forget it. Or should I say don't rely on it? Don't rely on it. Don't rely on it.

COMMITMENT

That's what's needed. Make that commitment to be healthy and lose the weight. This way there's no ifs, ands or buts. - You just do it.

And luckily, all bad habits CAN be broken. You've just got to replace them - with new and HEALTHY ones. And eventually those new healthy habits - they become your norm.

Nothing like paying a international multi-million dollar industry to tell you that you gained .4 pounds. The rich get richer, and yet so many of us keep paying the piper and gaining weight. Why is that? It's kind of sad really.

Great advice. Perhaps, trying to rely on it as a crutch has been my problem. Thanks!