I go to the mall a couple times a week to mall walk and after my walk is over I stop in different stores and look at a size 10 in all kinds of styles. As I walk past the plus sized stores I tell them goodbye and I won't coming back for anything.

I put on some makeup, fix my hair, dress in something I think looks good on me, and head out.

I picture sitting on my front porch watching RAGBRAI riders go by and thinking to myself, "if that girl can do it, I can do it." I don't want anybody looking at me in July and saying "if that girl can do it, I can do it." I want to look like I belong on a bike riding across the state of Iowa. I not only want to ride my bike across Iowa, I want to look HOT doing it!

Also, while Christmas shopping for my girls this year I discovered they make "wide calf" boots. And it sort of made me gag. I want boots next winter - cool ones that are fuzzy on the inside - and they WILL NOT be wide calf sized. I want normal sized ones. Isn't that a weird motivator? Off-the-rack boots? I also want some dress boots that come almost to the knee and then you wear a straight skirt with them? And a bulky sweater? I want to look GOOD in boots!

On my laptop I have the screen saver set on Marquee and I have my start date and weight set just as numbers followed by my current weigh in date and weight(I started again on Jan 4th and weighed 269.4 and weighed in Jan 25th at 254.9 so my numbers are 1042694 and 1252549 )and then it will scroll across the screen and I can see the progress (and noone else knows what it means LOL) it is a constant reminder. Usually my munching would be when I was on the computer and I would walk away and sit back down at the computer and munch. Now when I sit down my weights are scrolling across reminding me that maybe I don't want the junk and could go back and get an apple.

These are all great ideas!

A thought that gets me through is that somewhere along the line, I told myself that I had eaten SO MUCH JUNK up to this point in my life that I had eaten enough to last a lifetime and that even if I never ate it again, it would be okay, because I had already eaten enough....then I think about all of the times over the years that I've downed an entire pack of OREOS or something like that, and how sometimes I enjoyed them, and more often I didn't really, and that now I've finished with OREOS... like graduating from college or watching your kids leave home-- it was great while it lasted, but now it's DONE.

I look at how far I've come... I read through my old journals, I check my spreadsheets... I remind myself that I NEVER want to go back there... and that reins me back in pretty damn quick.

I vocalize usually to the husband when I think I want a second helping or when I crave junk food. I say out loud I really want ________ but I know I don't need it and it will go straight to my A$$! LOL It helps me get over the wants. This happens alot when in the car zooming past fast food places. He laughs how I can just about come up with a want from ever darn place. But just saying it out loud makes me get over it . Maybe it's weird but it works for me. I have noticed I even do it alone sometimes. Silly Me!

I have 2 corkboards, one in my bedroom by my desk and one on the wall infront of my treadmill. I have pictures of celebrities and models that I want to look like or magazine clippings of clothes I want to wear and inspirational words and it helps to keep me on track. When I am on my treadmill I can look at them while I'm exercising and it motivates me to work hard.

I'm sure I do other weird things, but I can't think of anymore off hand, lol

I started my weight loss journey right about Christmas and my goal was to be 50#s lighter next Christmas. So I just picture me showing up at Christmas slimmer. Man do I look good!

One other thing that I do is just go to bed. If I overeat it is usually later in the day when I am tired after a long day. So lately when I have been feeling the urge to eat and eat and eat I just go curl up in bed with a book.

another thing I do that isn't very weird but works is I have a big jar that I keep putting $5.00 in for every pound lost I figure I am saving at least that by giving up fast food. Of course I put 5 ones in the jar because it makes it look like so much more LOL. Whatever works.:carrot:

Come on all you chicks that are lurking around this thread...give it up !...what is your weird secret weapon ?

This thread is great! But I am worried. I don't think I have anything! I mean I don't think I have anything "special" Maybe I need to. I have read what others wrote...but nothing really fits. I have thought about cutting pictures out of clothes I would like to fit into someday. More like styles of clothes. Since I have been bigger than a 3x I haven't been able to shop in many stores. 3FC keeps me on track. This has got me thinking....

As I was getting dressed for work today, I looked through the back of my closet at the nice 1X things I put in the back, hoping to get back to that size someday. I usually just pitch junky clothes that are too small, I wear my clothes to death so if they are too small I just get rid of them. But the really nice stuff I've bought in the last 5 years, suits, dresses, even cute summer stuff...It's all there! It's going to be like going shopping in my own closet!
I'm so excited! This seems like it will help me stay on track!

don't know if it qualifies as wierd, but I turn off my computer. I log my food online so if computer is off, I'm "done" eating for the day.

And yes, some mornings I have to go back a day and add something I ate later, but mostly this works.