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Old 03-19-2007, 11:14 AM   #1  
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Hey everyone! I was looking for the thread with all the inspirational quotes and couldn't find it -- I wanted to add the one that is now in my signature. "Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible." It's a quote by St. Francis of Assisi -- I'm not Catholic, but I've always felt a special sort of connection or something for St. Francis. I went to the St. Francis Basilica in Assisi about 9 years ago on a vacation, and I got a feeling there that I've never had anywhere else (long story -- I'll save it for another time!)

Anyway, I want to get us talking about how to keep up the motivation after a long string of success. I've had pretty consistent weight loss since I started this in July, and I want to keep going, but I find myself getting a tad burned out on counting my calories and writing everything down and that whole end of it. It's so nice in the beginning when it's like this big improvement project and when you start seeing results. Now my obsession with running has sort of taken the place of it. That's a good thing, of course, but I worry that my focus will change and I won't stay motivated to keep up with the eating plan that works. Anyone else having trouble with complacency and burnout after a long period of weight loss? I revisited my goals and decided to focus on weighing 175 by the end of the school year, as a way to rededicate myself to seeing results.

The St. Francis quote really speaks to me because it kind of reflects how far I've come. Last summer, running would've been impossible. I started with what was necessary -- eating right and exercising. Then I did what was possible -- increasing my exercise and beginning running. Now I'm doing what was once impossible -- running a LOT and running far! Things like that motivate me, certainly, but I have this feeling that my focus is changing and I don't know if it's good or bad. I'm wondering if I should just accept it or if that's a mistake because it could stop or stall my weight loss.

Any ideas on refocusing or maintaining motivation?
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Old 03-19-2007, 11:34 AM   #2  
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Lisa, what perfect timing for your post! I've been chugging along since August, and made some tremendous changes in my life. I still write everything down, etc., but am starting to look for more motivation. I don't want to become complacent or settle for whats been accomplished so far....I think I'll be checking back on your post to see what advice people give!
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Old 03-19-2007, 01:36 PM   #3  
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Hi Lisa!

This whole weight loss thing has been a roller coaster ride for me! I'm up, I'm down, I'm spinning around...WHEW!

Anyway, journalling and this site seem to be my biggest inspirations besides shopping for smaller clothes NOT in the Plus Size section! Measuring myself to find inches lost even when the scale shows no change has kept me going, too! That mother-of-the-groom dress in the front of my closet keeps me going as I try it on each week and am starting to see changes with the fit in the arms (beaded tops are NOT at all forgiving and definitely NOT at all s-t-r-e-t-c-h-y!). Seeing the graph on my Fitday PC account helps a lot, too. When I find my little gray box right on the red line I feel like all of my efforts are worth it.

Have you actually sat back and surveyed all that you have accomplished with your weight loss and your running and all the compliments that you have been receiving from everyone? Maybe you need to write these down on notecards and place them in your planbook or on your desk or in your purse so that you have a built-in cheerleading squad handy everywhere you look! I did that and I also posted signs up around my house to remind myself of my progress and labeled foods with, "NO! Cheryl! This is NOT going to help you meet your goal!"

I think to lose weight you have to be a bit selfish. You have to put yourself first for awhile. That's hard when you are a woman and even harder when you are a teacher. Think of ways to encourage yourself and to tell your body how proud you are of all it has accomplished. You'll be back and motivated right quick!

Oh, and don't worry about that slip you had at the party! A slip is only a bad thing if we don't get back up afterwards!

Cheryl
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Old 03-19-2007, 03:49 PM   #4  
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Oh my, if this post isn't speaking directly to me, I don't know what is. Now I've only been committed for a couple of months, but I have definitely hit a rut these past few days. My eating is back on track, but absolutely no motivation to exercise. I'm getting ready to force myself to do 20 minutes of Turbo Jam. Maybe that'll get the juices flowing again.

But is definitely hard to keep it going. That's why I commend all of you big losers for still hanging in there.
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Old 03-19-2007, 03:55 PM   #5  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SexyRevealed View Post
My eating is back on track, but absolutely no motivation to exercise.
I'm just the opposite. It's not like I want to eat like crazy (though I wouldn't mind a binge, if I didn't know how horrible it would make me feel) -- it's just that I'm sick of counting everything and keeping track. I know I have to do it -- because if I stop I'll go back to my old ways slowly but surely. I'm just temporarily kind of sick of it. I still love exercising, though, and you can't keep me from doing a run no matter how many papers I have to grade!! I guess we should be thankful we're not in a rut on BOTH these important factors, right?

I don't know...I go back and forth on all this. One minute I'm motivated as can be and the next I'm not. For the most part, though, I've been supermotivated now for eight months. It makes sense that it's getting a bit tougher now... The other thing is that the more I run the hungrier I am, which makes sense. I may have to play around with my calorie range a bit. I always eat more on workout days anyway, but I need to start focusing on exactly how to fuel my runs without going overboard and while still maintaining a calorie deficit that will allow me to lose weight without feeling deprived. It's all so flippin complicated, and yet at times it seems so simple. Maybe I've had it too easy these past 8 months! No, that's not it...I've worked my tail off! (literally!)
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Old 03-19-2007, 04:05 PM   #6  
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Lisa - You sure have worked your butt off, and it shows. You are right, though. At least we are doing one thing right. It is REALLY complicated. We should all be awarded medals of honor once we reach our goal. LOL.

But we also have one other thing in common... I'm not giving up, and I'm absolutely sure you won't either! OK, time to bust out of this funk. I'm going to the market and when I come home I will just throw on the tape and get to moving.
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Old 03-19-2007, 04:05 PM   #7  
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I think us 100lb clubbers have a whole different set of circumstances then the non-morbidly obese. I think that Cheryl and Lisa and Kelly and I are more or less in the same boat. We have made drastic, drastic changes to our lives.

-We can shop in regular sized stores (at least I think we all can, sorry if I'm wrong)
-We are much more fit and active (especially you Lisa, with all that running of yours)
-We look and feel better. Have more energy
-Probably feeling better socializing (again I'm just being general here)
-Fitting into seats now, airplane and others
-We are, for lack of a better word - regular sized. Not so large and standoutish.
-Improved our overall health

And of course the list goes on and on. There are plenty of people here at 3FC who begin their journey weighing less then I do now. Way less in fact. But our lives have really dramatically changed. I'm sure there lives will too, but they are already shopping in regular sized stores and already fitting into airplane seats,and are probably already active, etc. I'm not sure what my point is here. I guess I'm trying to say, we really have accomplished a lot by those changes already, though we are not at goal. How to keep it going and not get complacent? Hmmm. Well I recently made a couple of posts that really got to me. The one with "If you could choose beforehand, what would you choose, fat or not fat, fit or not fit?" and the one where I talk about comfort and just how dis-comforting I felt being fat. Kind of like Wyllenn's 'Letter to my frustrated self", I printed those out for when the times when I am feeling not so into sticking to plan. I think these reminders are really important, because I never, ever want to go back to my former life. I know just how easy it is for 100 lbs to sneak right back on me. Any sacrifices I am making is so very worth it. We just have to keep on reminding ourselves how far we've come and how much better our lives are and how much worse they used to be. Not always so easy.
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Old 03-19-2007, 04:34 PM   #8  
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See, that's the thing. I know how far I've come, and I'm proud of myself and I'm amazed at what I've accomplished and all that, so it doesn't even make sense for me to lose motivation. I guess it's because it just takes so LONG to lose this much weight. It would be different if I only had to lose 50 pounds or less (not to belittle the efforts of people who don't have as much to lose -- it's just different). Even though I've lost weight consistently, and kind of quickly considering there weren't any real plateaus, it's still taken 8 months and guess what? I'm still overweight! Yes, I can shop in regular stores (for some things, but I'm still sort of on the verge), and yes I actually fit in seats. These are great things, but I guess I'm getting impatient for the REST of the rewards! I should be happy about my success, and I AM happy, but that doesn't stop me from sometimes being tired of the whole struggle. Thank God I have you guys!!

By the way, I just noticed that Tiffany has a TWO instead of a THREE -- what's it called? Twoville? That's fantastic!!! We need to make a congratulatory thread about it, but I don't know if Twoville is the right term!!
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Old 03-19-2007, 04:42 PM   #9  
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Oh, thank you Lisa! It's strange though... I don't really feel like celebrating. (Well, maybe a little... LOL). My previous high weight was about 270, and these last 40 lbs kind of crept on over the past few years. I'm happy that I'm seeing success, I just wish I didn't have to battle these pounds to get back to my "regular" starting point. But on the bright side, they are finally packing up and leaving town!
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Old 03-19-2007, 08:36 PM   #10  
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Though I have not been at this for very long, there are already moments when I think of how long this is going to take! Those are the moments that I find really overwhelming! But then I focus on how good I feel already compared to how I felt five weeks ago (before I started exercising) and to give up because the fight is long would be giving up on how good I feel and going back to the girl who longs for a nap every single afternoon! I love having this energy and know it will only get better and that helps me take the focus off the length of time this will take in total and place on right now and how I feel.
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