Too much motivation?
 

I've got a problem. For the first two months of my weight loss, I was very motivated and gung ho about it all. I was researching a lot and reading a lot about weight loss, and snooping around this forum, and buying health magazines and all that. And then all the sudden I didn't want to do it. I was resentful of all the time I spent trying to motivate myself instead of doing the things that I really did like to do, no matter what weight I was or trying to be, like talking to my friends about things other than how my weight loss was going, reading that didn't have to do with health, posting in other online communities that I'm involved in that don't have to do with health.

The aerobics classes that I like going to and have instructors that I trust are at six in the morning, requiring me to get up at five, so I always have to make sure I go to bed early enough to be able to go to the classes, and thus when all my friends are still up and wanting to talk on the phone at midnight or whatever (free nights and weekends), I miss out. And the exercise classes are a big part of the motivation for me, because the better I eat I've noticed the better I am at the work out routines, and that's a big motivator for me.

I've still been losing weight, but two weeks in a row I lost a quarter of a pound, which is great, but not as good as I've been doing. These past two weeks, I've lost 2.4 pounds, which really great, but I just want to make sure I nip this in the bud before I go back to where I was before. Does anyone have any advice on how to balance out the part of your life that is non-health obsessed with the one that is?

I know exactly what you mean. It's really hard to find a perfect balance between the two. You don't want to be too motivated to the point where you get sick of it and no longer want to do it. I go through spells when I am soooo motivated and encouraged and then there are times when I don't want to work out, but I force myself to do it.

I used to track everything to the tee in fitday or dailyplate but i had to learn to not to do that, but instead mentally monitor what i was inputting into my body. as soon as i did that i saw more weight loss. i wish i had a simple solution for you, but it is something i struggle with as well. i hope you find something that works for you. good luck! :hugs:

Well, the thing is... motivation comes and goes. It can't last for a lifetime, and there will always be moments of doubt when we ask ourselves why we do all that, for what purpose... Not only in weight loss, but in everything in life (I'm highly motivated to study for that competitive exam to become a teacher, but boy, are there days when I feel completely defeated, convinced that I'm too old, too dumb, won't make it ever, so why bother...). So you can't count on motivation, and I honestly think--and for myself as well, being the cyclic person that I am, I have to walk that talk as well--that we have to learn to do without motivation.

Motivation is great to let us look for articles, tips, caloric content, etc, so that we actually have all the tools in hand. And by all means, let's do it, it WILL be useful on those unmotivated days when we whine about how looking up calories is tedious. But if we have to count on motivation to propel us at the gym at 6 am in December, well, tough luck. I know, it's not very encouraging, but seriously, it's one of those things we really HAVE to learn to do without relying on motivation all the time. It's like willpower... too fickle to be more than a temporary ally. :( And I hope you can and will find in you the strength to go on even when all prospects seem bleak.

There must be a way to combine all of this. Aerobics classes can be taken one day out of two, and on other days you take another class at a different hour. Chat with friends at midnight on two days a week but not five. Visit 3FC on Monday and Wednesday, and another community on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Whatever works. It's true that it's a **** of a lot of compromises to do sometimes, but... I've figured out that if we can do them for other things (watching a weekly show on TV, for instance), we might as well do them for what's healthy for us and will allow us to live a fit life. It doesn't have to be total misery, on the contrary; however, I agree it's hard at first to find the right balance. And at times, we can only achieve a half-balance--which is still better than nothing at all. :)

Sidenote... Are me and my friends old, or what? At midnight, we're already all in bed. :lol:)

Two words: Burn. Out.

Learn to pace yourself (and I realize that you are looking for suggestions on how to do this).

You just have to accept that this is a lifestyle change and that cake happens.

So, you live with it, you get on with life. Some weeks are better than others. Some months are better than others. That is totally normal. You need to realize that you don't have to be gung-ho all the time and that that is OK. Just so long as the good days out number the bad, you're going to be in good shape. :)

^^^^^ Yea I think she knows what she's talking about LOL. Listen to her.^^^^^

Thanks, I really think I needed to be reminded of those things. And I forgot something that's always made me fail on the diets before, that eventually I get unhappy and want to rebel against my plan, and that no matter how happy I'll be once I get to goal, I can't put off my life until I get to goal. I need to keep myself anchored to other parts of my life while I'm learning to live with this lifestyle change.

I don't know if it was because I was relying on motivation. Maybe at first, when I was loosing a quarter of a pound a week, but then I started eating healthy again, and not beating myself up for having a little bit of regular ice cream. In all my weight loss research, I'd heard of having a bad day where you fell of the wagon, but didn't realize there could be bad weeks. Maybe next time this happens, I realize it for what it is and be able to get control of it quicker. :)

It was just kind of weird, though. I didn't resent the fact that I had to exercise, I resented the fact that exercise was my motivation to eat better and be healthier. Though I wouldn't say no to more sleep, lol. I think maybe I was looking to get the easy enthusiasm of the first two months back without the risk of burnout.

Hee. No, my friends are such that if they call me at the slightly more reasonable hour of 10 pm, there is an excellent chance that they'll still be at it at 1:30. These friends live out of state, though, hence the importance of free nights and weekends. Plus I like reading and watching tv, and sometimes the middle of the night is the only time I can guarantee that someone won't bug me.