What motivated you to begin this journey to weight loss and health? Whatever initially inspired you can still give you a kick start every day.
Make yourself a "dream board." (Someone here at 3FC suggested this and it's awesome.) Collect pictures of things you want to be able to do, clothes you wish you could wear, etc. You can do this either digitally, with something like pinterest, or in real life. Whenever you feel your motivation slipping, spend a few minutes looking at your pictures and hopefully that bag of chips or pan of brownies or whatever will lose their appeal.
Find a pic of yourself at your highest weight that really bugs you, and when you feel demotivated look at the pic and think about why you dislike it. I don't mean to do this in a self-hating way - "I'm such a hideous fat slob" or whatever. Just more like, "There's a thin healthy person hiding somewhere in there."
Have accountability. Whether it's 3FC or a real life friend, have somewhere you can go when you have the "f*ck its" so they can help you get right back on track.
Pick out some inspiring quotes and surround yourself with them - use them as your screensaver, post them by the bathroom mirror, etc. Make those your mantra.
Few for me is having my before pictures as wallpaper on my home computer. Remembering the physical pains i endured 24/7 when carrying 400+lbs. soaking up motivation and success threads. taking part in a weekly weigh in (on another forum) which i have done faithfully every week since starting last August.
Another motivation is feeling the progress of my journey. Easier to clean and wash myself, general ease of mobility, abundant of energy, not worrying about breaking plastic chairs or fitting into the booth.
Just one of a few reasons to keep going.
Last edited by TheSatinPumpkin; 05-20-2014 at 01:19 PM.
Good answer IanG. To Amberp mine (motivation/inspiration) came back in 2009 due to PCOS complications that were making my life a living hades and I ended up losing about 20 or so lbs. Then over the years it's been multiple motivations, sometimes due to the same PCOS complications, or more recently in 2011 it was loving how I looked in clothes (I got into fashion more due to discovering Torrid plus size clothes). Most recently however it has been my health. I'm 31 with a family history of diabetes and began experiencing some diabetic symptoms (which may or may not indicate that I have the condition) and that was enough to take this seriously. I've now been watching my calories virtually everyday since February 13, 2014. I've had horrible days here and there but quitting isn't an option.
Find what matters most to you (referring to things that are affected by your size), whether it's your health, personal life, clothes, whatever and realize that the only way forward is to change your lifestyle. Even with surgery your lifestyle changes, technically more dramatically than going it alone.
I find my inspiration in how my clothes fit and how much of a beatin' my body can take throughout the day. It used to kill me just to walk up a flight of stairs. I felt humiliated. As I began to work out, I found that I could help my Dad in his garden, jog greater distances, etc. and feel fantastic. Huffing and puffing your way through life is only made worse by tight, unflattering pants you keep outgrowing. =/
Maybe you could start eating better food because the increase nutrition might help generate some motivation.
Otherwise if you are not ready at the moment, maybe you need wait until you are properly motivated. I know that i just can't go on a diet anytime i want to.
You can probably push yourself to find the motivation but i haven't found a magic formula yet so you just have to keep pushing til it comes. For me mine, came this time with a combination of New year and making a resolution and being disgusted with my weight. By the time i made this decision i was totally ready. I had had several false starts before that though.
So keep trying. Better food can increase your motivation. So try that. Sounds daft i know but low seratonin levels can be a reason for lack of motivation. Better nutrition could raise your seratonin levels. read the article on nutrition wonderland if you want to find out more.
For me, I am not ready to do a lot of exercise yet. After years of doing nothing, I am being realistic. I have bought a Fitbit Flex and am being more aware of my movement. I have started by doing small things, like taking a longer way to walk to places or getting off the bus early. Once I have lost more weight and can move with less pain, then I will start doing more.
I am concentrating more on what I am eating at the moment, because at our size that is going to have a massive impact. Last week I lost almost 15lb just through diet alone. That gave me inspiration to move more.
Just remember why you are doing it in the first place. A lot of the suggestions above are great. I think I might do an inspiration board for myself!
Every morning I remind myself of my goals and what could happen if I don't keep trying to reach those goals. I also remind myself of how much more I'll be able to do/comfortable with doing. Write out a list if you have to.
Also, posting on this forum helps me stay focused a ton! Seeing other people working at their goals motivates me to keep working at mine.
Where the F is my motivation?!?!?!?!
