At the beginning of my program I did a LOT of reading, and a lot of writing/talking to myself. I read lots of books, magazines, & web sites on weight loss, fitness, & sports psychology. It is important to work to keep yourself pumped up in the beginning until the new habits take hold. After nearly 40 years as a very overweight person, I finally learned that I just had to hang on during that first slump with the initial "motivation" had worn off. Sometimes you just have to do what you know you need to do rather than what you feel like doing. Let your grown-up, responsible, adult brain have the upper hand, rather than the whiney, petulant, pleasure-seeking childish brain. That first time is tough, but if you make yourself march through that phase, the enthusiasm WILL return. You just have to remember that, like anything else in life, you can't depend on the dieter's high to carry you through.
In the meantime, surround yourself with positive reinforcement, positive self-talk, affirmations. Remind yourself EVERY DAY why you are doing this, what positive things you've seen so far (and I mean more than just what the scale has shown you), and that you are determined to see it through despite the moods you may go through. Remember that just because you "feel like" doing something (quitting, having a giant candy bar, skipping a workout) doesn't mean you have to do it. People who are overweight are so used to living on impulse that we can forget we have the power to say no to ourselves. We work so hard to avoid discomfort (mental and physical) that we forget a little discomfort can reap great rewards. When you experience these unhealthy impulses, try to figure out exactly what is driving it. You want to quit? Why? What SPECIFICALLY is the motivator? What can you do to defuse the root cause and stay on track. It isn't always about sheer force of will. Sometimes it IS, but sometimes you can figure out what is under the surface and come up with a way to deal with THAT. Usually when people want to give up, they are either discouraged that they're not losing as quickly as they should, or they are tired of the amount of work building a healthy lifestyle entails, or they have convinced themselves they are bored with healthy food, or they still haven't shaken their tastes for unhealthy food. All of these things have solutions. Is there a specific food you're craving? Maybe you can enjoy a small, controlled portion once a week, or maybe you can come up with a healthy substitute. If you don't like the amount of work involved, maybe you can come up with a way to be more efficient, or maybe you just need to remind yourself that you are undergoing a lifestyle makeover that entails a new way of doing things. Etc.
Just keep trying, no matter how hard that old unhealthy life keeps calling you. What will you accomplish by quitting? What will happen if you go back to your old way of life? Is that what you want? Do what you need to do to get what you want. Just ... do ... it.
Last edited by funniegrrl; 08-29-2004 at 01:21 PM.
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