After more than nine months of working on weight loss and three months of counting calories I'm running out of steam. I don't want to stop where I'm at, but I'm also finding it hard to sustain my focus on weight loss.
What I've done in response is begun to make friendship bracelets to wear as a reminder of each 10lb of weight that I've lost. I'm wearing one, just started another, and plan on making another 5 in the next couple of days.
I hate wearing jewelry and the bracelets feel really irritating and confining. That, for me, is the perfect metaphor for my weight. Even though I'm losing weight, I don't ever want to forget how trapped and lost I felt in my own body because I think that's what keeps me moving forward. I think this is a really good, healthy way for me to remember to stay focused on weight loss even when it gets boring or I am feeling lazy. I'll cut them all off when I get to my goal, but until then I need to keep the weight with me in one form or another as a reminder.
How do other people stay focused after months and months of weight loss? Does anyone have any reminders or strategies that they'd like to share? I could really use all of the inspiration I can get right now!
Maybe instead of adding bracelets you should wear many bracelets to represent the weight you want to lose and cut them off as you lose the weight. Kind of a freedom from the weight if you will. Just a thought. But why would you want to subject yourself to wearing bracelets if they make you uncomfortable? Weight is not a punishment. So why are you punishing yourself by wearing something uncomfortable? Please take my comments with a grain of salt. There is no judgement in them--just free flowing off the cuff brainstorming. Hugs to you! You have made amazing progress--don't stop. You deserve the very best!
Just think about all the hard work you have done. All those days around people stuffing their faces, saying no to sugar, saying no to that extra bite, fitting into smaller sizes, feeling younger..looking younger!
Stay OP..a week or a month from now you will be back in full swing.
Oh gosh, I was thinking the exact same thing as Losermom as I was reading your post. To me, wearing something uncomfortable to remind you of how you punished your body seems...well, mean.
When I was losing, I stayed motivated simply because I felt better, and I rewarded myself by doing things that made me feel better. Nails, hair, makeup and clothes were usually my little presents to myself for every 20 pounds or so.
Anyway, do what works best for you and congrats on the awesome loss so far. Keep up the good work.
I did calorie counting in the past, but like you, I got burned out by it and what really energized and motivated me this time was finding a new plan. I think it was partly that the Dukan Diet turned out to be a really good fit for me but there was also something about the novelty of it and doing something new and different for me. Maybe you could find something new to try - it doesn't have to be forever, you could do something else for a few months, then do a few months of calorie counting, then try something else, etc.
I will say that I do also agree with Lori and Losermom that it seems counter productive to put on bracelets that you don't like wearing as a reminder of what you've lost. I mean, I understand the idea of wanting to not lose sight of the feelings that propelled you on this journey and the great success you've had so far, but it shouldn't be something that feels irritating and confining to you.
Feeling happy about the process is what keeps me going. Self-hatred is never good for weight loss, no matter what the media would like us to think. I do like most of your idea, actually. Marking every 10lb is great, and doing something creative to mark it is also great. Punishing yourself by making the bracelets too tight, however, is Absolutely Not A Good Idea. Go and make a new set which are big enough to wear comfortably, or preferably make something else. (If you find them uncomfortable even if they're loose, you may have dermographism or some other skin condition which causes hypersensitivity.) How about something which can sit on your bedroom wall (or similar)? Maybe with large beads, if that appeals to you? There's someone on this forum who has put up a noticeboard, and they add a little post-it note every time they lose 10 (or is it 5?) lbs. You could also do a version where you put up all the post-it notes at the start, in a nice grid formation, and pull them off as you lose the weight, including putting them up for the weight you've lost already. In fact, possibly it's that way around already, I just can't remember.
I honestly don't feel that motivation is a big thing for me, and I have no idea why. I've changed to a different way of eating (I can't exercise due to severe disability, but if I could then that would be included as well) and it's something I just keep going with, just as I get out of bed, shower and get dressed every morning. I make sure that I get the right amount of calories each day, and I put some thought into making my diet healthy and well-balanced, as well as having fun looking up new recipes, but I don't focus on the diet all that much apart from that. Well, these days there's a certain amount of gloating with my diet buddy, and of course I spend a bit of time on this forum, but hopefully you know what I mean. It's not a difficult diet to keep up with, I don't feel deprived and rarely get hungry. Maybe your diet is too difficult and you need to adapt it so that it's more livable?
I think it might be useful for you to think about why you chose such a startlingly negative way of marking your weight loss milestones. I'm not telling you off, we all do strange things (it's usually how we got here), but that one is definitely an unhealthy choice, and the thought patterns behind it may well be what are holding you back. Have you been using guilt to drive yourself in this process? Are you/have you been getting unpleasant comments from others about your weight, and if so is that still going on, and if not have you ended up internalising it? Do you feel that you need to do some form of penance? If you exercise, do you push yourself to the point of it being painful or totally exhausting?
Incidentally, if you are craftily inclined, I am a strong fan of quilting and will convert anyone in sight. It keeps you busy (bit hard to eat while you're sewing), it's dead fun, you get beautiful things out of it no matter what your level of skill, and again you could use it as a way of marking your weight loss, say by making one quilt block every time you lost 10lb. Do a sampler quilt, where you put together a set of different quilt blocks, and then you're not just doing the same thing every time. You've got just under 130lb to go, so let's say that you make 12 blocks, that's a perfect size for a quilt (and an approachable sized quilt for a beginner), and the last 10lb could be for the work you do on the quilt after you have finished the blocks. I actually started quilting during a bad patch in my life, and have found it to be the most amazing thing. It showed a creative side of me I had no idea existed, and it's therapeutic beyond belief.
I also like looking at little graphs of my progress, it's fun and it also shows the progress really well. As well as the Medhelp tracker (link in my signature), I've put together a couple of graphs on a spreadsheet where I can see more of my progress at one time.
You have lost a fantastic amount of weight, you're doing really well here. I know it's a long journey, but keep going, hon. And if you get any stalls, just keep reminding yourself that it's normal, and that there will be a lovely big drop when the stall finally ends.
Motivation has been my issue lately. I should say my LACK of motivation, lol.
I just started a thread about this, but I'll brief it here also. My plan for this round (struggling with maintenance) is to have small goals and big rewards.
I want to feel success every single day. Right now, my confidence in myself is pretty low. So I need some easy small goals that I KNOW I can achieve. And I want to feel like I just won the Nobel Prize for accomplishing my silly little goals.
My goals for today are: 1) Make 10 posts on 3FC (thinking/reading/posting about weight control really keeps me on track. 2) Eat NO cookies out of the blasted cookie tin at work for just one whole stinkin day. 3) Eat under 1600 today. I'm comfortable and full on 1200-1400, so 1600 just be easy peas as long as I buckle down and do it.
If I succeed at these goals? I'm putting $20 in the New Clothes Fund for when I get back to my maintenance weight (I'm about 5lbs over right now). I won't do that everyday, obviously, but I need a big boost to get back on the pony.
With motivation - some days are simply stronger than others. Just like everything else in life. New things are exciting at first, keeping you motivated.... but they can't stay new forever.
You should really be celebrating all of the hard work you have already done to get healthier - losing over 70lbs is really a testament to your hard work and commitment. You have already made a major body transformation - maybe you just need to reflect on this.
There are days that I am super motivated and days when I'm where you're at now - just plain fatigued with the dieting thing. Those are the days when I just want to eat and not think about it. Bleh.
What I do is just look at it like anything else I *have* to do. Like work. My job is okay - I like it most days, some days it's difficult and some days I'd rather do anything but walk into the office. But NOT going in is not an option because I have bills to pay and I need my job so I just take a deep breath and push forward.
The days when I'm fatigued, I try to just take a deep breath and get on with it.
You said you went from 100% on plan every day, to 100% on plan 4-5 days a week. I would look at that. What are you going off plan for? Is there a food you are missing, an activity you are skipping, is your plan too strict? Think of the days you have gone "off plan" and figure out what was "wrong" with that day. Were you craving chocolate or feeling too lazy to work out?
When you figure out why you are not on plan, maybe try to work those things into your plan. Some planned rest days. Your favorite food once a week. Not counting calories one day a week. Switch your workout to something you enjoy. I don't know what applies to your situation, but you get the idea. I keep changing things up and am trying to eat foods I enjoy (in moderation), do activities I enjoy and can hopefully keep up in the long run. It really is about changing your life, not just about losing weight. Figure out what you are bored with or don't like and switch it up with things you enjoy and will stay with for a long, long time.
I know it isn't easy, and I am still working on this myself, it is about the journey, not the destination. The journey doesn't end at goal weight, figure out what you can do for the long haul.
strategies for staying motivated
