I think ideas for how to encourage ourselves and stick with it are very impotant.........

please post any here!

1. I know its not strictly encouraging but one idea I got from a friend was to find the most hideous fat photograph you have of yourself and stick it on the fridge....(or somewhere you see it everyday - that way when friends visit your kitchen...they dont see it) - yes..it happenned to me and it was not the best time of my life!
using this idea you can see where you have come from and imagine where you are going!

2. another is to bite the bullet and take a polaroid or photo of yourself (either with or without clothes) every week and you can create a picture diary of your progress.
THIS ONE IS REALLY ENCOURAGING!

3. AND FINALLY - the dreaded tape measure.......even if i lose half a centimetre off my thigh ....its encouraging! and im happy.
measure yourelf once a week (or fortnight) all over and add up the measurement you have lost.
once again this gives a visual image - and its far better to know you have lost inches than pounds - after all I have lost pounds and still couldnt fit in the jeans I wanted!
measuring is better.

well there my three best ones....how about you guys?
coz god knows i need all the help i can get!

take care and write soon x x x x x sledgin

Somewhere on this UK Fat Chicks website (going back to the beginning of January) is a thread which has most of us listing our reasons for wanting to lose weight. If I lose sight of why I am torturing myself like this I go and find that thread and read it all the way through - start to finish - somehow it seems a bit easier after that.

Click here for link to Reasons for Dieting thread

Please everyone feel free to add to the lists.

The other think my DH has done is to put up signs on the breadbin, cake tin and fridge which read..... DON'T! In big black letters....

Thanks for posting the link Sarah, it was exactly a month ago that I posted my reasons for losing weight and re-reading them has made me examine why I haven't got very far in the last month.

I have made a spreadsheet, all about my weight loss journey. Every week when I weigh in I add my weight & fat % to the spreadsheets and update the charts. I also log in my daily exercise & have all sorts of charts, exercise time, miles walked, etc.

It keeps me motivated, working on it also keeps me out of the kitchen. I am planning on adding a couple of other sheets a goal one and a fancy front sheet with lots of links to the other pages, haven't had time yet.

Works for me at the moment

Off to re read my reasons for dieting

Carol

I had photographs taken from all angles in aswimsuit with a digital camera, I am going to do it every stone and see that fat melt away. I jus t hope I can see some progress/improvement next time I do it. It took some courage to pose.

OMG - TQ - there is NO way I could do that!!!!!!

I'm a bit like Carol, treating it like a project. I have got a sort of chart in the back of my diet diary and its nice to see the graph line going down.

I am also approaching the actual meals as a cooking challenge. I don't use convenience foods (because I love cooking and NEVER feel full up enough after eating them), so I have been converting all our old favourites in to low fat recipes and keeping them in a folder and I will carry on using them when I am maintaining. I have been getting a bit bored with traditional British cooking though (which I don't think has got anything to do with the diet), so from next week I am going to start something new, which is theming our food. The first week is going to be Indian/Asian food - but all low fat - and the first day will be Chicken Tikka Masala!!!

Kevin says that perhaps at the end of it when I am at goal that I ought to consider putting together a low fat recipe book.

The other way to help yourself stick to your diet is to have a mini goals and rewards. So - after losing, say, a stone you get a non-food reward and when you reach goal you might, perhaps, have a large reward lined up.

One stupid thing I did do was to buy something I have always wanted - a beautiful charcoal gray leather trenchcoat with a muted lavender silk lining in a size 14 (I was a 22-24 at the time) and it is hung on the outside of my wardrobe door so that I see it first thing every morning and last thing every night so its a constant reminder. I wouldn't completely recommend this though - it is also a reminder to DH of how daft I can be with a credit card!

I do the chart thing too and I hate it when it starts going back up!! I have a pair of Jeans hung on the back of the bedroom door I don't know what size but i think they are 18's (the label has been cut out!!, by me ??????) and a gold coloured velvety v neck top, again around size 18, Dh bought them for me a couple of years ago when i was doing well with my weight loss campaign, I wore them once and then....................everything went to pot but I will be wearing them again this year!!

I also reward myself for every 10lbs lost. For my first ten pounds off I brought some babadas bubble bath and for my second 10 I am aiming to get a WW bonus buddy. I'm considering getting a hula hoop for my 3rd 10 but will make my mind up once I get past the second lot.

I'm going to buy myself a pair of ear rings if I stick to working on my abs every other day for a month. It's like a bribery system, where if I do good I get something nice.

Carol

Hi Carol, have you ever thought that the quicker you get that buddy the quicker you'll lose another 10lbs. I have been much more active since I had mine. I am to get in to Healthy mode every day, if I get past that, all the better!!

I read this and thought it was a good thing for us all to read - but I wasn't quite sure where to post it so I put it here.

I can relate to at least two points in it.....


> HOW NOT TO DIET
>
> I see about 250 dieters a week. About 85% are women, 5% are men
> and the rest are teenagers.
>
> Some are severely overweight (300 pounds +), some have just a few
> pounds to lose, while most of them want to lose 10-40 pounds.
>
> Although each person is unique, many have the same problem.
> They make dieting extra-difficult for themselves.
>
> Here are some examples.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> HOW TO MAKE DIETING EXTRA-DIFFICULT
>
> 1. BE HYSTERICAL
>
> Most of my dieters spend 24 hours dieting and then jump on the scales
> to see how they are doing. The next day they do the same. In fact they
> never stop checking themselves.
>
> This is not the action of a rational person. This is hysteria.
> This is like standing in front of the mirror watching your hair grow.
> The only thing it does is DRIVE YOU CRAZY.
> Because you will never lose weight fast enough.
>
> GET A LIFE
> Weigh yourself once a week in the early morning with no clothes on.
> Repeat this each week. But no more.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 2. CONSTANTLY LOOK FOR LOOPHOLES
>
> Many people start a diet and then immediately looking for loopholes.
> Can I eat peanut butter? Can I eat half-fat muffins? Can I eat pretzels?
> Can I eat low-fat candy? Can I eat low-fat cookies?
> Can I eat non-fat mayo? (Huh?)
>
> Then they look for other escape-hatches.
> Can I carry on drinking alcohol as normal?
> Can I still eat a fried breakfast at the weekend?
> I adore dining out. Can I do it once a week?
> And so on.
>
> This is not a serious approach to losing weight.
> This is starting a new job and spending the first day discussing
> severance terms. It doesn't exactly show huge commitment, does it?
>
> GET A LIFE
> Don't waste energy looking for loopholes. Get with the program!
> Losing weight means changing your eating habits. That's a fact.
> So instead of wriggling around looking for ways to carry on doing
> the same old things, focus on adapting to a new way of eating.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 3. PRETEND, PRETEND, PRETEND
>
> Pretenders are people who 'play' at dieting.
>
> They don't really want to lose weight, but they think they 'should'.
> Maybe they're doing it to please a friend or a neighbor.
> Maybe they feel guilty about being fat, so they want to be seen to do
> something about it. Perfectly understandable, but a waste of time.
>
> Pretenders are full of excuses like:
>
> I don't know how to cook.
> Diet food is too boring and tasteless.
> Don't ask me to give up sweet things.
> My husband/kids insist on pizza/fries/cakes etc.
>
> GET A LIFE
> If you don't want to lose weight, then don't bother! Stay as you are!
> Being fat doesn't make you a war criminal.
> If you do want to lose weight then MAKE AN EFFORT.
>
> Make an effort to find out how to cook.
> Make an effort to try out new recipes.
> Make an effort to try out less-fattening spices, relishes and flavorings.
> Make an effort to discover less-fattening sweet things.
> Make an effort to get your family to try new meals.
>
> None of these things are difficult. But they do require effort.
> And you MUST be prepared to make mistakes.
> Because this is how you learn.
> People who don't make mistakes, learn nothing. Trust me.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> BOTTOM LINE (For a great bottom)
>
> Dieting is all about change.
> Not change for the sake of it. Change to liberate you!
> So don't be put off. Don't be afraid of it.
>
> Instead, ENJOY EXPERIMENTING!
>
> Try out NEW foods, new flavors, new cooking methods.
> Make a mess, make mistakes... HAVE A LAUGH!
>
> A laugh? (gulp)
> A laugh about dieting? (gulp)
> YES!!
>
> You CAN laugh about dieting.
> It's wonderful therapy.
> Try it and see.
>

Very good advice I'd say.

I think I will print that off!! thanks sarah, had a calorific day yesterday lots of wine , lovely morroccan meal which wasn't too bad but as usual blew it wityh the wine, great day out though, good for the soul!!

Haven't managed to get to Argos for the rebounder but have been out on my bike for an hour. very cold for riding bikes though!! But good fun, all three of us went and it blew the cobwebs off i must say. hope you have all had a good weekend

I've got a really BAD feeling that Kevin has bought me one of those things for working out how far I have walked and how many calories I have burned..... FOR VALENTINES DAY!

I know I said I wanted one, but...... VALENTINES DAY?????????

Sarah - at least it isn't chocolates

I have specifically asked for candles and not chocolate fragrance like last year......they drove me insane, I really needed a fix whenever I lit one!!