I recently posted this on the SBD board:
Okay, so admittedly I haven't exactly contributed to this thread so far
probably because for the last few weeks I've been having a hard time staying motivated. I'm not way off plan, but I'm a little lazier about exercise (doubt I'll hit my 2000 minute goal for the month) and a little more relaxed about food. I haven't gained any weight but I haven't lost the last couple either. Haven't lost anything for 2 months due to lack of commitment not a plateau. The thing is I reset my goal lower because I was still losing and I liked the idea of 140 as my red line with 135 as my weight. Maybe I just got tired of the numbers game. I'm also super busy with the fall food storage thing, seems like every spare minute is going into that. I'm sure I can come up with other excuses too...

So what do you all do to keep motivated, boost your motivation when it flags? I'm afraid that if I keep being so laid back I'll start to regain!
~~~~~

I'm still pushing myself out the door to exercise every day but it is taking more effort to make myself do it than it has in months. In a few days it will be one year since my lifestyle change. I don't know if that's part of the problem or if it's just one of those things. I know I need to get back on track before the cold weather gives me more excuses to avoid exercise and eat comfort foods. Have any of you experienced this? How did you get back on track or how do you keep motivated?

This is one of those times when I am extremely grateful that I have 3FC to turn to for advice!

Hi Cyndi!

What a coincidence! In a few days it will be a year since my lifestyle change too (Sept 28!).

I have a few thoughts.

Discipline is more reliable than motivation. I mean, motivation and enthusiasm are nice, but the bottom line is that our behaviors are what counts. Do the behaviors. Be a grownup (I say that nicely and with a ). You don't only brush your teeth or pay your bills when you are motivated....you do it cause you have to.

Did you save any of your old clothes? Try them on and watch them fall off and hit the floor. You have had a really nice loss. I'm sure your body has changed a lot. Pull out old pictures. Remember where you came from.

Basicly, do it anyway. Whether you "feel" like it or not. You are worth the effort!

Cyndi, look at your ticker, that should motivate you. I know it impresses me. you have done great.

I'm in the same boat, Cyndi! I hit my one year mark on July 31, but I actually met my goal before then.

A lot of my problem is severe boredom with my routine (5 days a week, elliptical trainer and recumbent bike). It's just hard to make myself get up day after day and do the same things every single time. Unfortunately, due to a money crunch I'm in a holding pattern. But my plan is to buy a few good workout videos and some good running shoes to put some variety into the routine.

Hopefully that'll help me.

I can relate -- lately I feel like the mythical Sisyphus, doomed to push the same huge rock up a mountain, over and over, only to have it roll down as soon as I stop to rest a moment ...

I'm a pound or two OVER redline and struggling to get my weight back down into my maintenance window. I had been creeping upwards for a couple of months, and then a business trip just threw me off completely. I figured out that I had been undercounting some foods, and just getting lax measuring others, and I'm back on track, working diligently to get those last 2-4 pounds off (again). I don't need advice on what to do, I KNOW what to do, but the weight just comes off so slowly sometimes. Some days it's just .... hard!

But I keep going anyway, because the alternative is unacceptable. I will NOT regain the weight, I WILL stay fit and slim, because I deserve it and worked so hard to get here in the first place.

I just wish it were easier, but then, if it were, our society wouldn't be facing an obesity epidemic.

Yep. exercise and dieting can get boring, but I'll take that any day to the feeling of dismay, disgust, disillusion I would feel if I go back up to 200 pounds plus.

I'm well over red line and have been struggling on re-losing for quite some time. I have motivational issues as well, mainly because I don't want to be doing my exercising alone, and I can't convince anyone to do it with me. I finally bit the bullet and joined the gym, but frankly there are some days when I'd just rather not go.

I like what midwife said--you don't do it because you want to, you do it because you HAVE to. I should remember that!!!

That said, another motivational thing I have going is called a doctor's order!!! He wants be back at 135. Period. End of discussion. He's given me 6 months in which to do it (I've already done 3.5 of the almost 20 needed to lose).

MBN, thank you for posting that. This expresses exactly how I feel about my weight right now. I gained some weight from medical issues, up to 143. I lost down to 137. Paused to rest a moment, gained to 140. Pushed that rock and lost to 136. Paused for a sip of water, and gained to 140. Got moving with the rock again, lost to 137. Paused for air, gained to 140. Here I am, sitting at 140 again, wondering if I will EVER be able to lose the stupid 10 lbs I gained and get back to 130, where I am really comfortable. I have been gaining and losing these same 3-5 lbs since January. I had really REALLY wanted to be back to 130 by the end of November, which will be my three-year maintenance anniversary, but it just feels so impossible right now.

I have no advice for getting over the motivation lack because I am lost in it myself. If I could just lose to 137, and then have it STAY there until I picked up my motivation again, I would feel so much better and more optimistic! But it seems like every time I get my weight down, it will be low on Friday, and back to 140 on Monday. I'm motivated to exercise and my exercise is going fine, but my food motivation is in a tailspin.

That is just so true, isn't it. And so perfect, too, because I swear there is a "bad child" part of me that is just all about immediate gratification with not a single care for consequences. It's is that part I have to "drown out" with my grown up actions.

I just wait it out. I keep going to the gym every day; I keep weighing, measuring, and logging my food; I keep trying to stick to my set calorie level (some days I manage it and some days I don't, but I still start every day with a calorie goal and the full expectation that I'm going to meet it). There are many days where I don't feel like doing any of this, but I do it anyway. It's just part of my life and I don't question it or even think about doing something different. And, if I stick with it, eventually my motivation comes back.

Sort of like I couldn't imagine just not showing up for work. I don't always feel like doing my job, but I want to get paid so I do it every day. Sure, I might take a day off here or there, but I wouldn't just not show up for work for days at a time (unless it was a scheduled vacation or I was sick). I apply the same concept to my diet and exercise. I do it every day whether I feel motivated or not.

For me, the absolute #1 most important thing is to log all my food. So long as I'm logging everything I eat, the rest if it usually falls into place. If I am consciously acknowledging the amount of calories I'm eating, I'm a lot more likely to stick to my plan.

On that note, I'm headed over to daily plate to keep my self on track.

How do we keep going when we don't want to? I think part of it is habit.

For me, when I don't exercise, and there are definitely days when I don't, I feel differently. Kind of like I'm dragging around. Must be the lack of exercise, I think. Then, really, what keeps me going to exercise, though I will could definitely shout that I don't like to exercise, is the results of doing that exercise. I LOVE the size I am now. I don't want to be fat again! I don't want to have to watch the cute clothes I own get tighter and tighter as I try to deny that I'm gaining back those pounds.

I am fairly certain that if I make the choice to not write down what I eat and the choice to not exercise, it won't be long before it all falls by the wayside, and I'm back to the larger sized me. I'll admit that I fantasize about eating massive quantities of food, but I know that if/when I do that, the food will be in control, and I refuse to let the food be in control! I know there are days when I don't feel like doing my exercise and when I think "oh it won't matter if I don't write down what I've eaten" but then I talk myself through what's going on and realize that I'm just being lazy.

Perhaps regaining your motivation comes from making some changes in what you're doing. When I don't feel like exercising, I tell myself to just start and then if I want to quit, I can. Once I get started and see others exercising, I mentally talk myself out of stopping. I realize that I'm slimmer because of all the work I've done and know that I need to continue doing that work day after day.

I also switch up my exercise when I get bored with what I'm doing. If you're a machine exerciser, try different machines. I usually use the elliptical, but I've recently been working out on the air walker and the treadmill and the bike. I still do the elliptical but when I get sick of it, I move to another machine. I also have plenty of video tapes and DVDs to use. I think soon I'll be getting out Taebo again because I love the way I sweat when I do it.

You also might try finding someone to meet you to workout. That way, you might feel like you can't make the choice to not show up for the work out as you'd let your workout partner down.

As my title says, I don't have the answer, but I have lots of ideas....most of which I've tried and all of which have worked to keep me going. If all else fails, find an exercise class and go to it--that way, someone else is telling you what to do and you just have to follow along.

You can do it and YOU KNOW sticking with your exercise plan is SO, SO, SO worth it!!!!

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I'm still a bit sluggy but moving through it. This will be the first month I haven't met my exercise goal but I just need to move forward.

Midwife - You are so right! I can sit and pout about how unfair it is that I have to work at it again or I can just suck it up as my daughter would say and get on with it. Going back is unacceptable.

Bargoo - Good reminder - it's not like it was easy getting up and trying to find something that would fit, gasping walking up a flight of stairs, worrying about fitting in movie theater seats...

I do love the way I feel and the way I look now. I just took all my cold weather clothes out of storage and realized they are off to the consignment store because last winter I was in a size 12/large (better than the winter before when I was squeezing into an 18!). I know every singe day where I came from and where I will end up if I don't stick with this.

Thanks everyone!