Hi everyone,

Losing weight is something I've never been able to do. So, I just honestly believe that I can't do it. I'm not generally a negative person. I'm happy. I love life. It's just simply that I've tried to lose weight on and off for the last 20 years and I have never, ever been successful for any length of time. Nor, have I ever been fit and healthy.

Anyway, I'm back to trying. One of my friends said I needed to believe that I could do this. I actually WISH that I did believe. Again, history just proves that I have no reason to believe this time will be any different than the times before.

May I ask what you all think? Is attitude really important? How does it factor into your success or lack thereof? Does anyone else feel like I do? Anyone out there who positively changed attitudes and then found success?

I am grateful for your time and whatever you share here.

I think attitude kind of makes or breaks you. At least it does for me. If I have a bad/don't care attitude towards something than I am not passionate about doing it and will look for excuses to get out of doing it.

The reason my past attempts at weight loss have failed is because of lack of a good attitude about it. I start off with a great attitude and than over time get bored, annoyed, or impatient and go off track. It's much easier to talk myself into a 3000 calorie day if I'm convinced I'll never lose weight.

For me, it just had to "click". I tried many times too, and failed. One day it dawned on me, that I would never really know what my body was SUPPOSED to look like. I had always thought I would always be a fat girl. I started looking at success stories, checked out the goal pics on this site, and just realized that there was a hot chick inside and I needed to bring her out!

Success stories help motivate me sooo much. Seeing that people have accomplished what I so badly want to accomplish both motivates me and sparks my competitive (hey if they can do it, so can I!) nature.
I have to admit I troll the internet almost daily reading success stories they are THAT motivating to me.
And I think when you read them you can tell that attitude played a big role in thier losses. Maybe they didn't start off positive but I doubt you'll ever read a success story of someone who is humdrum about what it took to get them there.

I don't think that if you're eating and exercising right that a negative attitude will prevent it from working, although the stress will have some impact. But who really sticks to plan with a negative attitude? Who does something, forever, that they don't believe works?

But you don't need your attitude 100% sorted out to get started. Your initial successes can help modify your lingering bad attitudes.

I started out with a negative attitude, and I had a lot of trouble staying commited. While I KNEW, logically, that it is possible, I didn't BELIEVE it. I didn't believe I would make it. And it's hard to stay on plan when You believe you're destined to fail. Finally I started with a smaller goal. One I knew I could reach. That got me going a little better, and after having some success (and reading others' stories on here) I started adopting a more positive attitude.
Essentially, I think you can start with a negative attitude, but if you don't start believing in yourself eventually, you'll have a much lower chance of making it all the way.

Attitude is an important component of weight loss IMHO.

Weight loss is HARD. EVEN when I believe I will be successful. Without committment, hard work and BELIEVING that I could do this - I never would have been able to persevere for a YEAR to be successful.

I do believe that this is exactly why 3FC was such an important part of my success. Without community - without the fantastic folk here - I'm not sure that my attitude would have stayed positive through my plateaus, my moods, my funks. Coming here helped me put it all into perspective - and the encouragers and cheerleaders here were invaluable.

Whatever the attitude, [calories in < calories out] is going to result in weightloss. It does take determination and will power. I do allow myself to be bi7chy and fully blame it on the dietary changes. lol!

You only have to believe that you can succeed in your goals for TODAY.

If I think too far ahead, fear and doubt creeps in, but I know that I can manage one day at a time (or if that gets too intimidating - one meal at a time, or sometimes even one mouthful at a time).

Don't worry about what you think you may not be able to do, just work on what you know you CAN do - for as long as you can do it.

Having a positive attitude, in my own personal case, definitely makes or breaks my diet. Earlier this year I was having family issues and when it came to my diet I had the "I don't care" attitude. I eventually stopped altogether and gained 15 pounds back.

Once I got my attitude straightened out I have lost about 7 of those pounds already. I honestly believe that attitude is the first step towards dieting. Because honestly, who has stuck with something that they don't believe in or or truly loathed doing? Not me, that's for sure.

I have to want something bad enough to make it happen for myself.

Yes I needed to develop a more positive attitude. Without on past attempts I did manage to lose about 35lb each time but then a few days of the scales not moving I'd know I couldn't do it, give up and would put weight back on. This time I believe I can do it. I do still feel negative and feel I can't do it at least 5-10 times a day but overall I talk myself out of feeling that way and convince myself I can do it. If I felt I couldn't do it then cutting down calories, keeping food like chocolate to a minimum, not getting takeaway on a bad day, exercising for an hour 5 or 6 days a week, etc. just weren't worth it to me in the past without knowing I could get results (now those things are so well established in my life they are worth it for the other positive affects I get from those things ).

I don't find it easy believing I can do it though. When Iwas a teenager and just a few lb over weight (but looking back on photos I didn't look overweight I guess cos I am quite a big build) my mum used to tell everyone I only needed to look at food and I'd put on weight so with so much negativity about my weight for so long it's no wonder changing how I think is so hard. On the days I feel like I really can't do it I look at my own before and after photos, I look at the goal and mini goal photos here and I look at the sucess stories here and in other place and then tell myself I can do it.

I think while yes overall and over time it's a matter of calories in, calories out it's very hard to stay committed and focused on a long weight loss journey if you believe you can't do it. Weight loss has been a focus in my life for the last....17 years to some degree or another and every attempt failed until now - but as someone who's lost 101lb despite obsticles (emmotional eating, ankle injury, psychological problems, a mother who sabatages my every attempt, a binge eating husband, etc. ) I do believe for most people weight loss is definatly achievable.

In some ways, the positive attitude comes from being successful. When I first started my weight loss journey, I really had no confidence that I could succeed this time. I've tried so many times and failed. . . Why should this time be any different. But I started anyway. First I made very small changes to my life by walking daily. Then as I started to feel better and see some positive changes, my attitude changed as well. I wanted to push myself. I wanted to make this change happen. As things rolled along, even when there were snags during my journey, I started to see them more as a challenge to beat, rather than a defeat.

Anyway, at least for me, I can't talk myself into having confidence/positive attitude. It just comes as a result of effort. So, hang in there and keep pushing ahead.

IMO anything you think you can't do you won't do. Anything and I mean anything you think you can do you can accomplish. The mind is very powerful.

Some people use their "bad attitude" as an out, as permission to fail. As another poster pointed out, a proper program will work as long as you stick to it, whether you believe it or not.

You say you have never been able to lose weight--is that literally true? Not even 1 pound lost, with a serious attempt? If so, you are a medical oddity and should get written up in a journal. If instead you mean that you lose weight for awhile, and then go off your weight loss program and gain it back, well, that's just pretty much typical! Most folks here have done that.

So if that last part describes you, I'd suggest that you do need an attitude adjustment--but not in whether you believe it can work. The attitude you need to change is the one that defines "on a diet" versus "normal life." Work on accepting the idea that to have a normal weight, you'll have to pay attention to what you eat, period.

Good luck!
Jay

Positive attitude is everything. Although your daily moods will fluctuate you need to have a general positive attitude for anything to work. I believe this wholeheartedly.

The most important aspect of positive thinking for me (and for olympic athletes, successful business men, and anybody who's shot to stardom) is what is called visualization. One must be able to foresee their success, visualize it, imagine it, sculpt it, feel it, and almost smell it in order for it to become reality. Visualization paves the road. If you don't know where you're going, you're never gonna get there. I don't know if that's exactly the same thing as positive attitude, but if you can't see yourself at the end of the road then how will you ever make it there?