What method are all of you going about to lose weight? I can't seem to find ANY motivation that will last more than 5 minutes. I do want to lose weight for good, but the temporary taste of delicious food always seems to outweigh my desire to lose weight. HELP! What got your mind on the right track?

I count calories because it works for me to be able to have that temporary taste, rather than having to cut things out completely Plus lots of exercise and healthy food inbetween those tastes!

I think that is the best way of going. I've been avoiding calorie counting, but I suppose it's the only way...

Well I'm only a week in so I haven't really "done it" yet but it's already working for me. I'm eating between 1500-1650 calories a day and logging what I eat on sparkpeople.com. Also I am walking a little over 2 miles almost every day and I log that on dailymile.com. It seems to just work for me and I've only been doing it a week and am seeing weight loss when all I've seen is gain before. As for motivation... go look at who you see in the mirror. That person is your motivation. You!

I started my weight loss process in September 2010 but then stop after only a month I started again on January 3, 2011 and my motivation is my memorial day trip to Miami Beach this summer along with the fact that I am just tired of being overweight. I hate feeling ugly because I can't find clothes to fit. I wanted to make a change and I am not going to let anyone or anything stop me.

As far as food temptations go, my advice is to slow down and THINK. I've started putting a lot more thought into everything i do in regards to my eating and exercising. it causes me to waste a small amount of time, but it ultimately results in me making good decisions. Like tonight, i wanted to go to the gym, but i was tired. It used to be that i would come home, change into my pajamas and then tell myself "Well, i already made the decision not to go, so i guess im staying home" but instead, i floated around the house for a little, i got online, i chatted with a few people, and as i sat here, i mulled it over. Do i really want to go to the gym? YES Will i feel better if i go to the gym? YES will i regret going to the gym NO Do i have anything else to do? NO So why arent i at the gym? UMMMMM
Do the same thing with food, stop and think it over. What do i want to eat? CANDY Should i eat candy? NO will candy make me feel better after i eat it? NO Will i regret eating candy? YES so i have candy in my hand because....? UMMMM
and sometimes, the answer to those questions will change. On wednesday i started my period and i felt like crap. terrrible cramps, terrible back ache, etc. and i ate chocolate. It made me feel better, and i didnt regret it. but i still stopped and thought about it before i decided to eat it.
so thats my method for eating. It's not always that stopping and thinking about it is going to make me always pick a salad over a hamburger, it just makes sure that i think about my choices, and prevents me from making choices that i regret.

I think you need to be ready, and when you are, you will know. You need to just change your frame of mind and be 100 percent in it. This is coming from somebody who just joined today though . My motivations are my children, the pictures of myself i have see recently, and the fact that we would like to try for another baby.

You can still eat delicious food and lose weight. You just have to find recipes, and be willing to try different things. You can also take things you love, and modify them to make them healthier. This weekend I had my beloved chipotle chicken wraps, but I just subbed all the bad stuff, and they tasted nearly identical except for the whole wheat tortilla I used!

Also, having a cheat meal every so often is nice.

And, I know food tastes good and all, but it's really only a temporary psychological boost you get from eating junk food. While you're eating it tastes so good and smells amazing, and your stomach feels full. But afterward, you feel bad and like "was that really worth it?" Realizing that it's not really worth it, but before you take the first bite, really helped me.

Anyway, I calorie count and exercise about 5-6 days a week. But I'm a exercise fanatic, and love love love love it, so you don't have to exercise that much to lose weight.

You really can do it. It gets easy after a while. You'd be surprised how many holy-crap-this-is-DELICIOUS things you can make that are really satisfying and fit in a calorie budget.

Well, why do you want to lose weight? Keep your eyes on the prize.

You don't have to make all the changes at once. When I first started all I did was try to eat less rice at lunch and cut out extra snacks. Later I started worrying about balancing nutrients and proteins and vegetables and started running and doing cardio every day. Different plans work for different people.

Food is great but nothing tastes as good as thin feels.

Counting calories isnt the only way at all, but reducing calorie intake seems to be (to me) what a lot of plans boil down to, so I guess it just makes sense to me to count them It drives some people nuts though and they are still successful without counting, so unfortunately its a bit trial and error!

Calorie counting sounds like such a dirty word, but yeah, it's the only way. Not only will you know if you are eating too much, but you will also know if you are not eating enough. A lot of people eat way less than they ought to and if you know what's going in you can moniter that! Fitday.com is a great place to tread the water of cal counts and journalling

I calorie count as well. It's not the only change I've made, but it's the most significant one. I pretty much eat what I want within moderation (up to 1500 calories a day), but I also make healthier choices where I can. For example, I snack on my favorite fruits (like strawberries and pears) instead of junk, I only eat whole grain wheat bread instead of white, and I drink water the vast majority of the time. I don't feel like I'm starving myself or that I'm being deprived and that's the most important thing for me if I'm going to keep the weight off.

We all got to where we started over a long period of time. What we have to realize is that it will take as long to get back down to where we want to be. My motivation is health. Yes, I want to be a size 8. BUT what I really wanted to be was a healthy weight for me both physically and emotionally (I got severely depressed by my weight.) So my first approach was by reigning in the amount of tasty things I ate. Smaller portions of sugar or fat or carb filled food satisfied the need and made it easier to eat healthy things during the day. As I moved along I went for healthier foods and discovered that there are TONs of tasty foods which are healthy. You must shake the belief that the only tasty things are full of bad, so you might as well eat the bad. I love strawberries, for example, and having just a few of those sliced with 2oz of half and half is really as gratifying as that strawberry cheesecake once was and much easier on my waistline.

The first thing you have to do is make a promise, a commitment to yourself. Tell yourself "Self, we've gotten ourselves into a pickle, and today I'm going to start getting us out of here. Starting today, I will do my best to eat right every day. Now, I'm only human, so I accept that perfection in this process is unlikely, and I will not let it deter me. The times I slip up, will only make my resolve stronger as I push through them. The new page starts now."

The second thing I would recommend is making a log. For me, that's some post-it notes on my wall that say "My goal weight by Feb 14th is 145lbs, that is .3lbs a day for the next 15 days!" Now, I may not make this goal, but every time I do my makeup in front of my mirror, I see it. Next to that is an index card that has the days mapped out with check-boxes for each day that say "work out" "take vitamins" "drink H2O" etc, and a card that keeps track of my weight every five days. (I weigh every day, but record on 5-day intervals so I can look at it and see that from 15th Dec to 15th Jan I lost x lbs even if it went up in between.)

*finally* (long post, I know) If you do want to count calories, and you don't have to if you think its too daunting right now. There are several sites for logging calories which have tons of info on foods. They make it easy to say "I ate this" and add the nutrition info to a daily calorie intake log.

BEST OF LUCK

i'm a lot like you, and i think slow and steady wins the race for me. i've figured out that i can stick with even a slower weight-loss if i don't forbid myself anything and allow myself "cheat times" every once in a while.

i also think calorie-counting is the way to go, because if you're counting your calories, you can still eat a chocolate bar a day for the rest of your life (i'm not saying that's a good idea but say that floats your boat...) and still lose weight. as long as it's accounted for.

as for the "trick" to get your mind into it. i'm sorry, there isn't one. i just came back from a 3-day binge session myself and it's hard... it just takes strenght of will, and telling yourself that you will be much happier with a nice and healthy body, however far in the future that may be, than eating that one piece of cake right now (or three...).

damn, i should follow my own advice! lol.

Question for you all who have calorie counted longer then I. I have been calorie counting and working out and this is the first time I really have ever seen a weight loss except when I did Weight Watchers. What do you recommend for a caloric intake. I am aiming for 1200cal per day, but some days i got to 1500 others I am at 900. BUt here is where I am having problems. If I am burning 600 calories at the gym what should my net calories be a day. In other words if i take in 1200 calories a day post work out I would be netting 600 per day. Is this okay? or should I be eating 1800 calories a day to have a net of 1200 calories post work out?

Thanks...You guys are an inspiration to me and I hope to have such a success as many of you!