Hi you guys... I just wanted to introduce myself! I'm finally ready to do this thing. I have been for some time, but I just haven't had the motivation to really do much yet.

I started changing my diet 8 days ago (Wed is my weigh-in day), then over the weekend... well... it didn't go so well. But theeen I went to the gym for the first time in almost two years yesterday (yaaaay!). Of course today I found some lame excuse not go, and now I feel bad and so I AM going to go tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after that etc.

Sigh.

How do you keep motivation up? Is it going to get easier?? I've never really lost much weight, and so I guess my motivation right now is to see what it feels like, and what I'm going to look like!!, when I'm fit, skinny and healthy. I've been thinking about putting motivational posters up on my walls here and there, but I guess I'd feel silly if I had people over and forgot to take them down....

Welcome to 3FC =)

Motivation... it's nice isn't it? It's nice when we feel great, when we feel like we're on top of the world and can do anything! But, man... when it's not there... when we're feeling down or bored or tired... where's our will to do those healthy things?

Motivation is great, and we should fully take advantage of it when it decides to come our way. But, it's fickle, and fleeting.

Commitment. Now THERE'S the stuff. Commitment is there regardless of how we feel. Up. Down. Sideways. Confused. If we're committed to this journey, we can do anything. Motivation? Hah! COMMITMENT is what gets us to the top of the mountain!

Look at it this way.

Motivation = I'll do it when I feel like it. Which may be today, or it may be never.

Commitment = I planned to do this, so there's no excuse. Regardless of how I feel, it gets done.

Enjoy motivation when it decides to show up, but in truth your own commitment and planning is what is going to get you to goal. Sometimes you have to do things that you don't feel like doing.

Edited to add: A fellow member posted this, which I think is quite perfect.

Hi and welcome to 3FC!!

You should congratulate yourself on finding us, first of all. They are a great bunch around here! So, 1st step is always the hardest and you've accomplished that.

Next, don't beat yourself up if you weren't perfect about sticking to your plan. Don't set yourself for failure by setting the bar too high either. Set some mini-goals and for each one, reward yourself. Whether it's new shoes, a small treat...whatever. This makes a huge difference

Be proud that you've finally made the step in the right direction because as long as you're looking forward, you aren't looking back!

Hugs to you!

Welcome!
We can do this together, one step at a time!
___________________

Why take them down? Your friends love you and they want you to be fit and healthy, I'm sure. Do whatever you have to do to motivate yourself. Find something you love to do. If you don't love going to the gym, do something else. There are hundreds of things you could be doing, find another thing.

Lovely: WOW! I have NEVER thought of it that way. That's like... so eye-opening! And true too - it just comes to show that sometimes you don't see what's right there in front of you... commitment. Wow. Makes a lot of sense! It actually made me cry - thank you so much! Bookmarked.

Looking4Me: Thank you! Yes! That's what I was thinking too; mini-goals. That aren't food, for a change. And shoes... I've always dreamed about fitting into a pair of regular sized boots. Maybe this winter I can!? I've set a goal of 299 pounds now, with no time limit. Well. I wanted it yesterday, but you know...

fatgyrl: Thank you! I am so happy to be here, and yes, yes we can!

DCHound: This is true. I like the gym, I just don't like all the people there combined with insecurities. For example; my scale says that I am 60% fat and 30% water. So I just figure that it's weird that I can even walk and talk, much less lift a weight at the gym, thusly I expect complete failure. HOWEVER, I commited myself to a full hour at the gym this morning and it wasn't a failure at all!!! People were soooo nice, this one lady even waived and smiled at me through a glass wall. Who knew. Hopefully it'll go well tomorrow too when I start weight training. I may or may not collapse due to the lack of muscles