I've spent the past hour just reading threads and looking at people's progress pictures (completely awesome, btw). I started my (most recent) journey last week and I am halfway through week 2. I am on plan, worked out this morning, and ate a healthy breakfast and snack. BUT, I am struggling. I think the TOM is around the corner and my exhaustion may be coming from that.

Regardless, I know staying OP is going to have its challenges along the way and I'm wondering on days that it is hard to get out of bed and get going, how do people "psych" themselves up for it?

Thanks!

I really want this to work. Losing this weight is my absolute top priority. When I feel discouraged or have a bad day or feel lazy, I just think how good I will feel when I accomplish my goal, and that keeps me on plan.

I also try not to think into the future but take it one day at a time.

I'm not always motivated, I'm just determined. I'm tired of being unhappy with myself, this is usually enough to get me to do things.

Think about it this way, even if you had a job that you absolutely LOVED there are going to be some days where you're just not on top of things. You might be more enthusiastic about some projects but you still get your *** to work. That's how I sometimes think about losing weight and doing the things to lose weight. I'm not always on my game, some days I'm at the gym 20 minutes tops or maybe I'm just hungrier than usual and I eat more. But I still make a commitment to myself to do it. Nobody is judging you on your ability to be perfect. Just make sure you're making more 'good' choices than bad ones.

Thank you both for giving me what i NEEDED to "hear." I needed to be reminded to live in the now and take things one day at a time, one 'good choice' at a time. I had a good OP day today and I am getting my mind in a better place as well! Thanks a bunch!

I have hard days too, we all do. I've come to realize its always going to be work for me. I tell my third graders it takes 15-20 days to break a bad habit. I keep myself pushing toward those days when it will become a good habit and I'm getting there. Also someone on here told me to go by the Nike slogan, just do it. It makes those hard days a little easier to work through. Keep your chin up! We can do it!

I think we all have hard days, but one day, one choice at a time is certainly how I manage. I also think that it gets easier with time. You establish patterns and habits over time. And now that I've had pretty steady success, I'm very reluctant to mess it up. In January losing 100 pounds by Christmas seemed impossible. Then I started to think of it differently. Lots of posts mention losing 10 pounds 10 times, or even 5 pounds 20 times. I look at it now as having To lose 26 pounds by Christmas. That hardly seems worth worrying about!

I guess what I'm saying is this - use every good choice as a reason to keep making good choices. One at a time. And if a bad one sneaks in, it's one choice. No big deal! Next choice will be better.

Lin

One thing that I found, and was suggested to me, was keep a little calendar or something on your fridge. Whenever you do some physical activity, such as go for a walk, or take the stairs instead of the elevator, give yourself a sticker. Hey, it's simple but it's working for me so far. Also, I have a friend who's quitting smoking so we decided to motivate each other. Sometimes all you need is that extra push!! and we're all here to help out with that