Seems to me like it should be hard for me to lack inspiration to lose weight because everyday looking in the mirror and longing to see someone smaller should be inspiration enough, however, I'm just blah. It feels like the equivalent of writers block. You want to write something but the words wont seem to come. I want to get up and work out but I just don't. I clean, I cook, play with my kids, get on my computer, everything but the one thing I know would make me feel better. Anyone else ever get to feeling like this? Someone inspire me out of this funk, please.

I hear ya. I mean I'm kind of in a phase where I'm maintaining because I just couldn't get out of a rut or inspired enough to keep losing. You want it so bad but in some ways you just don't want to put the effort in.

Sometimes I just have to stop overthinking everything and just do it. Go on autopilot and just go to the gym. I'm still in my rut so I don't have answers as far as inspiration but it's normal and I'm right there with you!

I know how you feel I would get into the same funk myself. See the skinny girls and think dang I wish I looked like them then go grab the most unhealthy thing I could eat because I felt like I really could never look like them when in fact we can if we take the focus off the funk and into exercising and eating right. I just recently started on my weight loss journey (again) and find that logging my calories and exercise really help its been a week and im down nine pounds!! And want to continue I use the my fitness application ( website too) it works and keeps me going I highly recommend it. Good luck to you!!

I felt like this ALL THE TIME in the beginning... Which is why I wasn't losing any weight just dieting alone... The key for me was exercise! That's what I was lacking all along. I know no one likes to exercise but is there something in particular you prefer?

You have to discipline yourself and JUST DO IT. I'm the laziest person in the world and I usually get frustrated after a week without seeing results... But it's been 2 weeks and I've lost a total of 6 lbs by watching my calories and exercising with Zumba atleast 5x a week. I'm not a gym person at all so I found something I really enjoyed doing, which is maybe why I'm sticking to it. I promise you that once you start seeing some weight loss it will kick start everything... I'm ADDICTED to exercising now because I see the numbers going down and down! You can do this. And definitely come here whenever you can for support. Check out the pictures in the goal album of those who have reached their goals.. SIMPLY INSPIRING

Thanks girls. fatgirlproblems22 congrats on your 9lbs, thats awesome! I'm going to try to lose between 5 and 10 lbs by March 1. I decided after I wrote this that I'm going to make it happen. The first thing I need to do is cut the sodas back out. So that starts today and start working out again. I have an old friend's wedding at the end of may and I do not want to be this big.
Really thanks for posting that yall are going through the same thing, I've been feeling terrible about it the past week.

mellyymel congrats on the 6lbs, thats great. You're right, I need to start working out again. I don't mind it, honestly. While I'm doing it I think i'm going to die... but I feel great about an hour after lol.

I rarely really FEEL like working out. I just DO it (I guess Nike was onto something there). If I allow myself to be lazy, I WILL be lazy (lazy with kids is kind of an oxymoron though right, not like we get any rest!). I've fought that throughout my weight loss and I defintiely haven't been the ideal worker-outer at all! For me it's a matter of committing to it and not allowing myself to bail.

Mirrors are deceiving too. I remember when I lost weight 15 years ago. I lost 50 pounds by doing it right, but I looked the same to me in the mirror. My husband didn't get it.

THIS time, I took measurements (and I do every month). I take photos every 20 pounds. The mirror will still lie to me, but I have other measures to help me out.

Also, I read here somewhere - on a blog about inspiration versus determined or persistent. We can lose site of being inspired, but we can be determined. And determined is what I am.

I totally understand what you're saying. I am in a funk like that this week. Yesterday I did...nothing. I made meals for myself and the kids, I did a load of laundry, but other than that I sat on my butt all day. I knew that I should be more active, but I just couldn't get up. Today was not much better but at least I got out and went grocery shopping. I hate days like this. The only thing that gets me through it is knowing eventually it will end.

I'm the same as lockitup; it took everything in me to get out of bed this morning and go to the pool. I was *****y all the way there, but I felt amazing when I got in.

Eventually, you will build a momentum if you just get started. When you start to see progress (and Berryblondeboys is right, you need to measure it in numerous ways), you WANT to keep going. There will be times you need a break; In October I took about two weeks where I just maintained, same at Christmas, but for the most part you will feel like moving forward.

Getting started is the hard part: Is there an activity that you really like to do? Even just dancing around to an upbeat tune? If you kick your butt to do it for the first little while, soon it will be second nature.

Now that I've been completely on plan for 45 days in a row, I find that I have days that I'm not horribly motivated but in some ways it's easier to just stay on plan. The food in the fridge is what I bought at the beginning of the week, so if I'm hungry and want to eat off plan, it requires buying different food or going out. Eh, I'll just eat what's in the fridge. Sometimes when I get a particular craving, I'll try to figure out if it's my "irrational hungry brain" trying to get me to eat it or if I really want it. The way I do that, is to eat my planned food and once I'm not hungry, think it through. At that point, I'm satisfied with the food I made (I only plan and eat food I like) and since I'm not hungry anymore the extra effort it takes to get it, pay for it, make it, etc just isn't worth it. If it is, I'll give in and have an appropriate portion and since I'm not starving, it's easier to do that. I record it, count it and MOVE ON! I also like to think of it this way - If the difference between losing weight today, maintaining today and gaining today is roughly 400 calories between each class, I ask myself what I want. "Is eating that worth not losing/gaining today?" based on the amount of calories in it. And usually, I say no. I would rather lose weight today than eat that.

I think one of the biggest things about motivation and inspiration comes from that feeling when you are at the beginning of a project that seems daunting where you don't really believe it's possible. Do you believe that you can lose weight and achieve your goals? Really, truly believe it will happen? If you do, I think you'll be more likely to make the changes. Then, it's not about choosing to deprive yourself of food, but choosing the good things that come with weight loss. Not, "Ooh I'm sad, I can't have that donut/pizza/cake/cheese" but "Nah, it's not worth it, I'd rather be a size smaller next month or have a good weigh-in this week or fit into my pants better, etc." If you're just focused on the negative, yeah, that's a hard decision. Why would I give up ice cream if I weigh the same regardless? Or if I have the same health regardless? I wouldn't.

As for exercise, find something you genuinely like or at least try to enjoy the experience. For me, I have my "guilty pleasure" music and I try to only listen to it on the treadmill. I look forward to it. When I hear a song on the radio or wherever that's on that list, I immediately think, "Ooh, I want to go run because I want to listen to that song." I like the mood boost and how I feel when I get my heart rate up and go, even if it's just walking. For you, it might be something different, but if you like it, it's easier to go and do it.

I'm not saying that I'm this super motivated person every day. I think mostly I eat well because I plan and I like the food I make and I exercise because it's fun and I meet up with friends or schedule the appointment in to my calendar. Once it's there, if I don't go, I have to cancel with someone or make a public change. It's easier just to go and I like it.

Plan, plan, plan and make the new lifestyle your lifestyle, then your motivation level really doesn't matter anymore. It's just your life.

I hear ya! I'm feeling kind of down about the whole thing today myself. When i'm sticking with my plan, i feel like there is no other choice. The plan is the only option. But then once i binge (which i did on Sunday), all of a sudden it's like a light bulb goes off and i realize i have a choice, i CAN eat crap all day if i want to. So the difficulty i'm experiencing today has nothing to do with hunger...it's just my wanting to revert back to the easy choice.

But i'm trying to think of it NOT as a choice. When i was in college and grad school, studying was not a choice. It was something i HAD to do--i never once considered just blowing off an exam or paper. Same with work--there is no CHOICE--i get up and go every day. I'm trying to apply the same mentality to dieting!!

Yeah with the kids I just have another excuse for myself I guess. I have three boys, twin three year olds and a two year old so I feel like sometimes I just need to sit down and not be cleaning up after them for like 10 min but that turns into an hour that I could have been working out.

I guess I'll have to buy a tape measure. I dread the measurements but I'll do it

Yeah, you're right, this funk will end soon, they don't last too long for me. I just need to be persistent through it. If nothing else I can maintain through the funk


I don't really mind as long as its not running, burpees, or lunges lol. I'm thinking about getting one of those fitness games for my xbox kinect since no one else uses the darn thing.

That is interesting to me because I feel way more motivated when I start something and then half way through I start thinking "Oh my God, what am I doing? I'm never going to accomplish this" The problem around my house as far as the food is that I have a husband that is not interested in "healthy" food and so I have to buy things for him and things for me so at that point there is all kinds of bad stuff in house.

That's a great way to think about it.