Hi all,

just thought I would start a thread about tricks to keep us all motivated. what works for me? you? When you're close to giving up.. what keeps you going?
Here is what I do, to help me keep the faith...

from the first week of dieting, I take pics of myself front, back and side view wearing a skin tight outfit.. and you have to be prepared to let it all hang out The every few weeks (or every week if you prefer) re-take the pics of yourself in the same outfit and then compare the pics side by side..
for me... even if the scales are not always giving me what I want.. the pics speak a thousand words I want to hear and I always see a difference. It keeps me optimistic.. and on track
I have already uploaded my first week pics to my blog as I guess if it is public... I can't cheat!!! lol

The other thing I do is, I bought a large see through tub (I do mean huge) lol.. and every week I loose weight, I pour that amount of weight (in sugar) into the tub.. it starts to mount up quick and it feels heavy... so when I am feeling bad about myself or negative about my success.. I hold the tub in my arms for a few minutes and feel how much weight I have lost ... It keeps me motivated because I can FEEL the difference.

SOOOO..... what do you guys all do to keep you motivated? Share your secrets

I like the photo idea, I think I'm going to try that

I'm only just starting, but my motivation is to fit in 3 pretty dresses by May, or sooner. Every month when if I lose enough I'll spend what I would have done on sweet/junk food on something to treat myself, like a face mask or a hair cut or something.
Every week if I've exercised and eat heathily then I'll pamper myself, paint my nails etc.

I found a website called WeightMirror (makeovr.com/weightmirror) where you can upload a photo of yourself and then adjust it so you see what you'd (more or less) look like if you lost 5lbs, 20lbs or more.

I did this to several full-length body pics of myself and then edited them together in a kind of collage alongside photos of salad, porridge, soup and other healthy foods I like to eat.

That collage is now my laptop's desktop background and if I'm ever feeling unmotivated, I compare the "before" and "after" photos and remind myself why I'm doing this

Reading Goal stories on 3FC also helps me a lot!

I plan on buying a cute pair of shorts or a skirt i cant fit into yet ( a reasonable dress size not something polar opposite to what i am now) and hang it in my room, that when whenever i look at it i remind myself to keep trying so i can finally wear those for summer

I want to fit back into my gym clothes and my swimming stuff and then I'll have the confidence to get back to where I was before I put on weight. I am keeping them in plain sight in the wardrobe to remind me that I can do it!

These are great ideas
I am going to check out this weightmirror thing.. even if it just makes me giggle.. I also think that staying as positive as you can.. (even when you don't particularly feel like it) helps me.. I try to wake up.. and do something positive to make me feel good.. and if I start of my day.. (whether a working one or not) in a good frame of mind.. it usually means I am more likely to stick to my diet too
I also like the idea of the new dress.. or something cute to wear for summer and shall be investing in something like that soon..
I have a lovely little summer dress that is in a size 10 and I am currently a large 14 (verging on 16 in areas) ... so I think that if I hang it up.. it would give me motivation to keep going.. so thanks for that ladies

... any more tips?

I like the sound of the weightmirror thing - must try that. Also the tub with sugar in it - I have a variation on that which is a half stone "brick"....and everytime I feel low I pick it up and remind myself that I have already lost EIGHT of those and suddenly I feel all motivated again.

My personal favourite though is clothes. I had a wardrobe full of lovely clothes that I'd bought promising to slim into them, which of course never happened. Well, bit by bit it has and as I try random pieces on they suddenly fit and I'm now happily wearing almost all of them. Some of them have even had to go on the throw out pile because they are suddenly too big!

That's great, what a wonderful feeling that must be to try on those clothes and find out it's too big How wonderful. I am hoping that I can stop hiding away in over sized tops and leggings this summer.. and instead wear pretty dresses and maybe even shorts
I've got my first weigh in tomorrow and I have no idea if I will have lost weight or not because my calorie intake before was massive.. and I have made a sudden drop to around 1250 cals a day... which might mean my body will go into starvation mode and hold onto fat... or 1250 cals might be too much for me to have daily and I will have to adjust.. either way it's the first week and all I can do is keep trying.. and keep motivated no matter what. I do feel better this week.. mainly because I know I am eating because I am hungry and not just eating for the sake of it.. so that's nice.
anyone else weighing in tomorrow or in the next day or so? How do you feel you have done this week?

I will be weighing in tomorrow and don't feel very optimistic about my week, however that happened last week and I was down five pounds! Hoping for similar results this week!

One thing that I've been doing is I've been using the website Tumblr to get motivation! Lots of people on there post really great information about different exercises or foods and many positive, motivating quotes are on there! You can see a few of the things that I found and enjoyed on my account. Just search for bt2155.

Also, there have been days when I really just don't feel like working out. The best thing that works for me is to just get dressed in an outfit I'd wear to workout in and by the time I'm up and dressed, I'm motivated to workout! Just kinda tricking myself into the workout has been proving successful.

I actually just bought this club dress on sale ($10 so naturally I had to buy it !) and it's 2 sizes too small but I bought it purposely so that I could lose weight and wear it!!

I might try the picture idea though! Sounds like a better way to see my progress!

I have 3 things in my wardrobe that I try on every couple of weeks. Every time one fits I drag another out of the stash under the bed. Things I grow out of get put into my other stash of stuff to turn into something else. I shall never get that fat again, but carrying a bag, wearing a thing made out of my old fat clothes is quite motivational!

I also have a jingle jar, 1 lb off = £1 in the jar. If I gain weight I will re-lose it and so gain more money to spend on clothes, eventually. ???? That might need working on, more weight bounce = more clothes