so I have been dieting since June of 06...lost 50 pounds...was working out a lot...and then I just stopped this past may. I thought I could keep the weight off for a little while, but it was all downhill from there. I'm now gaining quickly and I don't know what to do. Ok, well, I do know what I need to do but it just seems SO hard getting back on the wagon. I feel like I am just so burnt out, and I have a good 40 more pounds that I need to lose. I just feel like I need a break but I know that is bad thinking. What is something you do to get your motivation back? Any help is much appreciated, I don't want to waste all the hard work I've done

Hey breakfast!

The key to weight loss is to have a plan for after you have dropped the weight. Most folks find that if they just go back to their "old ways," the weight comes back on. And that makes sense, because that's probably how they became overweight to begin with.

Well, it's the last week of July. So, you've HAD a break since May! That should be enough time for you to get back on your program.

What program do you follow, BTW? Do you count calories? points a la Weight Watchers? Or some other program?

I don't know what to say to motivate you... except that I'm sure you don't want to have to lose those 50 pounds over again. The only way out is through, believe me!

Good luck! You can do this!

Jay

thank you jay! I was doing weight watchers for about 7 months, then i still counted points but cut down on carbs as well once the loss slowed down. I think I'm going to ease back into it by eating smart ones, i love those and it's a lot easier to motivate myself to eat that than to cook. Then once I get back in the swing of things I will start cooking and working out again. I know if I set my expectations too high at first I will fall off again, that's what keeps happening to me, I've tried 4 or 5 times to get back on.

You've done so well to lose 50 lbs!!! Would it make sense to focus on maintenance for right now, and then see what happens? You might feel less burnt out in a few months. I've lost 25 lbs and hit about the 170 mark twice, and then gained it back, so my plan this time is to get to somewhere in the 165-170 range and then work on maintenance. In the past, when the weight loss slowed down and the numbers on the scale stopped dropping and my life got busier, I would lose track of the whole project, because I didn't have the reward of constantly lower weight to keep me motivated. What I'm hoping might work this time is to define "success" as keeping the scale where it is, and to let myself feel excited and motivated when I see that I haven't gained weight, rather than disappointed and frustrated when I see that I'm not losing.

I think that your ideas of starting with smart ones is good and not setting too high expectations are good - and maybe rather than focusing on the 40 lbs that you still want to lose, focus on how successful you've been and how great it is to be at the weight that you're at right now?

I think the important thing is to make changes that you can stick with. When it comes to food or exercise it's easy to do things you don't really enjoy for a little while. But it can get to be a strain after awhile. You put that on top of the fact that you were probably starting to feel that you look and feel pretty good, and it's a recipe for falling off the wagon.

When I need to recommit, I make smaller goals. Things that are readily achievable just so that I can get that positive mindset going again. Commit to your diet and exercise for one week and see if it doesn't get you right back into the habit.

I think stepping on the scale everyday keeps me focused. If i see the numbers start to go back up, i know i need to tighten up on my eating. I also keep something too small to fit into out in the open so i can stay motivated. Enjoying my excersize class helps keeping me going back. Other than that, i don't know what to say to help get your motivated. I do think that at least eating the Smart One's dinners are a good idea. At least you have an idea of how many calories your eating and you are not overdoing it by eating fastfoods every day. All i know is, it would devastate me to have to go out and buy a new wardrobe of fat clothes. That's what got me to lose weight in the first place is when my Womans 16's were getting too snug. Good luck...I hope you find your motivation!!!!

Man, I had no idea how much good it would do to post here...but i am already feeling like making a more conscious effort now. Before it just seemed so easy to give up. But I feel myself backsliding, and my back is starting to hurt again, and it just feels like how I felt when I was gaining all this weight in the first place. I am going to try to go to the gym two times this week. I think thats a pretty modest goal and i think i can do it. And I'm cuttting out the sodas again, back to water, so even if i mess up with the food, i at least am not adding sugar and caffeine on top of it. The caffeine is what makes me hungry all the time anyways!

Your plan for easing back in sounds good--one of the keys to my weight loss was Lean Cuisine meals. Although I always added fresh vegetables, I found that using them allowed me to know exactly how much I was getting and still have variety. I'm not much of a cook, either, and any plan that requires me to make a bunch or recipes just has little appeal.

Now I know that all the whole-foods folks are going to start in on how frozen meals are "bad," but everyone has to do what they have to do to make it work. Now that I'm on maintenance, I do cook more often and eat fewer of the LC's.

Good luck! Keep on!

Jay

Oh my gosh, those are TERRIBLE Jayell, do you know what you are doing to your body!!??!!!

J/k!!!! Do whatever it takes to get healthy. You can always incorporate more whole foods later.

I like the 5 pound rule my doctor gave me, she's quite thin and said that she watches the scale and when it hits 5 lbs over then she works hard to get it down. Don't go down the road of gaining it back - I did this and gained 25 lbs back after working my tail off to get it off. However this time the weight loss seems to be going quicker as I'm determined. I was whining to a friend last night on the phone - what if instead of gaining weight the last 9 months, I lost more and got ultra fit like in my early 20s? So that's what I'm going to do this time - sure I'll get back to 155, but then I'll push for superfit and for a lifetime. It's like night and day, how I feel about myself when I am fat vs. in shape.

I'm hoping my loss will be quicker since this is all "new weight". I'm at about 190 now and I had been hovering between 168-175 for at least 6 months. I think the frustration with less loss was what made me lose my motivation, but now I realize that even before I was actually gaining pounds back, I was losing my fit figure! I want that back!

Hey there!

I feel your pain. I lost a fair amount of weight these past few months and for a little while after I lost it I was having the darndest time keeping myself motivated.

The slack lasted only two weeks give or take a day but, I just forced myself to get back on the plan. For me, working out really keeps my eating and weight gain behaviours in check so I gave myself permission to do only a half hour of cardio daily instead of my regular one...that seems to have done the trick this time around.

Sounds like eating smart ones for a bit and getting the food intake checked might be just what works to get you back on plan.

It's really difficult to say what will motivate you. What motivates me might not necessarily motivate you to lose the weight. That being said, I know that I am sick of being sick. And disgusted with what I've been seeing in the mirror for the past few years. All those reasons are what keep me going. I also eat Lean Cuisines the majority of the time. I find them much easier than trying to actually make a meal that I know exactly how many calories are in it. I enjoy seeing that scale go down! And when I reach my goal I will continue to watch what I eat but I'll be a little less strict. Also, YES CUT OUT THE SODAS~!!!! That's the best thing I ever did for myself, and I did it before I started trying to lose weight. I use to only drink soda, soda all day and night!!! All I drink now is water (and my DD coffee in the morning) Sodas are awful for you!!! Anyway, GOOD LUCK!