I don't want to encourage cheating, that's how we got here in the first place, wasn't it? But I have to trick myself sometimes to keep me going. Dieting and exercising are not my biggest enemies, I don't know about you, but despair and impatience are my banes.
To keep me motivated I have my bag of tricks, which I try to use wisely. These are some:
The lowest weight trick: If the scale shows less than .99 that's my weight. No trends, nothing, as soon as I hit it it becomes my weight. I weighted 175.6 today and I carry myself as if it is set in stone. Sure tomorrow after I run today and do some weight training I may "gain" two lbs, but I don't care I saw 175.~ and that's that.
The "it's just going to be a quick, easy workout" trick: My problem is not keeping myself going, it's to get going. I have a gym where I live, I only have to go down 4 floors, and yet sometimes those 4 floors down seem to me harder than running 40 mins. So I tell myself, "it's going to be an easy one today. Just climb on the byke, on the easiest mode and do 20 mins. You won't even sweat". And down I go like a happy cow, but once I am on the treadmill, the byke or elliptical it won't be an easy one, I kill myself and push to my limit. After all, what's the point after I came down 4 floors.
In what other ways do you have to deceive yourself into doing what you have to do?