another thread made me think about started a thread so that we can remind ourselves and tell others about how we keep motivated.

here are mine

1. i remember how much i WANT it. i can be very determined when it's something i want-- whether it is a certain object or scoring 3 stars on angry birds. for me, i daydream about how much i want to be thin and how i will look when i am thin.

2. i set fitness goals as well as weight loss goals- it's not always about the scale, it is about being healthy. for me, that means running. i decided to not only be someone who is losing weight, but a RUNNER. i signed up for races and talk about training for the sake of training for a race versus just running to lose weight.

3. i think of myself as a thin person covered by a layer of fat instead of a fat person. that gives me hope that if i continue what i am doing, i will melt down the layer of fat until it is gone. it did not take a day to gain the fat, it will not take a day to lose.

4. i think about consistency versus results. i plan for the long term as well as the short term. I rethought out my goals and realized that for me, i need to work on being faithful to a gentle and non-intense plan for a year. i've given myself a year to lose 50 lbs. it makes me feel less stressed about daily weigh ins because i am looking at months.

5. i weigh in daily. i know that some people say well, weighing in daily is bad because it makes you a slave to the scale, but for me, when i weigh daily it keeps me from slacking. i try to be logical when i weigh and i have a scale that tells me body water percentage. i know that when i am sore i am probably retaining water, but after 10 days of weighing and tracking daily, its encouraging when i see that downward slope. weighting daily especially helps on the weekend when i think to myself, oh i did so good during the week, i dont have to track calories on the weekend. weighing daily reminds me that every day counts and every day is a day that you could lose some weight. for me it's weighing daily, but for others you may remind yourself other ways.

what about you guys? what motivates you?

1. When my motivation starts slipping away, I write a list of all the things I am looking forward to when I lose the weight. Like buying a new wardrobe, wearing short - shorts, being happy etc. Usually writing the list is enough to get my off my butt.

2. I set small goals instead of looking at it as one huge goal. I take it 10lbs at a time, that way I don't feel so over whelmed with the large numbers looming over my head. 10lbs in easily achievable and when I get I set a new goal.

3. I weigh myself daily. I do not expect to see a change in the scale daily, I am not hurt when the scale goes up slightly either. The reason I weigh myself daily is simple, it helps me stay on track. It keeps me in the weight loss mind set for some reason. I enjoy weighing myself daily, I do not feel like a slave to the scale. This may not work for some people, but it works for me.

4. I read fitness magazines! It sounds silly but magazines like women's health, fitness, shape and so on really motivate me. Maybe its the cool articles, success stories or even pictures of the models but I LOVE reading them. On days I don't feel like getting on that treadmill, I sit down and read a couple articles. I don't know why it works for me, but it does.

Great topic! I can't wait to hear everyone's motivation strategies

I read somewhere on this forum that motivation will not last that it takes commitment to lose weight successfully. This really stuck with me. My motivation comes and goes but my commitment to myself to lose this weight, meet my personal goal and become a heather me remains.
I will admit that I too day dream about the day I finally see my magic number on the scale, posting in the Goal thread and taking an after picture.

This is really interesting...I think I am going to keep this in mind as well. Maybe it will help keep me focused when I lose my motivation.

I also weigh in daily, and I look at pictures of myself from 2 years ago compared to pictures now. I know that might sound kind of depressing, but it works for me! I went from 155/160 lbs to 220/230 in a little over a year!!! Granted, it was mostly due to pregnancy (twins, at that), and preeclampsia, but it is still hard to fathom. I tell myself, "Noelle, you have been there before, you can do it again. Not only that, but you can go further." For me, it's really about learning how to dig deep and believe in myself. Every time I fall off the wagon, it's seeing a picture of myself that helps me get back on.

I want to be healthy for myself, and my daughters. I want to be the active and involved mom who can keep up with her kids. That is so important to me.

I read the mini-goals & goals section on 3FC.

Those stories are what made me decide I could do this.

My motivation comes from wanting to feel healthier. I remember how out of shape and huffy/puffy I felt when I first started losing weight and I don't want to get to that point again. Reminding myself how far I've come and realising that I can do my morning walk half awake, whereas previously I had to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other sometimes always puts a smile on my face.

My other motivation is what I hope will be the look on my parents face when they see me at Thanksgiving. They haven't seen me since March and I started losing weight in May, so I'm hoping they're a bit surprised and happy when they see me. I know they worry about my health because they're both Type 2 because of weight and inactivity, so hopefully seeing how much better shape I'm in may motivate them as well.

My inner geek coming out now - spreadsheets. I love my spreadsheets to show inches lost, as well as a weekly graph showing my ups and downs by pounds lost. I've had a few bad weeks where I've gained because of eating out too much, but the overall trend is down, and I lovevlooking at my graphs and seeing that.

Motivation can be hard for me, sometimes I get so discouraged at how slowly I am losing weight. But I keep in mind that I can do this. I am currently doing an exercise program called P90X, and I have become determined to complete the program. I work out every day. I try to watch my diet. I have good days and bad days on that. When I'm really out of control, I have a method I use that works based on my religious faith- I will make a promise to God to avoid something (like cheese, or some other food I can't seem to avoid) for a while. Usually until the last day of the month. For some reason, that works really well for me. I also pray before meals and before I exercise, for God's blessing. I participate in online accountability groups where we discuss our exercise and our diets every day. I watch success videos of people who were overweight that did P90X and lost tons of weight on it. I listen to motivating music- right now I like "Stic-Man" because his music is about working out and being healthy. I also see my doctor once a month (a naturopath) and discuss with her what's been going on and usually she gives me some good advice on tweaks I can use that make what I'm doing work better.

I have a couple of amazing girl friends who keep me motivated. Just by knowing that they'll be excited by my losses, increased fitness or overall happiness and health is sometimes enough to get me off the couch. Of course, my motivation comes from the inside, but having a great support network that celebrates my successes with me really makes me feel like each victory counts for something.