I lost 40lbs on Weight Watchers. That was 2 years ago and I've gained it all back. I want, and need, to lose the weight. I can't seem to find the motivation that I had at that time. Since I lost the weight I went through a break up, moved back in with my parents since I'm a single mom and can't afford to do anything about that any time soon. My mom is on Weight Watchers and lost over 60 bug she too has gained some of it back. I thought it would be good for us to live together and motivate each other but instead we've started to encourage the bad stuff. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. Even if it's your story of how you got our of your slump, or just got started and never stopped. I used to also walk/run until I had knee surgery... Rough couple of years but I want back in my jeans, it's just that chocolate right now seems better than that.
Motivation is tough. It's great wanting to make good choices for my health and my life, but it's hard to make the sacrifices. Especially when it feels like food is a treat and a reward. The times when I am able to work up to motivation as far as my food choices are the times when I am making good choices with working out. Working out is easier for me that food choices. If I can get a good work out, then I feel better able to make good food choices.
I was having a really hard time getting motivated once my son was born. The first 6 months I dropped a lot of the weight from breast feeding, but I gained it back and more. complecations from the pregnancy messed up the nerves in my left leg so I've been really discouraged.
He turned 2 last month and we were at the park over Easter, I was totally exhausted chasing him and just wanted to lie down. It struck me that my health was getting so bad that I would think about taking that away from my son- that he might lose out on simple pleasures because I'm in such bad shape.
That really turned me around. It's only been a week, but just dropping sugary junk from my diet has given me 10X more energy. That first step is so hard! Sugar makes you tired and being tired makes you want sugar.
I follow the GI diet. It's just about not eating stuff that spikes the blood sugar. No tracking or counting at all. I find it more sustainable than a counting/tracking system.
It's easy to fall off track and lose motivation! But you're here for a reason- consider that a source of motivation! Something that helped me was finding classes I enjoy. I love yoga, kickboxing, Zumba and spinning! They're so much fun (and challenging). I've met wonderful women with similar goals and stories to inspire. I change right into my work out clothes after work or when I wake up, because I can't wait to go hear the loud music and get my body moving! Good luck!!!
I go back and forth between being motivated and discouraged. I've been losing 15 pounds at a time, then maintaining, or gaining a few pounds for a couple of months, then I start losing weight again. It's pretty discouraging when I don't stick to my diet. Not to mention I feel like crap mentally.
Maybe you're just not ready for the big commitment yet? I think I started and failed about 50 diets between between when I started gaining and now. Because I wasn't ready for the commitment. Maybe you could just try to intuitively diet & be healthier without any goals in mind? Maybe you just can't handle the pressure of all the goals and stress of them yet.
Motivation is a sham. Willpower is fickle at best. You just can't rely on these things to get you very far. I mean imagine if you had to motivate yourself to brush your teeth every morning! You don't, you rely on habit. So build habits. Habits are built by repetition. You do then over and over again and they stick, it doesn't matter how you feel about them. In fact the less you involve your feelings in it the better off you'll be. For example, for years I've loved to exercise but I was never consistent about it. The times i was exercising I was super excited to do it, but on days that I "didn't feel like it" i skipped out on the gym. Finally I decided that I would schedule in my training sessions and stick to it no matter what. Sure, I don't feel like it most of the time. But I try not to think about it, just the same way that you don't think about calling out from work just because it's raining. I just get dressed and go. Ten times out of ten I'm totally over it by the time i start my warmup, I'm fully present and glad I came.
On the food front, diets don't work. There are only 5% of dieters who keep weight off through dieting. For me it's all about being in touch with my body, my hunger, mindful eating and intuitive eating. Feeling confident in my body at any weight makes it really easy to take care of my body and let go of some of the unhealthier behaviors that were packing on too many pounds.
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Originally Posted by weightlosssolutions
Start going for a walk today. Walk around 1 hour at least. when you get home do not eat anything. just drink a cup tea.
What? This is so myopic. What kind of advice is this? Do not eat anything? Ever? And then what's so great about tea over coffee or water? It's really no wonder why people are so unhealthy in this day and age when you have people believing this type of nonsense.
Last edited by Palestrina; 05-04-2017 at 08:30 AM.
Hey girl. Weight Watchers is a fantastic way to lose weight. I lost about 5 kilos on it years ago prior to starting a lot of weight-gaining medication. Everything is SO much easier when you are doing it with someone else - the accountability and shared experience is really helpful for motivation - BUT like you said, it can go the other way if both people are feeling negative. I struggle with motivation a lot. The only thing that works for me is I dress in my exercise clothes before I even give myself a chance to think about exercise. it seems simple, but just having my runners on kind of switches my brain into wanting to be more active.
I think something that is generally undervalued, perhaps because it requires a small bit of work, is to set small goals and track your progress! Weight loss is tricky, because you don't get to see the results immediately, and since weight can fluctuate, it's easy to get discouraged. I would start by setting a goal to lose a few pounds, and be sure to weigh myself daily (but don't pay attention to the actual fluctuations). Then at the end of the week, I'll look at the trend from the last 7 days, and see if it's moving downward.
In terms of how you get that trend to point slightly downward, I would make a list of small changes I think I could make that would be good, e.g. replace my sandwich at lunch with a salad every day, go walking for 30 minutes every day, or replace carbs at dinner with veggies. Then each week, I would pick one to stick with. If the trend is flat or downwards at the end of the week, and I want to pick things up, I would go down to the next item on my list and add that to my routine. You basically just need to find a few small changes that result in a calorie deficit, and then just stick with them.
This way, rather than having to motivate yourself to sign up for a big new diet, or suddenly start eating half as much as you're used to, you can slowly work towards your goal and you can be pretty precise about tracking your success.
Why can't I get motivated?
