Oh I love the charm bracelet idea!!!!! That's a good 'un!!!!
And seeing as I am originally from Oz and people are always wanting to know what to buy me, little charms are a great idea.
People's comments keep me motivated. I am lucky to have a lot of positive people behind me, like my team at work, my partner, even people at the local pub. My change has been quite dramatic, even though I haven't lost a load yet, it is coming off quite visible places like my face and arms. Everytime I feel like falling off the wagon, I remember something nice someone has said to me.
Also to me, exercise has become its own reward. I feel a sense of accomplishment, especially like today, when I do something scary like weights which I was dreading. It makes me feel so good and strong and inspires me to keep going.
Betani, I love the idea of a diet-tracker bracelet! Do you know where I could find one?
As for my motivation . . . I think about how much better I feel and how much healthier I am now than at my high weight, and how much better it will be still when I get to goal! That and every so often I try on bikinis or other swimsuits in the store and tell myself "Soon! Soon you will be able to wear this!" That and I think about how my
dad's side of the family is very large, and they have a lot of health problems that I don't want.
And sometimes, for added motivation, I think about how five years from now I want to impress everyone at my 10-year high school reunion!!
I still find that the times I eat off-plan are the times I've done the least planning and preparation. I have kind of a "menu template" that I follow, but am willing to let myself make last-minute choices within that template. However, the less prepared I am with viable choices, the more likely I am to make poor ones.
That time each evening planning the next day's food also served as a time to simply focus on what I was trying to accomplish. I think a lot of people trying to lose weight have this vague wish to do it, but they don't spend time every single day THINKING HARD about it, making concrete plans, anticipating challenges, visualizing solutions. I think we all have a strong tendency to want to "wing it" and do only what we want at a particular moment -- eat the junk, stay on the couch, whatever. The ones who are successful are those who work hard to turn that thinking around, who give up some of that supposed freedom (which is really a prison built of food and sloth) in order to accomplish goals.
Your whole post was excellent! All sooo true!! This is exactly what happened to me. As soon as I decided to "wing it" for the holidays, I lost my focus and slid downhill rather quickly. I didn't gain all my weight back, but the feelings of being out of control was a rather out-of-body experience, and I hated it. I'm finally starting to get my focus back and working on getting my cravings back under control. I have learned through my own weight loss process that motivation is unreliable, and determination and commitment to what works for you is the key to success. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
