I don't have anything new to add but some things can't be said enough.
Motivation is not a realiable tool for weight loss because it comes and goes as it pleases. Sheer determination is what is going to get us to our goals. We all have mornings when we wake up wondering how we could have ever eaten the way we once did or imagine what life would be like if we didn't exercise on a regular basis. We start our days without any worry that making the right food choices will be difficult. Those are awesome days and we should take advantage of them. But, on the days that we don't feel quite so invincible we have to be DETERMINED to do the things that will give us the strong and helathy bodies that we crave. There are plenty of things we do in life because they are right or because they are our responsibilty whether we WANT to do them or not. There is absolutely no reason we should approach weight loss any differently.
When I meet a weight loss challenge I try to consider how I would handle a similar situation in another area of my life. For instance, a bad choice at one meal used to ruin my efforts for the rest of the day. I'd give up thinking, "well that is it - the day is lost." That day would bleed into a week and that week would bleed into a month and without ever realizing it I'd given up all together. But, would I do that over one fight with my husband? No. Our marriage isn't over because one of us makes a mistake. We may stew over it for a bit but then we figure out what went wrong and we fix it and we learn from it. And in the end the argument is a blessing in disguise because we are better equipped to face similar situations down the road. So, that is how I now look at poor food choices. I try to figure out why I chose poorly, fix it if I can, and devise a plan for similar instances that may crop up in the future.
There are plenty of days that my motivation has faded and my determination is running thin. I think about my kids. I don't have to be motivated or determined to get out of bed every morning and see them off to school. Goodness knows there lots of days I'd just assume send them back to bed and pull the covers over my head. But I don't because that is the wrong thing to do. I drag myself to the kitchen to make their breakfast get them dressed and out of the door for no other reason than it is my responsiblilty to do so. Some days I get myself to the gym using the exact same attitude.
And, you know, sometimes I just weigh my options and it becomes easy to choose the lesser of two evils, so to speak. I used to work and there were plenty of days that I would have loved to play hooky. I'd have been paid whether I was there or not so I didn't have money to motivate me. I had an established career so nobody was going to question my ability to see that my work was done because of one absence. So, I'd have to consider how that decision would affect ME. I'd look at what was on my to do list for the week and decide if a day off was worth the catch up I'd have to play for the rest of the week. Sometimes it was, sometimes it wasn't. I decide whether or not to indulge a craving or skip a day at the gym exactly the same way. Is that food going to be soooo good that it is worth and extra hour on the treadmill? Is that day on the couch going to be soooo relaxing that it's worth having lighter than usual meals? Sometimes it is, sometimes it is not. And sometimes, I make the decision to indulge or skip the gym without imposing any consequence other than accepting that my weight loss results aren't going to be what they usually are at the end of the week. And that is okay too.
The bottom line is that I have to OWN my decisions. I have to accept that if I don't reach my goal it isn't going to be because I wasn't motivated enough (who doesn't want to look and feel great?) it is going to because I was determined enough to do the hard work required to get me there. I haven't always felt that way when it comes to losing weight and I have failed miserably until now. It is all about ATTITUDE!
Last edited by lucky; 10-06-2005 at 11:29 AM.
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Don't give yourself the chance to talk yourself out of it. This has to be a new way of life, whether you particularly feel like it that day or not.