i dont have any movitation

im doing this all by myself. Ill do it for a week then lose intrest what are some great motivations ~shawna

since logging each and everything you put into your mouth can be tedious, focus on how many servings of each food type you eat!!

so instead of counting every single calorie, just focus on eating small 100- calorie size portions, and counting those instead! that way you have far less numbers to keep track of!!

also, i find using an actual journal, than logging everything into CC helps me immensly!!

good luck!

i dont mean to sound like the "bad influence friend" and i know that what works for some might not work on others but i will tell you anyways. in my case, i push myself hard. when im thinking about eating, i picture everyone starring at me for being fat and a bunch of other negative stuff. it sure does help keep my mouth closed, thats for sure. :( but it works.

Make a list of weight loss goals and add a reward (small or large) to each goal. This helps me stay pretty focused on what I want. It also adds an element of fun to it all.

My motivation is the fact that I don't like the way I am. I don't understand why any one would need any additional motivation. If you're unhappy with your weight and thats why you're dieting that should be plenty of motivation

my motivation is that my clothes are all too tight, and unless i want to spend a small fortune getting me clothes that fit for the summer it's easier for me to drop the weight. Plus I have a 4 year old that I can barely keep up with because i'm in such rotten shape. AND I want my husband to think i'm sexy ;)

 Those are ALL great motivators for me!!!

It always helps me to have a buddy... we motivate and encourage each other. I'm available if you need one :)

I think motivation is a very personal thing. What motivates one person does not motivate another.

So, perhaps taking some time and REALLY giving some thought as to WHY you're trying to lose weight might help you find YOUR motivation.

In my case, I spent several years with my appearance being my major motivator. Well, that just didn't work. As much as I wanted to look good, for some reason that wasn't enough to get me to stop eating like a pig. I didn't want it enough.

It wasn't until I accepted the fact that I could develop some serious health problems that I was sufficiently motivated to try very hard to succeed. And, the other major motivator was the realization that I was changing as a person into someone that I didn't like as a result of the weight (lack of self-confidence, etc).

I hope that helps some. Good luck.

I'm hiding behind my mask until I get this weight off.

For now I'm just a stowaway masqueraded as a...penguin?..making the long journey. 

Sometimes setting smaller goals helps with your motivation. If your overall plan is to lose, say, 50 lbs. when starting a diet that can seem like a daunting amount. Try breaking down your weight loss goals into 5 lbs. increments. You'll have more successes that way and feel better about the whole dieting experience.

If I think about giving up, I think to myself, "If I quit watching what I eat, I'll end up gaining." Even if I try to maintain my weight, at least I'm at a standstill versus gaining. I'd rather lose a little or nothing at all than gain. That's how I think about it!

I'd have to say that my greatest motivator was holding my little dead baby in my arms not once but twice.  Back last year I held a two month gestated baby in my hands.  Wasn't much to it, but I knew what it was.  It had a form.  In October I held my 6mos gestated baby girl in my hands after she too died.  I've been in the hospital around 50 some odd times with irregular heart rhythms and various other problems.  I've looked at my three remaining children and have seen my 6yr old practically grieve my loss and I'm not even gone yet!!  Just the idea of her being left alone without me has got her terrified.  Why not be terrified along with her.  Why not find the deaths of two of my children as inspiration?  Thinking about whats happening to my daughters body as it lies in the cemtery is disturbing enough for me to want to avoid that for MYSELF even though I'm a religious person.

I know most of my inspiration and focus comes from what most would consider extreme circumstances, but ya know... You can let food consume your life.  You can let an early death see you into an early grave.  You can leave this world prematurely and not take care of the vessel God gave you and you can thus destroy His living temple on earth.  You can do all these things and be uncomfortable and sick.  OR...  OR...

You can take strength in that you aren't alone in your struggles.  You can know that being human means that you are going to slip and fall off the bandwagon.  You can also know that someone here at this group will be right here to pick you up when you fall.  As I sit, I think about not wanting to do my minutes on my treadmill cause I'm cold and my legs hurt and I just wanna get my blankie and sit on the couch with my husband.  But then when I log my eating, I look the picture of me holding my lil stillborn baby and THAT gives me strength and fortitude.  I know that to honor her, God, myself, etc.. that if I dont want to have a heart attack or anymore dead babies to line the rows at the cemetery.. that I have to get off my butt and pick myself up and do this.... I gotta lose this weight.  I gotta do this.  Its not only you that suffers if and when you are miserable or dead.  Think of others around you who are affected.  Think of that one person whose inspired you the most.  Put THEIR pic as your pic on your account.  Look at it everyday and get some inspiration!

Please let me know how you are doing!

With love and support,

Courtney

Hello,

I have been asking myself what it would take to get me motivated to finally lose weight. I have my husband's full support as well as access to workout facilities. I lived my life between 115 and 120 pounds up until age 29. I began to gain weight because of prescription drugs, and it was a brand new thing for my body to feel. I didn't like it, but I didn't do anything about it. I kept eating like I always did and I didn't work out.

In my mind I was the same person with the sky-high metabolism and athleticism, so I just ignored the weight and blamed it on the source of it - the medicine. I didn't want to accept the fact that I was getting heavy, because that was not "me". I kept expecting to wake up one morning and have my body back but it didn't happen. I'd workout for 2 weeks then stop when I didn't see drastic results. I didn't understand! I know that I wanted my body to be fit and healthy and that I seriously needed to lose weight, so why couldn't I stick with it? I figured it out. It was denial. For me to adhere to a long term weight loss program meant that I had to accept that I was truly overweight. Forget the medicine; I had to look at myself in the mirror, to accept that I HAD to eat right and exercise to get this done, and to do it. It was so humbling.

My salvation was being honest with myself and my state.  That not working out and eating poorly was going to keep me overweight and unhealthy whether I liked it or not.  I had to forget how I "was" and accept who I am NOW.  That was the only way I could actually commit to changing who I was. and to becoming who I wanted to be. 

It's hard, so to keep motivated now, I have a "dream" journal where I write out my "dream" to workout and eat right everyday. I look at that "dream" every morning, the second I open my eyes, and I work hard to make it come true every single day. I tackle one day at a time and it feels so good going to bed knowing I made today's dreams come true.

Motivation can be hard sometimes. It means a different thing to everyone. My motivation is when i went to the doctor's and stepped on the scale and it said 179! I was bound and determined on never seeing past that number! Plus i have three kids that depend on me and need me at my best and healthiest that i can possibly be!

Basically what you have to do is ask the question, "why am i doing this?". If you can answer that question with all honesty than you can find the motivation that you need to succeed. you also need to start at small realistic goals like mine was getting past 175, then 170, etc. this is what is helping me stay focused on all of this, plus i am getting married next year and i don't want to look fat in my dress....lol....you just have to know what and why you are doing this. I have all the faith in the world that you can make this work, you just have to want it bad enough. Hope this helps you out in some way!

can I interrupt and ask a question? I have lost my motivation because there is no one really cares if I lose or gain weight. I have no husband, no bf. only jealous co-workers who were very jealous when I was losing weight. now, I have gained about 30 pounds and kind of depressed. I am asking myself, why should I work hard and lose weight?

DEAR SAFINA 1

Please see my profile if you can.  Look at my gallery.... Do you see the pictures of my dead baby???  I'm probably more than likely responsible for killing two of my babies because at the time of my pregnancy I know I probably weighed over 247lbs.  Its a hard core reality check and not something people want to look at and acknowledge.  I know that.  Not everyone can look at a picture of a dead child.  But to me, this is my reality.  This is my breaking point, my lot in life, my eye opener to the fact that obesity can and will and does KILL!!  Fat isn't just a body size or an outfit killer.  Its a life taker.  A killer.  What it did to my baby, it'll do to you or to me.  Death, like God, is no respecter of man.

I killed my babies and I'll probably end up killing myself if I dont take control of myself.  By the grace of God I've so far lost 11 lbs.  Your motivation should'nt be other people.  Your motivation should be that you could kill yourself if you don't take control.  Who cares if you have or dont have a boyfriend, spouse, supportive friends or coworkers.  You LIVE and you lose weight because no one else is not only going to NOT live your life for you... BUT... No one is going to take your place on the hospital bed as you writhe and have a heart attack and die.  Then after that, no one is going to stand in your place of judgement before God when he asks why you didn't take care of His living temple.  No one but you can live your life and affect the changes you need to not drive yourself into an early grave.

I dont really have any support either.  All I know is that everyday I get up and I look at the pictures of my dead baby and I grieve not being healthy enough to have at least given her half the shot she shoulda had.  My body rebelled on her and killed her.  She didn't deserve that.  I didn't deserve that.  I became overweight and unhealthy and I wont kick myself for it everyday and call myself a baby killer.  I'll take my daughters death and my situation and turn it around for the better and let it be my motivator to lose weight and at least save the one remaining life left.... MINE.  My life is every bit of deserving of being preserved and saved.  The best thing for me and my lil girl is for me to get healthy.  Same thing goes for you.  The best thing you can do for you is LIVE.  You can get healthy, quit questioning everything and you can LIVE because its the RIGHT thing to do.

Take heart, Safina.  I know its hard to not have support.  I know its easy to question why it is you wanna even bother.  But trust me, its just the devil eatin away at your head and any process that I know you'll make if you just keep on keepin on.  You can do this.  I promise.  Dont worry about the haters girl!! lol.

With love and support to you as well,

Courtney