What do you do to keep motivated?

I have found that trying on clothes in my closet helps...some from not too long ago, that are now too big. If they are really too big I take them out to send to Sally Ann. Some from two years ago, two sizes smaller, that almost fit, closer to fitting every week. 

Also I pull out the measuring tape and measure stuff....arms, thighs, waist...seeing that they are smaller than last time, even just a little bit, makes me feel good....and also the act of stretching a measuring tape around areas that need improvement  reminds me that it's there and needs work.

Good music that is adrenalin rushing gets me going when it comes to working out, without it, I can't get through my workouts. I also have been dying to buy a strapless summer dress and well I have had that dress for a year and half. So, now I am doing it, I am sick of feeling ugly and fat! I eat really healthy all week and on Saturday I treat myself to something yummy like pizza or mexican. I can't believe how bad pizza is!!!! Calorie wise. I shouldn't even bother, but it's so good. I need to find a healthier version.

I started working out to get depression under control.  With depression I was sleeping, weeping and arguing with my family a lot.  Now I'm out of bed, enjoying the mornings, sleeping better, enjoying my family again.  I'm looking forward to doing more and more with my body.  Things I couldn't look forward to before. 

Honestly? I look at pictures of my exboyfriend. It turns out he sucked at living, but the reason we broke up was because of my weight (and his cheating, that he blamed on my weight). Now when I look at pictures of him, I remember how much of an a-hole he was and I am determined to be hotter than ever before.

I also keep a box of pastries in my apartment, so I can look at them and say "you have no power over me!" They're probably 2 months old, so I would never eat them, but it's good for my self-esteem anyway.

razormonkee I can't believe he did that and blamed your weight, omg what a JERK!! Unbelievable...as if the cheating wasn't bad enough on it's own.

Re: your box of pastries....that's so funny I do the exact same thing with a block of butter! The same one has been in the fridge since January...sometimes I open the butterkeeper and look at it and say "Haha you don't own me, butter!"

butterfly...check out my journal, I posted a recipe for pita pizza that rocks!

I keep a very large  before picture of myself on the fridge so every time I walk through the kitchen I am reminded why I will keep eating right !Works wonders,even after only a 10 pound loss I can see the difference from that picture.

STICKERS! How lame does that sound? I have a pack of stickers and a twisted whiskers calendar and every time I eat flawlessly in a day, I get my sticker in the morning. It's just so fun to see them line up. My weekend has me missing 2, but I'm getting back on track today. The spaces will become less and less as I get a handle on things.

Before when I was heavy, I used to have a mini calendar that I would keep in the bathroom next to the scale. When I would weigh in, I'd log my weight. Sometimes I'd plateau, but when I'd flip back through the months and see old weights, it motivated me to keep pushing forward. :)

I have a thing with calendars...

Oh yeah I forgot to mention The Spreadsheet...I created this system of traking all intake and expenditure and daily/weekly goals to see how closely I have met them and then translating it all to graphs so I can have a visial of target-meeting and weight-loss. It has helped amazingly...and also been a such a source of motivation, I like to look at my pretty graphs and watch the weight-loss one go down down down steadily...awesome. But, I am a total research geek, so that kinda stuff appeals to me lol

I hung a huge mirror in my bathroom, and that's motivated me a lot, as I can't help but see myself every time I walk in there.  So far, with CC, exercise and the mirror, I've lost 12 pounds, and today I went out and bought size 8 jeans!

Umm... I take pictures of myself every week(front/side/back) and I browse through them really fast to see the progress I made. Picture day is one of my fav days of the week.

Also... I have a little cute dress that I absolutely love but that doesn't fit me so every time I see it I think about how sexy I'd be in it. '^__^

And of course the absolutely gorgeous guys keep me more than motivated.

1. MUSIC! I am seeing one of my fav. bands this summer during a camping/festival trip, so I listen to them a lot when I work out, picturing myself 20 lbs lighter, dancing.

2. I have a picture of me from 2 years ago sitting in my living room (where I exercise most). That way, if I start to slack off, I can look over and see the fat me.

3. Summertime!! I can't remember being comfortable in a swimsuit or shorts since I was in elementary school. Especially now that my brother is moving to North Carolina, I am more excited than ever to shed the last of my weight and be happy with my new body.