How do you motivate yourself? Best Practices?

A

Atone

New member
Hey Guys,
I’m curious about how people motivate themselves and hope to find a few best practices out there. Are there any routines you do that keep you motivated? Is it tracking? Feeling accountable to someone? Daily reminders? Do you watch videos of Lance Armstrong or listen to rock music?

Really curious and appreciate if anyone can share what does and doesn’t work for them over the long term.

Thank you!
 
I try not to see weight loss as something I'm doing that's some temporary inconvenience which requires a high level of motivation, I see it as making lifestyle changes I can live with forever, for example cutting out fizzy drinks and swapping them for diet versions.

Because it's intended as a permanent change I don't really feel the need to maintain it as such, it just becomes a new routine which I simply have grown used to.

If you go into weight loss with the mentality that you'll sacrifice tasty things as a temporary measure while you lose weight, which you will later return to, I think you need more motivation to try and maintain that and a lot of people eventually slip and return to bad habits.

I think it's better to make a smaller changes you can live with forever than make a big change you can't maintain and eventually revert back to old habits, that will just result in years of yo-yo dieting.

Because of this I actually don't need a lot of motivation I find that simply making it routine is enough, this website however, more specifically the before/after section is a great place to get inspired and motivated to lose weight.
 
Atone,
Have you seen the Before and After or Diary section of the site. That's where I feel you can find the most concentrated information about how we stayed motivated during our journeys. Glad you found us. Hope you find the answer you're looking for.
 
First, what doesn't work for me is wholesale changes. I find that small changes work best for me. When they become the new normal - then I try to add another small change.
I try not to think of the weight loss as the goal, but as a byproduct of becoming healthy. That really helps when the scale doesn't move (I get discouraged when I work out really hard but the number doesn't go down as much as I think it should). Taking measurements is also another way that I find motivating (rather than just weight)
I also use visualization - I picture myself looking, acting and feeling the way I want to be at the 'end' (my goal weight) and then I try to remind myself of that during the day and if my actions don't meet that mental picture - it's easier to make a better choice.
I try to pick activities that I like to do - becuase I am more likely to stick with it, I also try to find recipes that I like or are similar to something I already like to help keep eating on track.
I have some awesome music that I listen to when I do cardio it is at a BPM that keeps me motivated to keep up my pace, and it is continuous so I can keep on pushing.
I also find that having other people depend on me makes me work out more - so I either teach a class at the gym or make arrangements to meet someone for a walk/run - then I CAN'T back out of it, or I am letting others down.
I have small kids so I remind myself that I want to be able to run and play with them for a long time - that is a really good motivator!!!

Congratulations on starting this journey!! Keep it up!!

Sorry that this turned out to be a novel!! lol
 
I use plenty of things to motivate myself from gaining my weight back. One of the main things that I use for motivation is to look at all of my overweight pictures. I do not want to go back to that again...ever! One thing that I hated about being overweight was how horrible I used to feel.

One thing that I learned is that It a good idea to change your workouts from time to time. This also helps me stay motivated. I couldn't do the same old workouts time and time again. It would just be to boring and I would quickly loose motivation. For me thinking about my past greatly helps my future.
 
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