Let's see whether joining here will give me the motivation I need!

[Jynnan tonnix]

Hi, everyone,

I am really trying to find a way to keep myself motivated, and thought maybe being able to post in a forum like this could be helpful.

Background: I'm 52 years old, female, and currently weigh around 194 lb. Started the year at 205, lost 10 lbs in the first couple of months, gained 7 of them back in the next couple, and made it down to 187 by May...then gained back about 10, and have lost around 5 again. Story of my life LOL. I'm 5' 3", by the way.

I've yo-yo'd this way for most of my adult life, with my lowest weight being around 110 when I was first married (stress), but mostly around 130 up until I reached my mid 30's when it started creeping up. My husband is in the Navy, and every time we moved (which tends to be every couple of years), I'd gain another 10 lb. The past 5 years or so I have lost the same 20 lb 3 times, and smaller amounts even more frequently, but never seem to be able to stay on track for long enough to break through that 20 lb barrier before I backtrack.

My techniques, when I stick with them, are good...exercise, portion control, food journals...the works. I just need some way to stay motivated when a few months have gone by and I'm still so far from my goal (I'd like to see 135 again...125 would be nice, but at my age I'd be happy with anything within healthy weight guidelines. I'd even accept 140 and would probably just try to maintain that if more weight loss threatened to make my face start looking older).

So, basically, I'm looking to lose at least 50 lb, and trying to find some way to keep myself from backsliding again. Any suggestions welcomed!

 

[MandySeay-RD]

Hey There!
It sounds like you've done well in the past, but it seems like something threw you off of your routine (exercise and portion control). Do you know what it was? Did you feel deprived, was it stress or emotional eating that did you in or was it happening mainly when you moved to a new city?

 

[patrickkallie]

Jynnan on of the things that I still do to motivate myself is to find something to challenge me while I'm working out. Sometimes you may simple lose motivation by doing the same exercises over and over.

Try to find new exercises that you have never done before and master them and move to the next. This was something that I have learned over time to keep me motivated and on the right path.

If you are a visual person try finding photos of the body in which you would like to be. I have a friend of mine that bought a boatload of clothes that were 3 sizes too small just to keep her motivated. She also trashed the receipts just to add a little bit more motivation to it and it worked.

Jynnan I hope this gives you some ideas on how to keep yourself motivated. Take your time with this one...if one thing loses it's luster just quickly move on to something else to keep you motivated. When you feel like giving up just continue to look for change.