Motivation Tips

[seensome]

I put on a couple of stone this year, partly as I over ate during lockdown and being in a relationship I stopped bothering, even my bf pointed out I was getting a belly!
I really want to lose weight and get back in my old jeans for winter but I just can't get the motivation and feel hungry.
So what started you on your weight loss journey, any tips to get started?

[TwentySixPointTwo]

I posted this on another thread but, for me, it was hearing this:

"If you are relying on motivation to get something done, then you will fail."

Suddenly it clicked in my head that motivation is fickle. Commitment lasts. I made a genuine commitment to be healthier and everything flowed from there.

Healthier meant not just eating less. It meant dealing with my emotions differently. It meant tackling my stress and poor sleep habits. It meant changing how I spoke to, and about, myself from negative insults to supportive caring. It meant not thinking of a healthier lifestyle as a punishment but instead putting real time and energy into thinking how it could be achieved in a way that I would find personally enjoyable and want to stick at.

e.g. I could have probably forced myself to go to a gym each week, especially as so many people kept saying how strength training was key to long term weight loss. But I would have hated it. So I didn't. Instead I just did the activities I enjoyed - running, walking, yoga.

I made my measures of success linked to the process, not the outcome. e.g. I did not use the scale to measure success. I considered myself succesful for just eating within my new guidelines, regardless of scale readings. That meant I wasn't trying to achieve a scale number quickly and I gave myself permission to go slower but enjoy plenty of good food along the way.

I took the time to understand my body's needs rather than just try and eat a default 1500 cals a day. That meant I ate an average of 2000 cals a day and still lost weight slowly and regularly.

So much effort before I ever started to change my diet. It was worth it, though - because nothing worked until I did all that.

[seensome]

Thank you for your comment, yes I agree about managing my emotions differently, in times of stress, I eat more, I need to find another release other than eating. I like commitment not motivation x

[Spodge]

Totally agree with TwentySixPointTwo. Motivation waxes and wanes. You need something to help you through the times when things are not going smoothly and the weight is not dropping off.

You need to make a plan and then form new habits based around that plan.These habits could range from "I do not snack" to "I exercise at x time for x minutes on x days per week". And then put those dates in your diary. Once a behaviour is habitual you tend to follow it as the default and your mood does not come into it so much.

[boredboredboredboredbored]

@TwentySixPointTwo

I posted this on another thread but, for me, it was hearing this:

"If you are relying on motivation to get something done, then you will fail."

Suddenly it clicked in my head that motivation is fickle. Commitment lasts. I made a genuine commitment to be healthier and everything flowed from there.

Healthier meant not just eating less. It meant dealing with my emotions differently. It meant tackling my stress and poor sleep habits. It meant changing how I spoke to, and about, myself from negative insults to supportive caring. It meant not thinking of a healthier lifestyle as a punishment but instead putting real time and energy into thinking how it could be achieved in a way that I would find personally enjoyable and want to stick at.

e.g. I could have probably forced myself to go to a gym each week, especially as so many people kept saying how strength training was key to long term weight loss. But I would have hated it. So I didn't. Instead I just did the activities I enjoyed - running, walking, yoga.

I made my measures of success linked to the process, not the outcome. e.g. I did not use the scale to measure success. I considered myself succesful for just eating within my new guidelines, regardless of scale readings. That meant I wasn't trying to achieve a scale number quickly and I gave myself permission to go slower but enjoy plenty of good food along the way.

I took the time to understand my body's needs rather than just try and eat a default 1500 cals a day. That meant I ate an average of 2000 cals a day and still lost weight slowly and regularly.

So much effort before I ever started to change my diet. It was worth it, though - because nothing worked until I did all that.

Fantastic answer!