What sparked you to get healthy?

[december2020]

I have about 5-10lbs to lose. It's not loads in the grand scheme of things but I'm short so it doesn't carry well. It makes me a bit uncomfortable and it's also excess weight for me.

I know what I need to do to lose it (drink less alcohol, snack less, less takeaways etc). But for the life of me I can't seem to stick to it and break the cycle.

Partially I'm just too tired and can't be bothered after long work hours, commuting, toddler and house chores (DH pulls his weight). And partially I just have zero will power, consistency and persistence.

So I'm looking for answers, hopefully spurred by your stories on what sparked you to finally get healthy and break the cycle?
How did you do it?

'Agree it needs to be discipline rather than motivation as motivation won’t always be there but if you’re disciplined and it’s a habit then it becomes easier to stick to'

Totally agree it's about discipline first, and the motivation comes later. It's that simple, and that difficult!

OP, the first month or so of a lifestyle change is really tough. It's entirely normal to feel fed up and demotivated and like it's all bloody hard work. Being fit and healthy really is bloody hard work. It's normal to find it tough

For me, I was coming up to 30 and was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. I was a smoker, heavy weekend drinker, are too much sugar, did virtually no exercise, and was a good couple of stone overweight. I changed all of that over about a year and have kept it up ever since. I'm 44 now and look and feel so much better than I did at 24

It's taken me 3 years to lose 2 stone (half stone left to go)

I kept losing around a stone and then giving up and piling it all back on and was stuck in the cycle hence it's taken so long.

By the third attempt I was so pissed off with myself that it was sheer determination.

I started working out hard 3/4 times a week from Feb this year, weights and cardio. I massively reduced my drinking and intake of bad foods. I just forced myself to stick at it.

As my body started to change, it spurred me on and now it doesn't feel like such a chore. I really enjoy working out and I'm just not bothered about takeaways anymore.

So in my experience, determination is the only thing that works. You just have to keep going if you want results. It's a hard slog but worth it!

Discipline isn't something you find, it's something you do/practise.

Motivation is the thing you find - and it's not reliable because it comes and goes. I have been active most of my life but I still can't say I'm motivated that often!

Discipline is just making a habit and then not letting yourself break it. I'm not motivated to brush my teeth but I do it anyway. I'm not motivated to...I don't know, take the bins out! I just know it has to be done so I do it. Sometimes I hate that they have to go out and it's raining and cold and I take them out. Sometimes it's summer and I have music in my headphones and flipflops on and I take them out. The result doesn't change.

What motivated me after a period of inactivity was how strong and competent it makes me feel and how much it helps my mental health.

Firstly it was seeing a photograph of me btw two slim people, i looked like a round pudding, I’m only 5 foot 2, that spurred me on to make changes, and secondly it was finding moving about more difficult, silly things like going up and down stairs, aches in my joints, as i lost weight i could skip up & down stairs, did’nt feel so tired all the time, my joints stopped aching, i could go dancing again. Good luck OP, you can do it. Also to say it took me 2 years to lose 2 stone and keep it off.

My motivation was the pain it caused on my body.

My downfall is always "cheating" because I'm too busy/I'm travelling/its a holiday -basically any excuse.

Now I plan meals in advance so I know I won't get hungry and wont need to cheat - get a weeks worth of snacks in advance so I have them with me all week, plan a specific breakfast and lunch when out of the house so there is no decision to be made giving me the opportunity to cheat, etc. Dinner I just try to eat a smaller portion than normal so no deprivation by having to eat "diet food".

With that I lost a stone in three weeks, I enjoy food and drink too much to deprive myself, all things in moderation!

Bit morbid, but my dad died. He was active and healthy, ate well, etc. He got cancer and I read obesity can be a risk factor for some types of cancer. I don't have much to lose but I was incredibly unfit, so I started swimming 2x per week and slowly replacing UPFs with fresher ingredients as much as I can. I'm doing it for me and for my kids, so that I am around for them as long as possible.

Health issues so I fat-shamed myself into it

When I was feeling at my most crap, fat, ugly and old before my time I took a photo of myself in my underwear - front, back and side views. Wrote down my measurements for upper arms, chest, waist, hips, thighs and calves. Wrote down how I felt, physically and emotionally - aching and fed up and wheezy, headaches all the time, no energy.

I lost 2 stone just swapping UPF - ready meals, takeaways, etc. and cooked from scratch instead. No exercise. It took about a week for my tastebuds to adjust and not much longer for me to lose the can't be arsed, it's too much effort feeling - my body was getting the nutrients it needed to function properly.

After that 2 stone - and better nutrition, I felt more energetic and also felt like I was getting my sparkle back. It gave me the impetus to become more active. I started doing some gentle exercise - walking more, just at my own pace - think couch to 5k but walking! I lost another 2 stone doing that.

I was 35 at the time. I'm in my 50s now and menopausal and I've never felt better. I feel younger than I did back then. More energy. All my health problems have vanished. I dropped 5 dress sizes. I rarely get ill even when everyone around me is snotting and sniffling.

I cringe and burn with embarrassment and shame when I look at that photo. I am not that person anymore - inside or out.

I really do believe "you are what you eat". I was eating crap and I looked and felt like crap.

Sorry, this is sounding like some sort of sermon now so I'll shut up!

I started those as well and even after a few weeks it's amazing the difference. I had to move a ladder in the flat and realised I'd picked it up one handed - and the weights aren't even that heavy. Just regular use.

Like you, I didn't have a lot to lose - my aim was 7lbs. I just felt uncomfortable and a mess, fed up of tight clothes - I think that got my focused. I tried to make better choices (ie something more healthy or if I was having a treat, chose a lower fat or lower calorie version). About this time last year, I felt enough was enough and started to be more careful, but still had some treats. ie, on Saturdays I like nibbles and wine while cooking, I just have half the nibbles and slightly less wine. Lunchtime, I'd often be tempted by chocolate, but now have fruit alongside soup, crackers etc.

I'm in my 50s the over the last year quite a few family and friends the same age have had health scares and others say they can't do certain things because they ache, getting older - that hasn't kicked in with myself or DH yet and I'm determined that we continue to enjoy life physically as much as we are now.

Question why it is that you snack or drink, do you actually enjoy it or is any joy from the initial taste taken away by the guilt and self loathing you undoubtedly have afterwards. Not to mention what it’s doing to your body. When you think about it that way you can’t get away from the fact it’s stupid. Next time you pick up say a biscuit, actually sit and eat it slowly, hold it in your mouth, and think are you really enjoying it like you thought you would?? or are you just addicted to sugar and a short term insulin spike?
it’s just as easy to snack on a raw carrot than it is to snack on a processed item such as a biscuit or chocolate, so don’t buy snacks 🤷‍♀️

no one can ever motivate you to stop, that comes from you.
I work for the NHS, it actually annoys me when people bring in chocolate and processed crap for ill patients as it is so unbelievably bad for them especially when they are trying to get better, madness. Same concept of why people give children sweets, because once you have done it once you get badgered by them to have more every time you see them in shops etc, then you start this never ending bribery ritual with them, then when your adults you get told not to each them and have the wean ourselves off them, which goes back to my original point, when you think about it properly, it’s stupid to eat and drink crap, that should be motivation enough.