What motivated you to get into shape?

[Anon20201]

Really at low point. Start diet every Monday and by mid week break it. What motivated you? I have zero willpower and break quite easily. How did you break the cycle?

Hello OP. I was in exactly the same predicament as you. I'm short and I was a size 18. It was affecting my mental health that I couldn't stick to anything. Since the day after Easter Monday Bank Holiday this year (I started on Tuesday 14th April) - I've stuck to the Fast 800 diet and been running at least once a day - sometimes come home and do floor exercises etc after a run. I'm down to under 11stone and now my size 16 trousers are hanging off me. What motivated me tbh OP was that I was on furlough and wanted to do something positive. Being on furlough/lockdown has taken all of the pressures off me - work and social/family obligations and it's been easier to stick to a strict diet/exercise program. Good luck OP.

Also with 16 8 you get results fast which I find motivating

Honestly? Fear. Plain and simple.

I'm aware being obese presents so many risks but none seemed like they would happen to me. CV I'd right now and it frightens me (I also have an underlying health conditon). I'm down from almost 15st to 13.8 now. Using weight watchers. I've never stuck to diets (including weight watchers previously) but this time it is working, I plan to try and add in some exercise soon as well.

When I realised I had about 10 photos of me from about a 5 year period as I hated how I look.

I was finally honest with how I was eating - "good" 4 days a week and then blow out over the weekend and I was eating/drinking all the calories I'd be saving during the week (and then some) - so started logging everything, and trying to keep to 1500 calories 5 days out of 7.

What works for me is to have my "dinner" at lunchtime during the week at work. As I'd then not snack in the afternoon, and then gym or run in the evening, and by the time I was finished and back home it would be about 830pm, and I'd not need to eat ( or maybe some toast or fruit if anything).

Holiday pictures where I looked awful and the realisation that I want to enjoy holidays and not dread them feeling self conscious and stressing about what I could wear.

A good way to lose weight is, as pp have mentioned, meal plan, accept that you’re meant to feel hungry for your next meal and fill your time between meals doing stuff.
Plan your day. Plan exercise, work, hobbies, reading, tv, cleaning, spending time with dc.
Being busy and feeling fulfilled might help if you’re an emotional or boredom snacked.
Make sure you drink plenty of water and get enough sleep too as both those things can affect desire for food.

My tips have your meals on a breakfast plate simple but reduces portion slice. When I want a snack I have a coffee instead

I've downloaded Paul McKenna's 'Thin' app after good reviews from PIL and SIL - it's behavioural therapy really rather than a 'diet', helping get your head straight around food/eating. Might be helpful for you before trying any diet plans, as it sounds more emotional eating to me?

My motivation was my husband telling me I had no self discipline lol. I'm very competitive so for him to say that I just HAD to prove him wrong. That was on the 20th of April and I've lost 8lbs since and still going.

I find tracking calories on myfitnesspal the most sustainable way as with all these fad diets you inevitably fall off the wagon. This way I just plan my meals and eat the naughty things I want, just within my limit! E.g. tonight I want to have wine cause it's Friday so I'm cutting back during the day to fit it in. I think an important mind shift as well is that it's a marathon and not a sprint - so if I eat a bit too much today it's not a big deal, let's just try and limit it and do our best again tomorrow.

Additionally, I weigh myself nearly daily to avoid the once a week trap of potentially weighing myself when bloated and thinking the week's effort was for naught. Using an app like Happy scales (ios) or Monitor my weight (android) means I can log those weights and it shows me the overall TREND. So on a day to day basis my weight can be all over the place for various reasons but the trend line still shows me overall loss so that's very motivating.

This pandemic has given the proverbial boot up the arse I was needing. Time to focus on my health and lose this extra weight that's been impacting on my life.
In combination with a calorie controlled diet (MFP), I've started Dietbet. The promise of cold hard cash if I succeed and the threat of throwing away £30 if I dont stick to it has motivated me far more than just willpower alone

Thank you so much everyone. I have read and re-read all the comments a few times over now to motivate me. I’m starting tomorrow! I have taken the old exercise bike out of shed and will start using it tomorrow. I will post in here daily to update you if that’s okay. I’m hoping by writing it down for others to see I won’t be tempted to eat my usual crap and feel slightly embarrassed! Thank you all

Best of luck @Anon20201
I look forward to reading your updates, they will hopefully inspire me to keep going too 😊

This virus. Not to lose weight but shape up. I can't believe how my body has changed physically and the tiredness from lack of exercise the past 9 weeks.
I'm starting a fitness plan to improve my mind too.

@Waitingforboristoletusfree goodluck to you too! hope you get your dominos soon

I'm not there yet, but the Covid 19 related death of a mid 30's, otherwise healthy, but very overweight relative 6 weeks ago made me very focused on making changes. So far so good and 7lbs down..

I was on a packed flight and just before takeoff the flight attendant (who must have drawn the short straw) rather shamefacedly leant in very close and asked me to move seats because they needed to "redistribute the ballast..."

Fucking hell I blushed from the tips of my toes to the roots of my hair and moved seats. I've been called some things, but ballast?! It was the push I needed to start my weight loss journey and now I look and feel epic. I was fat. I was miserable and that flight attendant did me the biggest favour ever.👍🏻

Oh @JeSuisPrest, that must have been awful.
That's always been a secret fear of mine.
Good on you for turning that situation into a positive and not burying your head in the sand.

Turning 40 and weighing 15 stones was the first kick up the arse

At 53, the impending deadline of my first bodybuilding show is keeping me right on track. I'll be competing with women half my age

Anon I watch a box set while on my exercise bike so I do 50 mins every morning watching the One episode a day takes my mind off the exercise!

I’m currently doing slim fast. I always thought it was expensive and starving yourself on 1k calories a day or something. But actually it’s on offer in a lot of places, you can get some really good deals which make it work out quite cheap. You get 2 shakes, 3 snacks and a 600 cal meal per day. It’s made me realise that I was overeating so much and I’m actually not hungry at all on that amount of calories. I’ve lost nearly 8kgs since the start of May, but I do have a lot to lose

I've previously done slimming world which worked well at the time, but now I'm peri menopausal I need more exercise. I'm on my first week of the body coach 90 day plan. The HIIT workouts are a killer, but only take 25 minutes so I do them first thing in the morning. The recipes are delicious and my kids have enjoyed them too.

Looks like I'm moving countries to a very hot place...so much easier to be a bit plumper where it's cold and can hide in jeans and long sleeve stuff....but now it looks like I'll be wearing dresses, shorts and sleeveless tops year round

At 53, the impending deadline of my first bodybuilding show is keeping me right on track. I'll be competing with women half my age

I'm impressed. My gym wanted me to enter competitions but I took one look at what it takes to be competitive and bowed out.

"Looks like I'm moving countries to a very hot place"

That cold help a lot if you start preferring salads to stodgy winter food. Also, is it somewhere where the average person is slimmer? That can have a good influence as well.

I saw a video of myself with my baby and realised how big I was.
Re-joined slimming world 3 weeks ago. Have lost half a stone so far.
I love slimming world as I can always eat something if I'm hungry, to be honest we are actually eating so much. And treats are allowed, I've had 2 Chinese takeaways since re-joining
The new app is brilliant for keeping track of what I've eaten and meal planning and getting recipes.
There are so many recipes to choose from and I cook the same for all of us - me,dp, ds6 and Dbaby and they all love it.

Kids leftovers are killers! Either keep them for the kids to have for another meal, or, stop making yourself anything so that you ^^only eat their leftovers. This made a huge difference to my food consumption.

My turning point was all of my clothes being too tight. I've lost 6kg since the start of lockdown by exercising every day (something different every day to avoid boredom) and convincing myself that being healthy during a pandemic is the best kind of treat I can give myself, fatty and processed foods are a punishment my body doesn't deserve.

I thought I only wanted to lose one more kg until I found an old Wii profile that said I was 7 more kg lighter 10 years ago - there may be more work to do!