How to get willpower for weight loss - your hints and tips needed please!

[aycaramba]

Help! I need to lose at least 4.5 stone to get down to a "normal" weight (but that would still be at the top of my BMI range). I know I need to do it but I just can't seem to get motivated and don't have the willpower anymore. It's like I want to do it but just can't be bothered as it's easier to just eat!

Have 2 small dcs (5 and 1.5) and had loads of physical probs since giving birth to dd 18 months ago and can't really do any strenous exercise as a result. I've yo-yo dieted for years and have everything from size 8 to size 18 in my wardrobe!

Am constantly knackered and feel v low about the way I look and feel (at 5.3 inches tall being 4.5st overweight does NOT look or feel good) and I know it's affecting the post-natal problems I've had but that still doesn't seem to be enough to force me into action! I'm cetainly not lazy and have a very busy life but it feels like my brain is mush and just doesn't care about my body!

I know all about what I should be eating and how I should be exercising etc but I just can't get into the right frame of mind. Any advice would truly be welcomed. Thanks :)

I had the same to lose as you 2.5 years ago. I went to WW and started exercising. I know I sound trite but I just did it. I lost about 5lbs the first week and it just spurred me on. Took about 1.5 years to shift it (am now 10stone at 5'8") but even if I only lost half a pound one week, I still saw it as losing and that helped me stay focused. And I started exercising by goingyo aqua aerobics because no-one can see you under the water! And I discovered I adored it! And swimming and Pilates and now zumba (depending on the teacher!).

And I adored shopping for new clothes! And my friends adored me donating all my old ones!

You just have to do for yourself. I didn't want to be fat and forty...

Jesus deeverelda, OP came on for some support not to have you be a thundering bitch. You are clearly a bitter person whose diet consists of self righteousness and the souls of others.

OP, I know what it's like to struggle to lose weight when you want to but motivation is lacking. I started a thread looking for a new body by Christmas, I'm just setting a goal of 2lbs per week and that will be achievable and won't be too hard. I'm using WW by the way so I can retrain my eating habits. Getting weighed in front of a room full of strangers is great motivation.

deeverelda why exactly are you on this thread? This is in the weight loss club section, which involves giving each other support not back biting comments like yours! If you are not in the club and have nothing constructive to add go away please!

aycaramba I totally understand where you are coming from, for far too long I just couldn't find the motivation to lose weight until one day something just clicked I just decided I didn't want to be like this anymore. I have taken photo's of myself at my size now and at my slimmest and am keeping a diary of my journey. I have found that the 'fat' photo is enough motivation for me as I cant bare to look at it. Good luck and keep us posted.

Oh and by the way using weight loss forums is helping me loads as it is far easier to 'speak' to someone online who is going through the same things as you than someone in real life who isn't.

Thanks guys. I missed deeverelda's post so blissfully ignorant of what was said but thanks for defending me :) think I am waiting for that "click" moment but may have to force it or it may not come! It's just great to know I am not the only one struggling. I too do not want to be fat and forty and it's not that far off :( I think I'll just have to try very small goals to start with and not focus on everything i have to lose all at once. Thanks for the support. Will keep posting if I may to keep you updated on progress and hope I can give support back too. Xx

Like Clucking, I just 'clicked' one day. I hink it was the realisation that Size 18's were getting tight, when I'd been kidding myself I was size 16. Also, my cousin lost a lot of weight (like, over 10 stone) and there was no way I was going to be the fat one in the family. Good old family rivalry!!

Walking into WW was hard and stepping on the scales for the first time in years was harder! But seeing the number of stones in black and white was the kick up the backside I needed.

I didnt tell anyone I was doing WW for weeks as I wanted to be able to fail if necessary without any 'I told you so' looks etc. I also enjoyed it being 'my' secret. Good luck with whatever you do.

I think it really is a 'clicking' thing. Something I found very helpful was the first section of India Knight's book Pig to Twig here: www.amazon.co.uk/Neris-Indias-Idiot-Proof-Diet-Twig/dp/0141027436

I've found the low carb diet it includes very good for me, but know it's not for everyone. I've had success using WW in the past too - but two babies later was back up to my previous weight.

Whether you follow the diet in India's book or not though, at least the first third of the book is helpful in making you question why you're overweight and have got to a point where you want to do something about it. It's really helped me. If you get your head around how you think and feel about food it can really boost your success.

Good luck!

I had about the same as you to lose and I'd tried weightwatchers and slimmers world but their healthy loss of 2lbs a week wasn't enough incentive to keep me on the straight and narrow, I'd have a weekend off (say for a friend's wedding) and put a fortnight's loss back on, end up depressed and binging.

Much as I disagree with crash diets in principle I was desperate (my knees were starting to hurt from the weight when running so it was stopping me exercising) and decided that shifting the weight by any method would do and then I could work at keeping it off later. I decided to try the Dukan diet after seeing a colleague shed a lot of weight on it pretty quickly and picked up a copy of the book.

I was motivated by the quick impact the diet had on the scales (8lbs in the 1st week) - mostly water probably but the psychological impact of that amount of loss was enough to keep me going.

When I did take a weekend off (Anniversary) I found I didn't eat as much unhealthy food as before, because I was still full from the week's protein. I found the damage came off quicker too - on WW it took me a week of hard dieting and exersize to drop a 2lb weekend gain, on Dukan it took 3 days (again, probably just water loss but worked for my vanity)
I started on the 1st August this year and am halfway there now (so average 2.5 lbs a week the same as WW and SW though I have fallen off the wagon a few 8 times). I'll hopefully make my target weight (pre-baby weight) in January ('Baby's' 2nd Birthday) allowing for Christmas off.

If you fancy checking it out I recommend this blog (he falls off the wagon a lot too! but still manages 50lbs) linky

I think the others are right in that there is a click moment, and if you're not there yet you may struggle to lose weight. If you're like me, i would heave myself out of bed each morning and say, right, I HAVE to lose weight, but it wasn't until I said I've had enough I WANT to get this weight off, that I actually started to succeed. I don't know what caused that click (all I know is that I waited for it for long enough!!), but at the same time DO NOT give up until you get that 'click' because your efforts in the meantime may help to keep your weight stable or even lose a few pounds (or more) until you finally lose the lot.

You may never get what you recognise as a 'click moment' but you may just start the healthy eating eating and find it works and so carry on, you don't actually know what works for you until it starts working!!

Try and set yourself half stone goals instead of thinking of the whole amount of weight. As I lost weight I needed to find pleasure from things other than food, such as magazines or watching a good film. You can do it .....when you are ready.

please try the Harcombe Diet