How to get motivation to lose weight?

[Lsquiggles]

When I got with my partner I was a size 12, fast forward to now 3 years later and I'm a size 18. I can't believe how much weight I've gained and I'm so embarrassed but also just don't have the motivation to lose weight at all. I've got some awful habits including drinking way too much Dr Pepper each day. I have a 2 month old now and luckily didn't gain any weight during the pregnancy but really want to slim back down now as I just feel awful about myself and hate looking back at old photos.

What motivated you to start losing weight? Be gentle with me I'm embarrassed and sensitive about this topic

What motivated me was realising that gaining weight was starting to affect my health. In particular I was starting to get this awful stabbing pain in my heel every time I’d go for a short walk. I decided that in my early forties I was far too young to start having problems like that.

I’ve found health to be a much better motivator for me than looks. It can take a while before you start to look the way you want to, but you can feel the effects on your health so much quicker. In my case, the pain in my foot disappeared after a few weeks, which motivated me to keep going

I’ve found the absolute key to weightloss is to be kind to yourself. There’s little point beating yourself up over the weight you are now. As humans we are programmed to respond a lot better to positive, rather than negative thoughts. So just accept your weight/size/whatever for what it is and start thinking about where you’d like to be and how you’re going to get there. If you can get into the right mindset, weightloss doesn’t need to be hard! (but I totally understand that getting into that mindset can take a while 🙈)

I hired a PT because I wanted to start using weights and needed to know how to use them safely. He was forbidden to address my weight, and didn't, but when I really started enjoying the exercise I was motivated to start losing the weight.