Motivation to Lose Weight?

[random_thought]

What do you do to motivate yourself to lose weight? Besides feeling good and less stressed, are there any things you tell yourself? Mantras if you will? Do you use photos of yourself at the weight you used to be to motivate yourself? DH and I are *tentatively (if we can save the money for it, if not we'll keep saving until we DO have enough)* going on a cruise next year for our honeymoon and I'd like to lose weight before going. I'm considering getting a cute swimming suit in the size I want to be at by that time and hanging it on a hanger on our closet door or something. Do you guys think this might help or that it would just be a waste of money! I've been doing yoga booty ballet and I really like it, but I am starting off slow as it is a little rough on my knees. Although this always happened to me when I took dance classes so it's really nothing new. Tylenol and ice

 

[oranges]

a friend of mine goes by the mantra "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" -- works for her, I suppose. also, before my mono reactivated last month , i worked out with jillian michael's workout DVDs everyday. the workouts are excellent, but rather hard on the knees. good luck with your weightloss goals-- but remember to be healthy.
p.s: i'm taking biochemistry right now, and we have been discussing metabolism for weeks. today, my professor was discussing the dangers of the atkin's diet if you don't stay very hydrated--you can end up with ketosis and the pH in your kidneys can decrease and the acidity will eat away at your kidneys. very very dangerous. random, but i just wanted to spread the word!

 

[Haven]

When I'm about to make a really bad decision about food, I think about how I feel when I'm a couple pounds overweight. To be specific, I think about one particular night when I almost broke down and cried because a little black dress of mine no longer fit right, and I figured that out about ten minutes before we had to leave. It felt horrible, and the dress was too tight to look good.

If that isn't good enough, I call DH and tell him that he needs to be my healthy eating sponsor.

When I lack motivation to go in to the gym, I usually need to find someone to go in with me. DH usually gets that job, too.

 

[steph72276]

I do the thing where I have a pair of jeans in the next size down hanging at the front of my closet. I try them on every week or so. I've been losing slowly, but the jeans used to not zip up at all and now I can zip and button them (although they are still too tight to look good). Do you have anything in your closet already in the size you want to be just in case so you don't have to waste $$...bathing suits are expensive!

 

[TravelingGal]

I think it was Kate Moss who said the nothing tastes as good as skinny feels line? I think she was criticized for it, but I do use that motto a little...will this cake be worth that extra pound? I will say though there are quite a few things that I can think of that taste better than how skinny feels!

Steph, that's a great tip. I actually will go shopping now...I buy bargain since the hope is that I won't be in the size for long, but I'll buy a few cute things in the next size down. They don't look great in the fitting room, but I try those clothes on once a week and it's so fun when they actually do fit. Sometimes I almost can't believe my eyes and think they must have fit when I bought them, but they really didn't. It's great motivation!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

How's P90X going RT?

I have no motivation to lose right now, but after LO is here my motivation will be needed to have clothes to wear and not being able to afford new ones!

 

[random_thought]

I think I might have a cute shirt or somethin in the closet I could hang up, but for the most part I threw out all my old clothes that didn't fit when we moved! Hopefully I can find something Maybe I'll hang up some lingerie I've been hoping to look better in, I'm sure DH wouldn't mind me trying that on each week haha

 

[ForteKitty]

do you have a tjmaxx or a ross around you? you can find a cute bikini for around $15-20!

My motivators are my work slacks. When i can no longer sit comfortably for a few hours, it's time to go to the gym. I refuse to spend more $$ on new slacks. They are expensive! the money i save from buying new clothes goes towards my jewelry.

 

[marcy]

You have to find what works best for you. My motivation was health. Slow and steady wins the race. Good luck!

 

[Dreamer_D]

For me it is not about an outfit or something, but a whole re-orientation towards food in my life. Like a total mental overhaul where my diet and exchercise become a priority and there is simply no choice about doing what I have committed to do -- excercise and follow an eating plan. Twice I have had that ah-ha moment of clarity that made me willing to focus on losing weight in the way that you really need to for it to work, it is a huge commitment. I did it once in my early 20s and lost 30 lbs (that crept back on after marriage and a kiddo), and again just a month and a half ago. For me it helped to have structure in place, the first time a workout program and a nutritionist and this time a running program and weight watchers.

Both times my SO was on the plan with me and it helped. DH and I run together and track our points together. I find having that partner in the whole thing makes it so much easier, especially since my husband and I spend so much time together, if we were not on the same page then it would be impossible to maintain the lifestyle.

PS: I am trying to figure out if I know you RT... it is making me cuckoo.

 

[random_thought]

For me it is not about an outfit or something, but a whole re-orientation towards food in my life. Like a total mental overhaul where my diet and exchercise become a priority and there is simply no choice about doing what I have committed to do -- excercise and follow an eating plan. Twice I have had that ah-ha moment of clarity that made me willing to focus on losing weight in the way that you really need to for it to work, it is a huge commitment. I did it once in my early 20s and lost 30 lbs (that crept back on after marriage and a kiddo), and again just a month and a half ago. For me it helped to have structure in place, the first time a workout program and a nutritionist and this time a running program and weight watchers.

Both times my SO was on the plan with me and it helped. DH and I run together and track our points together. I find having that partner in the whole thing makes it so much easier, especially since my husband and I spend so much time together, if we were not on the same page then it would be impossible to maintain the lifestyle.

PS: I am trying to figure out if I know you RT... it is making me cuckoo.

 

[diva rose]

For me ~ I'm going to treat myself to a coloured gem. My first purchase.
I'm thinking a big one around 3C.
I can only get it if I lose weight by Dec to treat myself. Otherwise no treat for me.

 

[deegee]

My motivation came when I broke the top of my foot on vacation, and it wouldn't heal. It was swollen and painful all the time and I knew that the extra pounds I was carrying wasn't helping. I joined our weight watchers at work group and lost 65 pounds. Woo-hoo!

Our leader brought in motivational sayings each week, and the one that stuck with me most was "Don't trade what you want most for what you want at the moment." That really stuck with me and I say it to myself just about every day. I even put it on my scrolling screensaver at work to pound it into my head! I had a mental picture of what size I wanted to be when I reached my goal, and bought a pair of shorts in that size and hung them on my closet door with the size tag hanging out for me to see every day. I lost a bunch of weight so it was a while before I got into those shorts, but I think they helped me to not lose sight of my goal. It was so incredibly rewarding to be able to wear them for real, and then I ended up losing a few sizes past them!

 

[megumic]

I'm motivated to not eat bad food by thinking about how crappy it will make me feel in 30 minutes. It's funny, but junk food just makes me feel ill now that I've been eating healthier and in my book, there is nothing worse than nausea.

 

[Circe]

"Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" as actually a slogan in the pro-anorexia movement (which is why Kate Moss was criticized for quoting it). It's pithy, but ... problematic. It's one of those sentiments that it's easy to go too far with ....

My best friend is my best motivator. And not in some sort of an uplifting way! See, I'm a curvy girl of 5'4". She's model-thin at 5'9". Despite that, with a few tailored exceptions, we can try on aaaaall the same clothes. The general rule is, if it looks good on one of us, it will suck on the other one. So it's not like we can swap ... but the shopping is so much fun I'm not willing to give it up.

So if I get beyond the point where I can't fit into the stuff she tries on - diet! With the added bonus that I'm constantly aware of how random and meaningless sizing is. Clothing swaps can serve a similar purpose - any chance of finding other women with similar builds and similar goals for solidarity and positive reinforcement?