PS I think setting goals with getting something, for me, is less about getting it -- (a) if I want it I'll buy it, and (b) that doesn't motivate me -- so much as making a discipline, like, if I don't succeed at this goal, I will NOT get it. In other words I see rewards more as punishments than pleasures, because I know I could have the thing anyway, and I know if I want to do it I will (or won't) regardless of the reward.

That is exactly how I look at it, only I see the incorporation of it as a way of living to be the evidence of motivation. Or, put differently, you hit a point that it is easier to lose weight than to live fat. Or, put even differently, I see the whole issue as being the Nike slogan: Just do it! I haven't seen a lot of successful people who did it any other way, whether it is weight loss or career achievement. If you aren't going to just do it you never do it.

Yup Liz....that was me....I had always been looking for my motivation and never found it. I just could not live being morbidly obese any longer....it was a "just do it" for me.

At first, it was scary time....would I make it, could I make it....but each day that I got through, helped me to feel like I would and could....it built on itself. Was I motivated? or was I just doing it.....shrug

I recall the last blackout we had here almost 5 yrs ago...before I lost the weight. I got very scared because I was forced to climb 14 flights of stairs several times and felt like I was having a heart attack. That and having been through 9/11.....I realized that my very life may just depend on my being able to escape. Fear of death can be a great motivator!!

I knew that I had to change permanently...that there would be no going back to the way I used to eat. I iwsh I could bottle this for others.

I think you must be using some personal, non-dictionary definition of motivation.

Motivation - a motivating force, stimulus, or influence : incentive, drive

No external thing can influence you or stimulate you? No external thing can give you incentive or drive to act? How about material goods, approval of others, or sex?

Kyrasdad, I agree with Advantage. By your stats you've lost 90 lbs. you didn't do that without SOMETHING inside you wanting to make a change. I see your point about the iPods, but to some that's not motivation, more like a reward for a job well done.

Jake, after 21 years of being a hard-core smoker, I am now smoke free since Jan/01. Good luck, it was one of the hardest things I ever did, and I didn't do it on my own. I used a nicotine patch, which unfortunately, they no longer make.

My wake up call was a black and white commercial, with about a 55 year old woman sitting there just talking about how she could never give up the cigarettes, they had such a hold on her, etc. At the end of the commercial, she took a drag off the cigarette from the device in her throat. (sorry i dont know the technical term). I was about 37 at the time, and it floored me. I just felt omg, thats me if i don't quit NOW!
good luck with your efforts.
Now, if I could just get that motivated about my weight loss efforts, I'd be a happy camper.

RightNow...what an awesome post.

The best I have ever done, during this journey of up and down and ultimately up, up, up, was when I was at my last "all time high". I was having incidences where I felt like I couldn't get any air in...I'd be standing in the line at the post office with packages to ship (I do a lot of shipping for my business), and realize I might have to say something like call 911 because I just about couldn't get a breath in.
I ended up seeing a pulmonary specialist, who told me not much was found and yes, if I lost the weight, it would all resolve (along with the sleep apnea).

I don't know from where, but until a few months before I quit (after almost 4 years on plan), anytime I had that kind of thinking that says, "just this one meal why not...", or "go ahead, it's a special holiday, take the day off", a voice inside me would answer..it would be honest, it would be no nonsense, it was a part of me I don't remember accessing before - coming as it did from my unconscious.

I know that with that part of me active again, I will go much further...I am listening...today is Day 4, back on plan.

Terrific thread everyone! I dunno why it can't be both a lifestyle and good decisions/choices, as well as pumped up enthusiasm once inna while!

Consistent good choices plus motivational spurts! I definitely agree that this is a marathon! You gotta be in it for the long haul. And endurance on low carb shouldn't be simply a will power thing - though everybody probably has their moments.

And maybe there isn't just one way, or one mental place that works for everyone. I am all about learning new ninja skills and tactics for dealing with life situations. Learning about myself and my own weaknesses and struggles. For me this is all about permanent life changes and sustainability - low carb life over the long haul! If an i-Pod or reward helps someone with their focus and commitment - good for them! If there are specific goals that can become the motivational focus, terrific! When I used to run long ago, I used to look to a certain landmark (maybe a telephone pole) and just focus on my best run between where I was and that next landmark. Then once I arrived there, I picked a new one! And that was how I stayed focussed over the course of my run. And of course at the same time I was looking to do better over the entire run as well! But I took it in chunks that I could deal with in the here and now.

Good luck to you all!!!

A little bit back on this thread, ValerieL quote Winterlily on "little things," as motivators.


That just happened today to me! I'd been dragging, stalling, going off the WOE, but yesterday I ate right. Today, I put on a dress to go out, dropped something, and just naturally dropped down with two knees together to the side, my butt on my heels, and picked it up.
I took two steps before I realized what I had done! You're right. It's really an amazing feeling. Something we once took for granted! No more.

It's also the growing sense of management of self that RightNow (PJ?) talks about, so that even when I fall/fail, I know that I don't want to keep doing that. If I'm stalled, I'm going to redefine it as maintenance, or muscle replacing fat, or something.

*Bump*

--Melissa

Thanks for the bump, Melissa. I thought I was reading a current thread until I saw your bump!

I'm reading and letting the good words sink in -- am back after having lost 105 pounds and having gained most of it back. I need these words and gems of wisdom as part of my support system, as part of my motivation. I find that sometimes one little thing that someone says gives me focus and helps me stay on course for even just one day and I do appreciate insight that others bring.

Thanks

You're welcome, Louise. I found the thread insightful and thought that other members who weren't around when it was posted would as well. Good luck in your journey.

--Melissa

Just read through the rest of this thread and it brought this quote to mind:

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit. --Aristotle.

--Melissa

I needed this today - and last night I watched a show called 627 pound woman on TLC - it was about this amazing woman who was having bariatric surgery to lose wieght, and the struggles she faced. What struck me was how positive and uplifting her attitude was through it all - even through the complications. It also reinforced that I don't want to be in that same position and I had better do soemthing about myself now!!!

I like that quote, Melissa. It's very true, isn't it?

I do martial arts--I started a new one about 14 months ago. My punches were the absolute worst in the class; I couldn't seem to get the whole quick recoil concept. In the beginning, I would quickly despair in the middle of the training session -- "God I suck! Why am I so bad at this? Will I ever be able to punch properly?" From my standpoint back then, it was too overwhelming to even think about all the changes I'd have to make in order to get where I wanted to be.

What ended up working for me in martial arts is what will work for me if I apply it to my fat loss journey: just do it, every day, and forget about the ultimate goal. If you keep it up consistently, and never quit, you can't help but improve. With that principle in mind, my punches very slowly got better over the course of a year. I was in there 5 days a week hitting those pads, training hard but not frantically. I just did it, and continued to do it. It was a leap of faith, but I believed in the principle of persistence.

The result...I have been getting compliments on my punching from instructors and other students this spring! A year ago that seemed impossible.

Now if only I had approached my weight loss journey that way from the beginning...I would have not only reached goal long ago, but also, I would have been able to maintain it for years. But instead I have been letting my short-term thinking get the better of me...hit a stall and despair, then self-sabotage...it's an impossible way to sustain anything at all.

So thanks J for reminding us of how to do it.