Entries Tagged 'Motivation' ↓

I read a quote on Diettired Blog the other day - it was by a motivational speaker called Zig Ziglar. It said:-

“People say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we reccomend it daily”

This really strikes true for me.  I’ve always read weightloss books, I especially like the ones that deal with ways to defeat cravings using mental re-training or cognitive therapy. And I often find that my motivation is really high for a few weeks afterwards, but then it wanes.

A lot of times, the motivation comes from mantras, little sayings that stick in your head and provide the little boost that gets you through those tough cravings and moments of temptation.  For example, after reading The Thin Commandments, I found the mantra “It won’t make me happy, it will only make me heavy!” really struck a chord with me and was very effective in turning me away from off-plan eating. But after a few weeks, I forgot about it. It wasn’t floating around at the front of my head so much anymore and the motivation was gone.

A while back I realised that I had forgotten a number of really useful mantras that had helped me in the past. Actually, I hadn’t so much forgotten them as gotten out of the habit of using them. They didn’t come to me automatically anymore when I needed them, although I’m sure they would have come to mind if someone asked “What does such-and-such book say?”  The point is, you need to keep these things close, and practice them for them to be there when you really need them.

For me, the solution was a new divider labelled “Motivation” in my diet file, where I am now writing down every mantra, motivational quote, saying and concept I come across. I have made a committment to re-reading it every week when I do my meal plan, and to continue researching and adding new motivations to it.

So far it is very effective in keeping old mantras at the front of my head, where I need them, and also in making me remember new ones. I read or hear them and think, “Oh, I must write that down in my file!”

Maybe for you the solution is a notebook, or an index card in your wallet. Whatever, the principles hold true. Write down your motivations, keep them handy, read them regularly, and add to them often.

I didn’t come to my own method of weight loss fully-fledged, with an idea and a method all fleshed out and a path fully mapped.  I don’t believe anyone does. Regardless of what weight watchers, Jenny Craig or any of the other weight loss groups tell you, no one method works for everyone, and no one method works on it’s own for the whole length of your journey.

Imagine a cruise ship. (I’d like to imagine BEING on a cruise ship, but that may have to wait a few decades) Anyway, our cruise ship leaves port with a destination in mind. Let’s say Vanuatu. (My sister is taking a cruise to Vanuatu for her honeymoon. I’m terribly jealous )

Our ship sets sail with the bow pointing straight to it’s destination. After a day or so, the captain takes a reading. Currents, winds, and a plethora of other things have combined to push the ship slightly of course. The bow is pointing 1 degree to the left of Vanuatu. So the captain makes a correction, and the ship is back on course.

Every cruise ship and plane makes a hundred course corrections between the start and finish of their journey. They never go in a completely straight line. Neither does weight loss. Why should it? You start with a goal. You do what you need to do and you’re heading towards your goal quite happily. Then you notice you’re slightly off-course, so you make a correction. You add in a new behaviour, or you get rid of an old one.  You continuously research and try new things. It is unlikely that the behaviours which got you to your first mini goal will get you all the way to your destination on their own.

My first step in my journey was to cut out eating after dinner. I lost 2kgs almost without trying. Then my weight leveled out again - I needed to make a course correction. I took up running 3 times a week doing the C25K program. I began losing again, but SO slowly! So I began planning my meals in advance. That helped a lot, my weightloss picked up a bit. Then it leveled out again, so I stepped up my planning. I began counting my calories more precisely.

My next course correction occured when the PT at my gym tested me for my metabolic rate and recommended I drop down to 1300 calories. AND he started to weigh me in each week, so I became accountable to someone else for my eating. That was a big course correction - I was really powering straight towards port for a while there!

But slowly I wandered off course again. I lost some motivation and was finding it hard to resist little treats and snacks. So I began researching mental techniques to stave off cravings, emotional eating and binging. Putting them into place was yet another course correction.

A lot of this blog is about recognising when I am wandering off course and figuring out what actions will correct my course. Ultimately, it is about realising that to consistently lose weight, I need to consistently research, implement and refine new behaviours and techniques to provide course corrections when I need them.

So if you are beginning your weightloss journey, try not to focus on the entire journey as one big step. Concentrate of each little step and change your behaviours one at a time - you will build up momentum in the end.

I did a huge big post here and now it’s gone.

So - here’s the pointy bit - The weightloss fairy took away 0.6kgs this week. If I maintain that till next week I will have officially acheived my next mini-goal - My halfway point of 72kgs.

I’ve been listening to hypnosis CDs and they may be having some effect. I’ve been focusing on my strategies to beat cravings and they are mostly working - I’m still having slip ups on the weekends though. I’m exercising but I’m not being a nazi about it - I can skip a day if it makes it easier to get to my dance class in the evening.

I’ve been doing more social things - I’ve joined social dance classes and a swim squad and I’m accepting more invitations than I used to.

I’ve put in place a system at work to limit my internet use and allocate my time better to my projects, it’s making me much more productive.

Life is good, work is good, weightloss is good, I’m kind of happy.

My motivation is very low this week.  I haven’t exercised a whole lot and I’ve been doing a lot of picking at food. I’ve also had a LOT of near misses with chocolate and chips, so at least my strategies are holding out there.

I suspect that TTOM is about to start which may explain why, but also I’ve been a bit tired and unorganised. Really though, there’s no reason, just a natural swing in mood I think. Everyone has them.

Bearing this in mind, I’m not going to worry about it too much. I’m going to ride it out, minimise damage by reminding myself that I’m vulnerable to overeating just now, and monitor to make sure this phase passes in a reasonable amont of time.

I expect that by next week I’ll be right back on track.

It’s true. When Iweighed myself on Friday morning I was maintaining at 74.8 kgs. This is despite the fact that I had done no exercise all week. (My excuse was that i was still tired from having food poisoning the weekend before, but really, that was just an excuse, and not a very good one either. I could have exercised if I’d wanted to.)

So from friday morning, where did I go wrong?

1. I had a friday afternoon binge on biscuits at work. That is discussed in my last post.
2. Since I’d already binged, and I knew I was going to have a relaxed weekend, i continued eating friday night, with two chocolate bars and McDonalds for dinner, and PB toast since I had to buy butter to make cakes.
3. I went to an overnight hen’s party this weekend. It was awesome I had lots of nibblies and lots of Vodka. To be honest though, I could have gotten away with all of that and only had a minor gain it was Friday and Sunday that were the problems. In fact, I don’t think I went overboard on the nibbles the way I might have a few months ago.
4. When I got home on Sunday, I was tired so I had Red Rooster for lunch before I crashed in front of the telly for the evening.

So why a whole kilo? i think some of it may be bloating from the salt and alcohol, and it might go away in a couple of days. But to be honest, only a few little efforts at restraint, and a bit of exercise last week, would have headed off this disaster.

I am going to allow myself to be annoyed and cross with myself about this, and remember how crappy that upward line on my graph looks so that next time i am tempted to let go so completely I will remember it and hopefully think twice.

This morning on the Calorie King website a member asked what she should do to get her motivation back. This was my response.

- Do some FUN exercise on the weekend, go hiking with friends, hire a surfcat and sail about, go horseriding or rock climbing. You will feel healthy and motivated to keep going durin the week

- read some motivational stories - there’s some on the Calorie King website

- VISUALISE!!! Close your eyes and ’see’ yourself looking thin and fabulous in that swimsuit or flirty red dress. Picture yourself enjoying a healthy meal. Picture yourself in control and calm at a meal out with friends, enjoying the company without needing to have that dessert. Picture yourself full of energy and endorphins smiling as you step out of the gym after a great workout.

Now picture yourself overweight and bloated, slumped in front of the telly with no energy and a packet of chips in the dark with the flickering light of the telly showing your pasty unhealthy skin…

- read some diet books that focus on the mental aspect of weight loss, like the Thin Commandments, the Beck Diet, Think Slim (particularly reccomend that one) or Fattitude

- make yourself a tape or MP3 with your own voice repeating all your favourite weight loss sayings, like “Start where you stand” “It won’t make me happy, it will only make me heavy” or Nothing bad will happen if I don’t eat that chocolate - but something bad will happen if I do - I will stay fat!” and play it every morning on the train or when you get up or whatever. Include some relaxation techniques and motivation for exercise or whatever you most need.

I think I need to do a few of these myself! especially the visualising. Not that I need motivation just now with the PT weighing me every week. He weighed me this morning (even though my normal day is tuesday, I missed this week) and I had lost 1.3kgs. I was so stoked you can’t imagine! I haven’t seen numbers that low on a scale in years!