Shed a few pounds?

So almost two years ago I was 5"9 138lbs and feelin fancy. Now I have gained about 15lbs back and I want to loose it. Here is the thing, at 138 I was hitting the gym, running and doing light cardio at home on days off. Now I tell myself every day to start up again but its like i've lost the will to do so. I don't like where I am now and want to get back down again... But I Do like eating what I want and not having to obsess over diet and if I am putting in my exercise dues. So my question is.. How do you find the motivation to start moving?

Reality is, if you don't eat a good diet, you won't feel energetic, and exercise will be more difficult to motivate yourself to do. It's not just about losing weight, it's about being healthier, no?

$$ seriously. I had two bets going (one in a group, one with a friend). I started at 231.5 and in 2 months, I got to 207 (my lowest weight since maybe 1995). My max weight was 260. I realized when I had my first child, I had to do something. I'm currently 218, so, still not too bad. Motivation is more of a routine as well. Once you establish your motivation, then you work on your routine. To keep your routine, apparently doing it for 3 weeks straight is the key to keeping it. So, my motivation was $$ at the time. Every since my mom came to visit me for my birthday in March, I lost my routine, which then lost my motivation. I haven't worked out since March 29th.

Establish motivation, maintain a routine = success.

(plus, my online trainer - a highschool friend) said my workouts were killer, and maybe over the top, and maybe that too lead to my end result of not working out anymore.

My wife and I are going to Vegas soon, and she is trying to lose 30 pounds for the trip. We are celebrating our 5 years of marriage. She works out twice a day now!!

She gets up at 5am, works out till about 7, then goes to work. Comes home, has dinner, then continues another 1.5 hour workout. So, I am the one now watching the kids all day. She needs to do it, as she has had two kids, and never really had the motivation before like this. I don't want to stop it.

So I guess it's really on what you're looking at in the long run. Is it a vacation motivation, or family, or $$, or just the ultimate goal number to hit???

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

Reality is, if you don't eat a good diet, you won't feel energetic, and exercise will be more difficult to motivate yourself to do. It's not just about losing weight, it's about being healthier, no?

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I do eat healthy and work hard to do so by cooking all of my meals. At 5"9 the weight I am now I still wear a size 6-8 I am not even in the over weight category.. The demanding, restrictive and time consuming diet I know I can do and Have done it before.. I am more interested in how people on this site found motivation to go back to their old ways and get fit again.

Take up field herping, lol.

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Originally Posted by 4Ballz

$$ seriously. I had two bets going (one in a group, one with a friend). I started at 231.5 and in 2 months, I got to 207 (my lowest weight since maybe 1995). My max weight was 260. I realized when I had my first child, I had to do something. I'm currently 218, so, still not too bad. Motivation is more of a routine as well. Once you establish your motivation, then you work on your routine. To keep your routine, apparently doing it for 3 weeks straight is the key to keeping it. So, my motivation was $$ at the time. Every since my mom came to visit me for my birthday in March, I lost my routine, which then lost my motivation. I haven't worked out since March 29th.

Establish motivation, maintain a routine = success.

(plus, my online trainer - a highschool friend) said my workouts were killer, and maybe over the top, and maybe that too lead to my end result of not working out anymore.

My wife and I are going to Vegas soon, and she is trying to lose 30 pounds for the trip. We are celebrating our 5 years of marriage. She works out twice a day now!!

She gets up at 5am, works out till about 7, then goes to work. Comes home, has dinner, then continues another 1.5 hour workout. So, I am the one now watching the kids all day. She needs to do it, as she has had two kids, and never really had the motivation before like this. I don't want to stop it.

So I guess it's really on what you're looking at in the long run. Is it a vacation motivation, or family, or $$, or just the ultimate goal number to hit???

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I was pretty happy with the ways things are now.. Until I got engaged a few weeks ago.. now I just keep thinking about how I need to get on this before it gets any harder.. maybe I will set up a bet with one of my friends I really like that Idea ;) thanks!

the bet with my friend, was we happened to weigh exactly 220.5 lbs when we started. The bet was first to 200 lbs for $150. Neither of us got to 200, but I was ahead by at least 5 pounds. He was in Ontario, so we just kept texting eachother our weigh ins every sunday.

Motivation? My motivation hit when I realized that my favorite jeans didn't fit anymore, and photos of me made me cringe. It wasn't that I wanted to get fit and skinny. My motivation came because I didn't want to look like 'that' anymore. I didn't want to have to worry about my arms in photos, or how my legs looked. I wanted to have legs that I could show off and not be embarassed about. I wanted to be able to wear some short shorts instead of hiding behind my insecurity.

Motivation on my own was hard. I hired a personal trainer, who helped me through the anxiety of being afraid to fail. She gave me tools that allowed me to feel confident for a change. In fact, I even found myself taking charge of my workouts. She'll give me a new set, a new exercise or a new thing to try, and I tackle it 100%. Why? Because an hour at the gym is nothing compared to all the hours out of the gym where I'll feel sexy and good after all of this. What's some pain and aches now, compared to feeling fantastic later?

I switched up my diet now too (my trainer is also a nutritionist. Score). We loaded up on the protein, reduced portion sizes and played around with some variety. I went to my workout last night and felt better than I ever have working out. I was doing heavier weights than I had before, and as I hit my last set, I realized I could've bumped it up as I wasn't struggling like I used to.

So motivation came initially from my fear of becoming unattractive and not feeling confident like I used to. Now motivation is coming from the fact that I'm succeeding, and even exceeding my trainers expectations. We had to sit down and redo my workout program, because I had already passed her intial plan.

Once the ball gets rolling and you start getting feedback from people in a positive way to what you're doing... That keeps it going. That initial step is hard, but as long as you realize that time is irrelevant, and that everything you do now will soon be in the past, it's easy to get back into a routine and do what's good for the future you.

If you are able to run (my wife has bad ankles so she can't do what I do)

This is what I did, while wearing a 40 lb weight vest. You don't need the vest though.

I did a nice light jog for around 3-5 minutes. Followed by this;

Set the treadmill to a high speed (literally as fast as you can sprint) for 30 seconds, turn it down and walk for 10 seconds. Do this for 8 sets.

By doing this 30 sec sprint, 10 sec walk, 30 sec sprint 10 sec walk etc, you'll have ran for the equivalent of 60 minutes.

This also increases your endurance, strength, and speed.

Once you do a week of this, do 3 days of intervals with the hills. Alternate level, and hills and by the third week, you'll be so amazed at the results.

I was able to run 4-5 miles after, with no issues (with that 40 pound weight vest as well).

In my case it is conditioning my dogs for shows. They're too young still for actual "road work" so we do a lot of hill climbing and walks at their pace, and I get the health benefits of it. Making it all about them = a hundred times more palatable for me. :) TRX workouts are my outlet for stress from my day job & how I get closure on work at the end of a day. I look at the psychological benefits first, so it's easier to stay motivated in that manner, too.

Everyone has different levels of motivation that get's them going.

Sissy: I gained back 35 lbs over the winter of the 100+ pounds I lost the previous 1 1/2 years(had back surgery and got lazy). From March until July I kept telling myself to get up off my butt and get back to it(trying to learn self-motivation). I worked out halfheartedly.

To get me back into my old workout/eating routine, 3 things factored into it:

1. I finally signed up to run a half marathon coming up in September

2. I'm at a point where only two pair of work pants fit and I refuse to buy bigger clothes again.

3. I tell myself I am disappointing someone else because I find it easier to do things for others than for myself.

Started back to the old routine last week and feel a lot better about myself. The weight drop is not far behind.

Hope this is more of what you are looking for. :)

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Originally Posted by Pyrate81

Everyone has different levels of motivation that get's them going.

Sissy: I gained back 35 lbs over the winter of the 100+ pounds I lost the previous 1 1/2 years(had back surgery and got lazy). From March until July I kept telling myself to get up off my butt and get back to it(trying to learn self-motivation). I worked out halfheartedly.

To get me back into my old workout/eating routine, 3 things factored into it:

1. I finally signed up to run a half marathon coming up in September

2. I'm at a point where only two pair of work pants fit and I refuse to buy bigger clothes again.

3. I tell myself I am disappointing someone else because I find it easier to do things for others than for myself.

Started back to the old routine last week and feel a lot better about myself. The weight drop is not far behind.

Hope this is more of what you are looking for. :)

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It Is!
I also dont want to buy bigger clothes.. and I Loved my old ones that dont fit as well any more... I think even starting this thread is a good start toward motivating myself to move. Its good to hear others stories/advice. Thanks everyone!

The best part is just starting. There's no way to do less than you're doing now, so doing more should be just an easy step :gj:

Love the idea of signing up for a physically challenging event! I actually discovered that an event I've wanted to do for years has recently been set up in a city just several hours West of me.

Another thing a friend of mine did was book a photoshoot for the family, and a private one for herself, 6 months from when she started working out. Since the one photoshoot was a 'sexy' shoot focused on her, she worked so much harder to get to her goals by that date. She paid for the photoshoot ahead of time, so the commitment was there.

Welcome. Exercise has become a small passion. :)

I am happy to announce that I have been working out everyday! I have restricted my diet for the next few weeks (as a trainer friend of mine suggested) until I reach my first weight goal and will then move to a healthy diet meant to maintain and support muscle growth for toning up. I am super excited and feelin pretty darn pleased with myself. Thanks everyone for your suggestions, stories and advice!

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Originally Posted by sissysnakes

So almost two years ago I was 5"9 138lbs and feelin fancy. Now I have gained about 15lbs back and I want to loose it. Here is the thing, at 138 I was hitting the gym, running and doing light cardio at home on days off. Now I tell myself every day to start up again but its like i've lost the will to do so. I don't like where I am now and want to get back down again... But I Do like eating what I want and not having to obsess over diet and if I am putting in my exercise dues. So my question is.. How do you find the motivation to start moving?

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I ran into a similar issue a few months ago. In my case I was just tired of working out and eating healthy for no particular reason. I was always asking myself why I was spending so much time lifting, doing cardio and preparing healthy meals....other than to be healthy of course, but it wasn't enough for me.

What I did was set a goal. I needed to accomplish something I hadn't done before. Something to push myself and give me that motivation that I was lacking. I decided to enter myself into a men's physique bodybuilding competition. Instead of lifting and dieting for size and muscularity, I am working for the magazine cover look in boardshorts on a stage in 14 weeks. I've never done anything like it before and it's an interesting experience.

I found a fitness consultant to tell me what to eat each day and which lifts to do to supplement my physique and it has really pushed me!

I probably didn't need to go though all that, but I hope you get the idea.

Set yourself a goal for something that you haven't accomplished and maybe would like to say that you did down the road. Maybe it's a marathon, a competition of some sort, or an intramural sport. It's up to you. You get a new experience, new friends, and that sometimes difficult to grasp motivation.

So my work started a biggest looser competition... guess its working iv lost 10lbs in 2 weeks. Competition is a good motivator for me ;) thanks again for the advice!

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