Shed a few pounds?

[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?

[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?

[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???

[sissysnakes]

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?

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.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Take up field herping, lol.

[sissysnakes]

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

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!

[4Ballz]

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.

[Vasiliki]

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.

[4Ballz]

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).

[Kara]

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.