Needing Motivation

[Libellula]

I am so used to this "instant results" mentality that so many of us have in this go go go world of ours. I am seriously having trouble believing, at least right now, that at the end of this whole workout program that my body will be different, that my stomach will be flatter (soemthing I've wanted since childhood. i was fourteen and had someone ask me when my baby was due. I was mortified)..

I think I just need a kick in the butt today.

[realcdn]

I'm not the best motivator in the world, but I'll ask you a question.

Where will you be in six months if you don't do the program?

Myself, I know that I have way more than six months to go before I get to where I want to be. However, if I do nothing different for the next six months I'll likely just be where I am now. Well, I'll be a little further down the path, and a little older, but basically the same as I am now.

If you want to change yourself you need to try. Also, I can't think of anything that's going to give you instant results anyways. Can you?

[LisaC]

Originally Posted by realcdn

Where will you be in six months if you don't do the program?

I agree.

When I turned 30 several years ago, I had this slight sense of relief that I'd now be grown up a little and stop flitting around as I was prone to do in different areas of my life in my 20s (work, relationships, homes, activities).

Now I'm getting better at accepting the reality that the desire to flit about needs to be consistently recognized and challenged. By removing the "urgency" factor, I leave room for patience. I accept the reality that I don't actually know how all this will turn out in the end, but I know exactly what will happen if I flit about and not complete the stages.

If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.

[Willie]

Originally Posted by LisaC

I agree.
If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.

Ditto. I've been at this for so long, visible changes are hard to come by for me... but with more education, retraining my MIND and body, and minor changes in my diet, I know that I'll continue along this successful path. Trust. Give it 6-8 weeks, at least.

[Libellula]

thanks guys. I woke up this morning feeling a bit slug-like and moosey, which I know I'm not.

[rixatrix]

You know when you run into a friend you haven't seen in months and they've lost a bunch of weight, and you start thinking about what YOU'VE been doing during those months and how you probably could've met your goals if you'd just been consistent? Yeah. This time, be that person who consistently plods away after her goals until she reaches them. This time, be the person who surprises people with how good she looks.

You're going to have good days and days where working out feels like punishment. Recognize that it's totally normal. I can't remember where it came from, but I remember reading something along the lines of: Some days you're going to look in the mirror and feel like you can't see any change. And some days you're going to look in the mirror and feel like you changed completely overnight. Your results should be consistent over the long term - gained strength and lean mass, loss of body fat. But day to day, they're going to bounce up and down and be totally unreliable.

Reward yourself for your behavior. Motivate yourself that way. Say, "If I lift three times this week and do HIIT twice, I'll buy myself a new CD." That way, you've got a system where you'll feel good about what you're doing even if your results aren't as fast or consistent as you would like. Set up as many goals as you can - A goal to work out a certain number of times in the month of April, a goal to lift a certain amount of weight in a specific exercise, a goal to follow a 90% clean diet this week, a goal to lose XX amount of weight by such-and-such date. Give yourself a million different things to succeed at and celebrate, rather than getting hung up on the one goal you don't always have complete control over - the way you look. If your results are slow, but they keep coming, you're doing something right and you just need patience.

Hang in there.

[Bytsi]

Ditto everything above. You can do nothing and be nowhere further in your journey in 6 months or a year, or you can be on the way and making progress.

The tough part about weight loss (and changing your body in general) is that you can't just "become" that person overnight. If you quit smoking, you can wake up the next morning and be a non-smoker. You can't just quit being fat one day; you can't just become a ripped weightlifter overnight. It's a slow and often painful, frustrating process. It tries your body and your mind.

But it's worth it. Trust in the process. Overnight successes have usually toiled for years to become an "overnight success".

And FWIW, I think this board helps a LOT in maintaining my motivation and helping when I falter - and everyone falters along the journey.

If this was easy, everyone would do it.

[kfisherx]

The good news is that you are not alone in your slow progress. Just look at the results of our challenge threads. From month to month, you have to really study the pictures to see changes in any of us. We are all making dinky little chages for that month of effort. Is it worth it? I think it is better than the alternative.

[Phaedrus49er]

Have some Alpo

[MuscleMom23]

Originally Posted by Phaedrus49er

Have some Alpo

You know, I definitely am motivated by Alpo (I wondered what the heck "Alpo" was LOL).

You see all this believe and achieve and vision stuff and it hasn't worked for me. But pain, yeah I understand pain!

I need a can of Alpo please, I think it may be in the form of a heart attack.

[Libellula]

LOL

thanks guys! I'm gymming it up tonight for sure

[Cynthia]

Originally Posted by rixatrix

Reward yourself for your behavior. Motivate yourself that way. Say, "If I lift three times this week and do HIIT twice, I'll buy myself a new CD." That way, you've got a system where you'll feel good about what you're doing even if your results aren't as fast or consistent as you would like. Set up as many goals as you can - A goal to work out a certain number of times in the month of April, a goal to lift a certain amount of weight in a specific exercise, a goal to follow a 90% clean diet this week, a goal to lose XX amount of weight by such-and-such date. Give yourself a million different things to succeed at and celebrate, rather than getting hung up on the one goal you don't always have complete control over - the way you look. If your results are slow, but they keep coming, you're doing something right and you just need patience.

Hang in there.

This is how I operate. I was so excited when I first read NROL4W and saw that there are actually recommended rest periods! I do that regularly, just because I know I need to (every 3-4 months) to regroup and refuel.

I do a free day/meal every week. I take a week off every few months. This is what keeps me motivated and moving forward, knowing that it is my reward, so to speak. I buy myself new jeans when I get a bit smaller (new clothes are great rewards for me).

Also, don't forget to take time now and then to sit down and reflect on your progress. I like to pull out my logs from even 2 months ago to see how far I've come. If THAT'S not motivation, I don't know what is. Just think how many pushups you'll be able to do in 6 months!

[missjane]

Originally Posted by kfisherx

The good news is that you are not alone in your slow progress. Just look at the results of our challenge threads. From month to month, you have to really study the pictures to see changes in any of us. We are all making dinky little chages for that month of effort. Is it worth it? I think it is better than the alternative.

I'm seeing big changes in a lot of us and I know I am feeling big changes in myself, too!

[Libellula]

Right now it's more like "if I use the gym membership, we can buy a car" because I need a car. I already was thrilled to go shopping and to be able to fit into (NO MUFFIN TOPS) a size four. I haven't been t his small since I was anorexic, and now I'm eating almost three times what I'd let myself eat then and i'm losing size and firming up.

I need to remember that starving never made me happy. chocolate milk (pwo) does

[LisaS]

Originally Posted by Libellula

I am so used to this "instant results" mentality that so many of us have in this go go go world of ours. I am seriously having trouble believing, at least right now, that at the end of this whole workout program that my body will be different, that my stomach will be flatter (soemthing I've wanted since childhood. i was fourteen and had someone ask me when my baby was due. I was mortified)..

Originally Posted by Libellula

I already was thrilled to go shopping and to be able to fit into (NO MUFFIN TOPS) a size four. I haven't been t his small since I was anorexic, and now I'm eating almost three times what I'd let myself eat then and i'm losing size and firming up.

what she said

[DirtyMartini]

Originally Posted by Libellula

Right now it's more like "if I use the gym membership, we can buy a car" because I need a car.

use? I think you mean lose. Anyway, wasn't your gym membership $30/month? I'm not sure that's going to make THAT much of a difference toward your car.
Keep the gym membership, lady. You'll regret it if you give up now and everyone else keeps going!

[Libellula]

Yeah, the gym membership is only 30/month. I panic about money when I have no reason to whatsoever. My reward last night was "if I go to the gym, we can play super mario 3 on the wii" and when I got home we started talking about our wedding.