How to stay motivated on my diet?

[Freckleface]

I'm a girl who weighs 170 lbs, and i really should lose weight. The problem is, i cant stay motivated! I keep making myself goals and tell myself to eat healthier and to exercise, but i just slip up. i now i shouldn't, but at the time, i just don't care.
So how do you stay motivated and not slip up?

[Nicolette]

Tell yourself "I know I can do this!" Keep your head up because I bet you're beautiful. Fill cabinets with healthy foods and if you live with other people who aren't planning to diet then write little notes for yourself around the house/apartment, saying "stay confident" "don't slip up" "eat that not that" "no carbs in my house" "I'm beautiful and confident" "i can't do this" really anything to keep you motivated and remember if you really want to achieve this goal you will try your hardest..make sure to watch what you eat, just be healthy and work out and you will be rewarded

Hope this helps, YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL!!

[Hope!]

First, and foremost - to reach a goal you need to FOCUS your attention on what you want. Surround yourself with positive, encouraging pictures and books. Studies show that when we even just LOOK at a health magazine, it effects our thinking, and makes us want to keep trying. Then, if you read the articles, they will inspire you, and help you keep more on track. What we think about is what we become.. Read books on positive thinking, reaching your goals - my favorite is 'maximum achievement', which you can probably get at the library - this book really encouraged me, and gave me confidence.

http://www.sparkpeople.com is a great FREE diet website that helped me to reach my goal - it's like facebook - you can chart your progress, 'friend' other people, join workout groups.. they have encouraging articles, recipes.. I can't say enough about this site! They help with diet/exercise suggestions.. and answer questions. Check it out..

One last thing is to always stay positive - NO negative self-talk.. there are no failures, only learning experiences - if you talk down to yourself, you get depressed. Think of yourself as your own personal weight loss coach - cheer for yourself, reward yourself, talk to yourself like you are your own best friend.. and you will have much more success than if you 'bully' yourself.. I don't know that you do this, but I used to, and from experience, I can tell you that it takes a huge toll on self-confidence and self-esteem. I had verbally beaten myself up so often that I just couldn't ever succeed.. We need to love ourselves, in order to be successful.

[Jon G]

By not going on a diet. Diets don't work. How about instead of "going on a diet" you change the way you eat? Our bodies need so many nutrients, instead of eating a lot of food with low nutrients, eat less food with more nutrients. Eating food is not what makes you fat, eating bad food makes you fat. I have lost 30 pounds not eating less, I actually eat more, but by eating better. Once you start eating better, you can "slip". One bad meal isn't going to make you fat, like one healthy meal is going to make you skinny. For me one every 10 days.

[Bling]

look in the mirror

[AlJo]

There is no "one way" to stay motivated to do anything, especially losing weight.

Firstly, be realistic and honest with yourself. You got to where you are (overweight, not fit) by being who you are. You'll need to change who you are to get somewhere else (less weight, more fit) and it will take time.

Secondly, try changing little easy things first.

Drink more water. More water in your digestive system will keep you feeling fuller longer.

Cut out some high calories. There may be foods that you need to say goodbye to. Research your food choices. High sugar, high fat foods that are highly processed with low nutrition should go first. Be smart and unforgiving in your choices. Goodbye pizza. Goodbye fries. Goodbye donuts. Goodbye beer.

Do more. You don't need to hit the treadmill or spin class to burn calories. Walk or bike more. Maybe make Sat and Sun mornings your time to take a nice long walk to get a coffee(black of course).

Do something fun. Maybe join a club that does some easy co-ed activities. Join a salsa class. Whatever works for you but always have an activity like that going.

Research yourself. Figure out places, people, things, times of day where you tend to eat poorly and change, replace and avoid them. Are cookies your "weakness"? Avoid the cookie aisle and don't buy them. Do you eat badly with a certain someone? Rethink your friendships.

Be hungry. This one is controversial but to lose weight, your body has to "eat" it's reserves (fat) and when your body is doing that, it usually tells you "you are hungry". You need to learn to be hungry and do nothing about it except drink water for an extended period of time. If you're overweight, it usually means you've been listening to the "you are hungry" too much and need to learn to ignore that message.

Thirdly, realize that it's your body, you need to be selfish about it. You want to look a certain way and will work to look that way. Once you have that look you wanted, you need to keep it and protect it and, very importantly, enjoy it.

Good luck!