Hi logged on to health unlocked a while ago,can't seem to get motivated to lose weight.
I have lost weight in the past and just put it back on,so feel a bit of a failure.
Any hints on how to get motivated and not eat the wrong things when I am feeling low or tired?
Hi and welcome - I'd like to invite you to join our Newbie Club, which we hope will be a good place for you to connect with members, who are also just starting out. If you just post a few words to introduce yourself and respond to others there, you'll soon break the ice. Here's the link
healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...
I've also given you an extra badge, to serve as a reminder for your progress.
Wishing you all the best
Hello and welcome mamaduck 😊
Hi and welcome Mamaduck64 
Come on and be motivated.. be encouraged and get involved...
I think it's more than motivation! I know for me this time, over time, something changed in my behaviour around food.
Willpower and resistance to temptation doesn't just happen! It has to be worked at. I always say that the "willpower" is the muscle that needs to be the strongest to succeed!
The only way I have succeeded this time is to change how I approach food and eating it. I have learned to resist temptation! BUT please believe that this has taken a LOT of hard work and practice!
If you log your food - keep track of how many calories some of those "treats" contain, after a while they kind of stay in your head (medium egg = 70 cals, slice of white bread 100 cals, meringue nest 57 cals, 30g (matchbox size) of cheddar, 122 cals)
I do have sweet treats, but I buy my own choice, so things like 2 finger Kitkat, single finger Twix, Club biscuit... these are all around 100 calories. I keep them in a tin and I can have one whenever I want to, but I limit it to no more than one a day and usually with my afternoon cup of tea. They are always logged into my diary.
If you don't keep a log of what you are eating and the calories foods contain, then it's a bit like trying to travel from one place to another without a map! You might get there eventually BUT it's likely to take you much longer than if you planned the route and used a map PLUS you might take a few wrong turnings and end up going back on yourself!
I have also learned not to plan each trip out of the house to include food. Once upon a time, I'd have included lunch with a trip into town, coffee and cake with a visit to the garden centre. I now plan or even prepare a meal BEFORE I go out (usually a salad) so that I know exactly what I can eat as soon as I walk into the door... and don't turn to "what I fancy" (usually high calorie carbs that don't keep you full for very long...)
Make a list of the reasons WHY you want to lose weight. Keep it somewhere safe (stuck to the inside of a kitchen cupboard door?) and look at it from time to time, especially when you are raiding the kitchen for treats!
I always ask myself before eating something really calorific "Do I really want to eat this thing more than I want to lose weight this week?". It's called "mindful eating" - being aware of why you are considering eating - real hunger? Boredom? Temptation? Feeling fed up?
Have a glass of water, wait 5 minutes and consider whether you still want the food. Once it's been snaffled down, it's too late and you may end up feeling cross and angry with yourself.... and that feeling lasts for a long time, much longer than the temporary enjoyment of whatever treat you ate....
Oh, and I always remind myself how good the feeling is of seeing a loss on the scales at my weekly weigh in! That feeling lasts for days!
Here's a previous post about my weight loss journey - and you'll see it wasn't all plain sailing. Even when I got to goal!
Ah thanks I haven't calorie counted for years having been to slimming clubs that don't.I will keep a diary so I will maybe do it the night before and count my calories.I agree at lot of it is will power,especially when we receive chocolates at work normally I am quite good.If I feel tired or low I will tend to gravitate to the sweet stuff.Thankyou for replying today's the day.
Feeling really down - need some encouragement
Motivation is numbers 
Small loss of motivation
Motivation 
