Newbie who needs ongoing motivation

[Sarah578]

Hi all, I'm a newbie so good to be here.

My key problem is that I'm annoying - to myself! I know what I need to do and how to do it, but when I get tired/stressed, I just can't stay away from 'treating' myself.

I've lost a stone so far over 8 weeks with an amazing plan at my local gym. But, the six week intensive is over so I now see my PT twice a month rather than twice a week. I'm finding I'm really missing that external accountability. Therefore, while I'm sticking to my calorie tracking and, mainly, going to the gym regularly, at the weekends I'm 'treating' myself for around 24 hours therefore offsetting all my good work.

I still have just over three stone to go so I need to get this sorted! Any and all advice or support would be much appreciated,

Sarah

[VickyDLM 2 stone]

Hi Sarah and welcome!

Firstly, congratulations on losing the first stone. That's a fantastic achievement so far.

Secondly, I think we've all been there with the extras!

I've been using the NHS 12 week plan and I think something in there that really resonated with me is the need to find a non-food reward when you are "treating" yourself. Might this also work for you? Then you can treat yourself without undoing all of your good work over the course of the week.

There are several people here who have posted daily, weekly, or other goals. And then reported back to the community how they've gotten on. Maybe you can set weekend goals and then let us know how it went. Thus giving yourself a focus and then being accountable to report back.

I've found this to be an extremely support and non-judgemental place. People commiserate when I've been having trouble and celebrate with me when I achieve a result. It definitely helps me as well to think I'll be posting any loses or gains in the Monday weigh ins as I would much rather post a loss than anything else!

Good luck!

[Sarah578 in reply to VickyDLM]

Hi Vicky, thanks so much. Non-food treats have always alluded me but I'll have another think However, posting a weekend goal and reporting back sounds like a great idea and one I can see working for me, and one that meets #ScoobaSteve's idea below. Excellent! I'll certainly be posting Friday

[VickyDLM 2 stone in reply to Sarah578]

I have to say, I struggled with the non-food treat idea at first. That's why it was such a revelation to me, for whatever reason I just hadn't thought of it. But I quite like to treat myself to a long soak in the tub with fancy bubbles on a Sunday morning. As that's when I can be sure the bathroom will be free!

[ScoobaSteve]

Well done on losing a stone so far, that's really great!

Perhaps if you need accountability is there someone in your life you could tell and report to? If not You could post a weekly goal on the forum and report back to us?

All the best

[Sarah578 in reply to ScoobaSteve]

Thanks so much Steve

[moreless Administrator 7 stone]

Hi and welcome Sarah

I'm going to direct you to the pinned posts section, to the right of your screen. There are many threads there, that offer advice and motivation.

You could also consider joining our monday weigh-in, which is designed to keep us accountable over the weekend The latest thread can be found in the events section, to the right of the home page

To get the most out of this forum and wonderful community, I encourage you to log on regularly and get involved as much as possible.

Wishing you all the very best

[Sarah578 in reply to moreless]

Many thanks Moreless, I'll be reporting in for Monday weight loss next week

[moreless Administrator 7 stone in reply to Sarah578]

Fantastic! I'll look forward to seeing you there!

[Zest Healthy BMI]

Hi Sarah,

Just a quick message from me to say 'Welcome' - I can't add anymore to what the others have already said, except that I hope you'll enjoy the forum, and that you'll participate in anything that you like the look of. It will be great to have you alongside us. Congratulations on your weight loss to date, you're doing so well. Really good progress.

Lowcal

[Sarah578 in reply to Zest]

Many thanks Lowcal, I'll certainly be there and trying