I lost 76 pounds but I need motivation to get back to to it! I want to lose 40 more pounds . Help!

[Justadetour]

Hi I am new here and I just need a little motivation to get back to working out and eating right! I lost 76 pounds already ! I want to lose about 40 more and continue to just change my life for the better and never go back. It’s been about 6 months since I haven’t been on my game .. I had feet problems and now they are better so I need to get back to it ! Any advice !?

[IndigoBlue61]

Hello and welcome to the Weight Loss Forum Justadetour

First of all, to help you find your way around, and enjoy all the things we have on offer, please read the Welcome Newbies Post here healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

Take your time to read it carefully as it has lots of useful information.

Very well done on your weight loss so far 👏👏👏. I also had a ‘detour’ part way through my weight loss journey, sometimes it’s useful to have a spell of planned maintaining before we get going again 😊

I highly recomend coming onto the forum regularly, daily if you can, reading posts and replying to others. Being part of a community is proven to help weight loss. Why not join our daily chat thread ‘What’s Happening Today?’ healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

Out of interest, can I ask how you found us?

Best wishes for your weight loss journey

Indigo 😊

[Justadetour in reply to IndigoBlue61]

Thanks ! Yes I will be on here a lot. I’m slowly getting back into working out and stuff

[Justadetour in reply to Justadetour]

I found you by google

[Pineapple27]

You can do this Justadetour ! Maybe change the direction of your thinking? Believe that you are going to achieve this.

Be well prepared for your journey. Sort through your cupboards and get rid of anything that might derail your effort. Don't think of it as wasting, but think of it as helping you to refrain from being tempted by food that will hinder your weight loss.

Make a shopping list of healthy foods. Look up some healthy recipes - things you might not usually eat. Include lots of vegetables, tines of beans, sachets of pulses (lentils). Some fruit, but try to stick to the less exotic (lower in sugar) fruit.

Make a list of all the reasons why you want to lose weight. You'll know because you've lost so much weight already how much better you are feeling for it. Find a picture of yourself that you don't like because you think it makes you look big. Stick the picture and the list somewhere where you'll see it often (in the kitchen - you can remove it if anyone visits!)

You haven't mentioned that you have any long term health issues or disabilities that might make your weight loss more of a challenge. By losing weight, you will be avoiding the chances of developing a long term illness or weight related illness (high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease).

The hardest part is taking the first step, and you've done that by joining some sort of support group (Weight Loss NHS!).

Sometimes….. our biggest barriers to doing something we really need to do (but perhaps aren’t keen to do) are the excuses we find as to why we can’t do them, rather than finding the solutions to overcoming those barriers so that we can succeed.

Because of my disability, this is something I’ve had to do all my life – attending mainstream school, training as a secretary, working, getting married, living on my own, having a baby, etc, etc. So you would have thought that I would have this skill mastered by now!!

But on this particular issue (reducing the amount I ate and increasing my exercise) the barrier was somehow bigger than anything else I had had to deal with before. It had developed over many, many years to become the size of a small skyscraper.

As determined as I am to achieve things in life, I can also be as determined to IGNORE things that I don’t want to do or tackle…. or face. Fear of the unknown perhaps, and a real belief that I might fail.

You have to know from those of us who have lost weight successfully that it works. It really does. But you have to want it to work and you have to make it work. For this journey to succeed, you have to give it your all. Give it your all and you will be rewarded.

My weight loss journey has so far lasted six and a half years (started on 24th February 2012). I started by logging and weighing food religiously. Just as the site prescribes. Slowly and surely I realised that I had been eating way too many calories and that my portion sizes were far too large for a small person of 4ft 8 inches who doesn’t move much at all.

Once this realisation had dawned on me and the weight started to drop, I was determined to complete this journey.

I lost 2 stone in a year. I then started (slowly and begrudgingly) to exercise. First swimming for an hour a week, and then kitting out my garage with some cheap bits of equipment and using them.

When I was interviewed for a Podcast on weight loss / exercise and disability I was describing my journey and the various tools I have used to make it a successful journey (logging food, portion control, calorie counting, 5:2 fasting, exercising, support from other people, recipe database, forum). These tools combine to help me along the way. But it is only myself who can make them work for me and there is a little more to add into the mix.

But I realised that my best tool by far has been commitment and modifying how I behave around food. I stopped finding excuses as to why I was overweight and why I couldn’t lose weight. I’m disabled aren’t I? I can’t exercise can I? I’m in too much pain, I haven’t the time, getting washed and dressed is exhausting enough (etc!)

ENOUGH!!! Enough of those excuses, enough of the pain. I have broken through the barrier of allowing these excuses from stopping me. Because they were just that. They were excuses.

It is harder for some of us for whatever reason. We’re busy, old, in pain, unable to exercise, have children, too short, have an illness, work too many hours……. BUT in fact if we have additional barriers, we just have to work at it harder than most.

It’s not impossible. I have proved that to myself. People who have known me for years have no choice but to believe it too. They’ve seen me go from 14 stone to under 10 stone. Reduce from a size 24 to a size 16.

It works.

BUT you have to work too, and that's the most important thing to realise. You will get from this what you put in. You just have to keep on working, keep on plodding along, not let one bad day, one calorific meal - one piece of crackling, one chocolate, one bag of crisps..... stop you in your tracks. Pick yourself up and just keep on plodding along.

You will get there. It will take months, it may take years. You may fall off the wagon completely for a time. And you will realise one day that this is a never ending journey. You will need to do what you learn to do on here FOREVER.

It will get easier. You will experience changes in the way you think about food, the way you deal with food. Food is a temptation and it will always be EVERYWHERE. You will need to learn a different way to act around food and a different way to think about the food you eat. You will learn to respect the food and make better and healthier choices. You need to learn about mindful eating and modify how you behave around food.

You can do it if you really want to. But you need to overcome those barriers that are inside your head.

[Brightfeather Maintainer Healthy BMI in reply to Pineapple27]

Thank you for sharing this pineapple. Respect!

[Minniewinny 5 stone Maintainer]

Welcome to the forum Justadetour

Congratulations on your weight loss to date.. Great achievement 👍🏻

Have a good slow read of the newbie post - I call it the sat-nav to the forum benefits..

Have a wonder around the daily diary in events as many of us are on different types of weight loss plans.. We all respect your freedom to choose your route..

Enjoy the forum and join in as much as your able to get the best from it..

Cheering you on 🎉🎉🎉

[Bungiecat]

Take small baby steps set small goals and you will get to your target weight Gail

[Ali_B62]

Hello and welcome justadetour. I agree with Bungiecat you need to take small steps and then build on that especially with the exercise. Find something you enjoy so that you will continue with it. I enjoy walking in the countryside, also on town streets and walkways. If you're capable of more--running, tennis, cycling - - and enjoy it you go for it but build up gradually and take care to avoid injury. Good to have you along for the journey!

[redbelle]

Wow, you already lost 76lbs - that's marvellous. Nothings perfect, life happens but if your ready to carry on start right now. Write a meal and exercise plan, don't make things to hard to start and you will get plenty of support here. Don't dwell too much on what happened before you know you can do this.