How do i motivate myself again to lose weight?

Mrs Garth Brooks

A couple of years ago i was overweight. I weighed myself one morning, i was 14 and a half stone. Im 5ft 5. I wasn't getting anywhere in my life and for some reason i put it down to my weight. So i lost 5 stone. It took a while but i did it. Goined a gym which was a great motivator as i could be there for an hour doing a bit of everything rather than an hour of walking. I used to go three times a week and in between those days i would go out walking/jogging. I was really motivated back then.

I gave the gym up as i was saving and it was 180 euro every 3 months. I kept up the walking. But over the past year, i have been going down hill. I put on a little over a stone and a half. My problem is im not as motivated. I dont know why.

But i dont want to pile the weight back on. I realise i need to do something. There's a cheap enough gym here. Its something like 200 for the year. I dont mind paying this if i had the money. I applied for the back to education allowance a few months ago as im in college. With that you get a 500 book allowance. I only need one book. My plan was to join a gym with the rest but i can be weeks waiting. I dont even know for sure if il get the BTEA as they're taking their time with it.

I need some new music too and i don't know how il get so much music to motivate me.

I guess what im asking, is advice. Anything really.

LegacyUser

They gym is 180 for 3 months but I guess it's cheaper to pay for the whole year.

I'm in a similar situation; I was in a gym and now I'm trying to exercise at home/outdoors. There's a difference due to weather, or the fact that when you go to the gym, you go for one reason, to exercise.

It's a different mindset doing it at home. There are other distractions.

I find that if I start my day doing exercise, then I get exercise done. If I leave it til later in the day, I make excuses not to do it (like today)

A good way to motivate yourself is just to decide to do 15 minutes a day. Invariably, you'll do more than 15 minutes. And set achievable targets

I am a friend

So with the back to education allowance you are planning on paying your gym membership and buying some music???

This is a great country.

R.D. aka MR.D

What about adjusting your diet?

If you are putting on weight then you are obviously taking in more calories than you are burning so why don't you cut down on the calories a wee bit and it might save you the cost of the gym.

Simple changes can help a lot.

I was in a similar position to you but i put on all the weight and a wee bit more again. it was basically because i ate what i wanted and didn't think about it and woke up one day and i was like 'oh i'm fat again!'

Well i've lost the weight again and a wee bit more. The first 2 stone was through running and exercise but i've had a hectic work schedule so now i'm just doing it through diet. so it can be done!

Best of luck! x

Taltos

I am a friend - please keep your replies on topic and helpful to the OP.
As per our charter if you have nothing nice to say then please do not post. Your reply may have had the result of pulling this thread off topic and is considered flaming.

If you have not already done so please familiarise yourself with our charter.

Taltos

blackie100

Ive been finding it helpful to join a groups, you could either one for diet like weightwatcher or one for excersie like a swimming class or excersise class, I find a group where I actually get to talk to people a great motivator.

Cottontail

Do you have a friend living locally who might go walking/training with you? You could motivate each other and might be more fun than going alone.

Mighty_Mouse

First off, you know what it takes to lose weight.
You have the will-power, determination etc to do so.
You know that hard-work/effort eventually turns into enjoyment/satisfaction.

You may of learned how to lose weight but have you learned how to keep it off?
If you do not wish to spend your life yo-yo dieting, permanent weight fitness stability requires lifestyle change.
What fitness oriented hobbies do you have?

The simple fact is 99% of people who are healthy and slim are active and do not over-eat.

Finally, you are throwing up road-blocks to stop yourself undertaking the work required to achieve your goals.
This is a mental attitude problem. You do not need a gym to get fit.

Simple daily excercise & a controlled diet will achieve significant results over time.

Example:
free running clubs (1 per week), cycling to work (3 per week), swimming (twice per week = €12)
breakie = porridge
snacks = fruit
"no carbs after 5pm"
"no junk food until goal x"
"drinking 50% weekly intake"
"weekend is not an excuse to gorge"

Q. Is there anyway of introducing 3-5k walkcycle into my daily commute?

The point is you need to build a healthy lifestyle not just repeatedly tackle weight gain with diets.

PS
Music - you don't need music to get fit
8tracks
soundcloud
mixcloud

These sites have 1000's of playlists. Find the one's you like. Download them & away you go.

gaeilgebeo

Taltos wrote: »

I am a friend - please keep your replies on topic and helpful to the OP.
As per our charter if you have nothing nice to say then please do not post. Your reply may have had the result of pulling this thread off topic and is considered flaming.

If you have not already done so please familiarise yourself with our charter.

Taltos

With all due respect Taltos, spending the back to education allowance on gym membership and music is fraud, which is also not encouraged on the forum.
It is the same as defrauding social welfare payments. I am a taxpayer who pays for such things as the BTEA and it is infuriating to see people abuse it.

Ickle Magoo

gaeilgebeo, if you'd read the link to the PI charter Talto's provided you'd know:

Questioning a mod action in a thread in the Personal Issues forum is considered off topic and unhelpful posting and may result in a ban from the forum.

If the OP is fulfils the eligibility criterion for the BTEA then how the OP decides to spend that grant is not fraud. Final warning - please read the charter and if you have no constructive advice to offer the OP with the issue they posted about, kindly refrain from posting.

mikemac

Figure out what kind of person you are, you should know this already since you've lost weight before

For example I do nothing but flake out on the couch in the evenings, don't talk to me about exercise.
But I'm good at getting up in the mornings realy early and going for a run then.
Many people are the opposite

And what do you enjoy?
I hate the gym, the crowded locker rooms, the boring treadmill, hate it.
But I like going for a run or cycle with just my ipod

So have a think about what works for you OP, everyone is different

Mrs Garth Brooks

Im tempted to buy a bike. They can be cheap enough too. Looking around. I haven't updated my ipod in months, so just something to get motivated again. Well it helps.

I know how it all works. Eating more, less exercise = more fat. Just need to get up and do something. Went to visit a couple of gyms this evening, which can be great for the winter months.

As for the comment about how i spend my btea (if i get it at all). Its not as if im spending the whole 188 a week. Its an allowance of 500. I need a couple of things and il have change left. I spent 6 years working, 6 years paying tax. Am i not allowed to get anything back now? Or should i be a proper student and drink it? Some people and the way they think im spending their money.

Shelli2

You've applied for the BTEA so I'm guessing that your returning to college. Check out to see if your college has a gym, students can usually use it for free or for very cheap. The college might also have some free fitness groups you could join.

parker kent

+1 to the above about students having access to cheaper gyms. I know the gym in UCD is €155 for the academic year (9 months) and will be free once the new gym opens. I'm sure it is similar elsewhere.

MRBEAVER

This is not a money issue. Weight gain is mostly to do with diet. Keeping fit is a different issue. And even that should not be an issue. Go for a walk or a run. buy a cheap second hand bike. use cheap or free college gym. and to be honest your claim that you can only motivate yourself to excercise if you have money to pay for a greater number of music downloads is ridiculous.

Mrs Garth Brooks

I don't think i made myself very clear in the first post. I dont need money to get music downloads. I know a couple of sites where i get them free.

But the music i have on the ipod, i have listened to it all already. I haven't updated my ipod in about a year. Music is a motivator for me and just bored with whats on it. Just dont know what else to put on it. Some music to get up and go and keep on going.

Oryx

Quit hassling the op about money and stick to the topic: motivation

phelo2121

A great workout is the Bob Harper kettlebell u can download the video and a kettlebell only costs about fifteen euro ya wouldn't get bored doing it either its about an hour long and the cardio one Burns prob about the same as an hour in the gym, great for when ya can't afford the gym, good luck with it

Mighty_Mouse

But the music i have on the ipod, i have listened to it all already. I haven't updated my ipod in about a year. Music is a motivator for me and just bored with whats on it. Just dont know what else to put on it. Some music to get up and go and keep on going.

From this I understand you don't actively collect music?
You just want something new you will like without previously listening to it?

A) Friends - ask them to recommend you some new music.
Also most people have a "gym" playlist on their pc's these days. Could you ask friends for theirs?

Soundcloud/Mixcloud - 1000's of playlists. Select hottest or by whichever genre you like. Download & away you go.

Overall...........you are turning minor issues into major issues in order to throw roadblocks up.
Losing 5 stone is a tough hard slog & maybe you are just afraid of going back there?
You don't find the gym fun. You need music to get through this?

My advice is the hard part is over.
You have already lost the weight.
You don't need to diet or gym obsessively anymore.
You just need to "maintain"


Incorporate some small changes into your lifestyle & you will be fine
1st, find an active hobby that you really enjoy. (i.e. not an ordeal)
2nd, tackle the remaing negative habits from your old days.
(a habit takes 3 weeks to change. enforce a rule for 3 weeks)

Stench Blossoms

Why don't you sign up on a website like 'MyFitnessPal' and look at the success stories of some others.

That would motivate anyone to lose weight.