Motivational Tips

[KTSMOM]

Hi guys! I'm not new to the Disboards, but I am new to the WISH forum. In fact, I can't believe I just found this forum even though I've been on this site for years.

Anyway, I am always looking for some motivational tips on exercising or eating healthy. So, I thought I would start a thread so we could list things that might help each other.

You can list whatever works for you to either help motivate you to eat healthy or to exercise. It can be as simple as something you do on a daily basis or a website that you enjoy going to.

I'll start off: I find that the only way I can make sure that I will exercise is to do it first thing in the morning, so I get up at 5:00 every weekday to work out. Early I know, but it seems to work for me.

As for eating healthy (though I'm not very good at this). I like to use Cooking Light and Skinnytaste websites for good recipe ideas.

 

[lmhall2000]

Good idea!! This is what works for me!

Make sure your pantry is devoid of sodas/chips/cookies/prepackaged stuffs (these are okay on the isolated events such as birthdays, but have no place being a 'go to' food)

Go fresh and go green!! Make 50% of your daily food intake be fresh, salad, fruits, veggies.

Choose lean meats...turkey, chicken, lean red meats. Bake or saute in olive oil with herbs...so yummy!

Make your fats good ones and limited...I never use substitutes but only use natural stuff, butter/olive oil/full fat cheeses...but I use them sparingly..fats are not bad for you but too much is! Instead of a tablespoon of butter, use a sliver on a piece of whole grain toast...it is good for you!

Whole grains...breads/cereals/if it's white flour leave it be...unless it's a birthday cake and then go for it! I do pasta, but maybe once every two weeks and I do the semolina stuff, not necessary to give up taste (I hate whole wheat pasta and I'm sorry, I've been to Italy...they do not cook with that!)

Hydrate yourself!! I have to give up diet drinks because they become too addictive for me...trying to limit myself to one a month, I just can't go cold turkey on these...but I'm getting better...I do like unsweet tea...but mostly drink water or skim milk once a day. That is the only thing that I go 'skim' on...I just can't tolerate whole milk or even 2%.

Portion control!!! Know what a portion is and stick to it!

EXERCISE!! I need to get 7 hours a week in to maintain losing ways...hoping when I hit goal, I'll stick to about 5 hours a week.

All the above is for losing mode..but for maintaining mode I try to stick to it...because I know for sure if I had stuck with the above I never would have put on the weight.

It's not easy, many will complain, some will swear by shots/fad diets/etc. but the above has been tried and true for me, it just takes me more time than I'd like to admit that I had enough self control to listen to my own knowledge!!

 

[Merandab4]

My tips:
Sometimes what motivates me to go for a run is listening to music. If I've downloaded some fun music, I get excited to go for a run so I can listen to it! I also think about the end result. I'm not trying to lose weight, but I am trying to build muscle and become a stronger runner so I an compete in long distance events.

I am a nutrition teacher, so I agree with the previous poster on the food choices. I will also add Don't drink your calories. So many people go over their calorie count because they drink sodas and sugary drinks. Watch even the fruit juices you are drinking. I drink water all day long ( But I admit I know I don't get enough of it).

I have also cut all fried foods out of my diet. I went to a restaurant some time ago and had some really bad french fries ( tasted like the deep fryer) and that just turned me off cold turkey from having fried foods. Everytime I think of ordering something fried, I think about the taste of those awful fries. ( Maybe this will be motivation for anyone who reads this...haha).

And one other thing, try to cut back on complex carbohydrates. Complex carbs are things like breads, pastas, bagels, pretzles. Instead, get your carbs from things that have natural sugar in them, fruits, veggies, milk, cheese.

Trainer Bob Harper suggests a diet to his clients where you cut out complex carbs after lunch. If you really want to drop some weight quick, he says no complex carbs after breakfast. ( I could never do this as I love Spaghetti too much and I don't see myself eating that for breakfast..haha)

 

[momof2minnies]

Read the books Tosca Reno has out-everyone at work has and the fat is melting away!!!!!!!

Linda

 

[AlyssinWonderland]

It sounds silly but, be your own cheerleader! You worked out today? Tell yourself you did a good job!!! Ate a balanced meal instead of fast food? Give yourself some Kudos! It's even better if you can find others who will help encourage you but that doesn't work for everyone... so make sure that you are your own best friend and cheerleader! It will help keep you motivated. Also, I find it helpful to keep track of my food and workouts in my daily planner. Helps keep me accountable to myself. I'm pretty forgetful and like to think I'm doing really good when it comes to food choices and exercise but the planner keeps track of what I'm really doing and really helps me.

I

 

[Jenngoofys]

The three biggest tips that work for me are

1. STOP when you are full, don't eat because its there.

2. When Dining out, ask for a to go box with your meal and remove Half before you eat (lunch for tomorrow). Out of site out of mind. Almost places we dine at give us "our Moneys worth", so don't over eat just because its on your plate.

3. Don't eat while watching TV!! Mindless eating is the biggest reason kids are over weight these days. TV off and Dinner at a table.

I hope this helps someone

 

[Dagna]

And one other thing, try to cut back on complex carbohydrates. Complex carbs are things like breads, pastas, bagels, pretzles. Instead, get your carbs from things that have natural sugar in them, fruits, veggies, milk, cheese.

Trainer Bob Harper suggests a diet to his clients where you cut out complex carbs after lunch. If you really want to drop some weight quick, he says no complex carbs after breakfast. ( I could never do this as I love Spaghetti too much and I don't see myself eating that for breakfast..haha)

Bit confused by this. I've always been taught simple carbs = white flour, white sugar, white rice; complex carbs = whole wheat flour, brown rice, whole grain products. By that reckoning, white bread, most pasta, pretzels, etc. fall into the simple carb category. Is he saying to avoid whole wheat, brown rice, etc?

Thanks!

 

[ironpig70]

From Bill Phillips who wrote "Body for life"

Eat 6 meals a day rather then 3 at each have a carb and protein and toss in fruits and veggies. Take your calories and divide by 6 and this is what each meal is. Now to make it a bit complex lessen the later meals and put them at the beginning of the day. So for me

3,000/6= 500

Breakfast 700
Snack 500
Lunch 700
Snack 500
Dinner 400
Snack 200

What this allows is you to burn off the bulk of the calories while you are active during the day.

This is also the last time you count calories its not carbs and proteins and fruit and veggies.

Eat good 6 days a week or 36 meals a week. On 1 day or 6 meals you can cheat. Yes you may eat what ever you want.

I also like a food journal so I know what I am eating

For exercise I have a 30 minute rule. If I don't wanna run/workout I go out for 30 minutes and if I still don't like it then I'm done. Once out I am fine its the getting started that can be rough.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

3000 calories/day = weight gain for me, even running 50 miles/week. I wish I could eat 3000 calories/day.

 

[MIGrandma]

A few things that motivate me to keep on my weight loss journey are:

1. Dr. telling me I needed to lose 30 pounds in order to avoid insulin (type 2 diabetic for 10 years). I was 184 when he told me that, 164 now so 10 more to go for that "goal" but want another 10 besides and then will re-evaluate.

2. Joining Weight Watchers Online. It was $56 to join for 3-months so I don't want to waste my money. The points system is great, I actually enjoy working towards keeping under my daily 26 point allowance.

3. The WDW trip I have coming up 3 months from TODAY with my adult daughter, who has never been there!

4. A cute summer top, in a smaller size, hangs on a hanger on my wall beside my closet in the bedroom so I can see it every morning when I get up, and every night when I go to bed. I put it on about a month ago and had DH take a photo of me in it, gaps at the buttons and all, and each month I will put it on again and have another photo taken. My goal is to have it fit right in 3 more months, for our trip to Disney.

5. Not sure if I saw it here, or read it in a magazine or what but I put a large black "X" on each day of the calendar that I exercise for at least 30-minutes. Seeing all those big black X's really keeps me accountable to getting that daily exercise in. I feel guilty if I miss a day and don't get to put the X there.

 

[ironpig70]

3000 calories/day = weight gain for me, even running 50 miles/week. I wish I could eat 3000 calories/day.

Well break down what you need a day.

I don't count calories any more I count/track carbs and proteins. That's what works for me which is a huge key. Do what works. If you are miserable then it will not stick.

Another thing I did but have to implement it is I got the book "Eat this not that" pretty simple concept in you have 2 items and 1 is better. Pretty simple concept to move over to better products some do to less fat others salt or sugar. Figure I'd try it.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Well break down what you need a day.

I don't count calories any more I count/track carbs and proteins. That's what works for me which is a huge key. Do what works. If you are miserable then it will not stick.

Another thing I did but have to implement it is I got the book "Eat this not that" pretty simple concept in you have 2 items and 1 is better. Pretty simple concept to move over to better products some do to less fat others salt or sugar. Figure I'd try it.

I have minimum protien requirements every day - but they have to be certain types of protiens because I have gout. Other than that, I try to eat a balanced diet, eat 5 times/day, and keep my calorie count below 2500/day (2200/day when not exercising). I try to eat 2 servings of fruit and 2.5 servings of veggies every day, but that is a struggle. Fruits have so many calories.

 

[dburg30]

From Bill Phillips who wrote "Body for life"

Eat 6 meals a day rather then 3 at each have a carb and protein and toss in fruits and veggies. Take your calories and divide by 6 and this is what each meal is. Now to make it a bit complex lessen the later meals and put them at the beginning of the day. So for me

3,000/6= 500

Breakfast 700
Snack 500
Lunch 700
Snack 500
Dinner 400
Snack 200

What this allows is you to burn off the bulk of the calories while you are active during the day.

This is also the last time you count calories its not carbs and proteins and fruit and veggies.

Eat good 6 days a week or 36 meals a week. On 1 day or 6 meals you can cheat. Yes you may eat what ever you want.

I also like a food journal so I know what I am eating

For exercise I have a 30 minute rule. If I don't wanna run/workout I go out for 30 minutes and if I still don't like it then I'm done. Once out I am fine its the getting started that can be rough.

I dont think my cals were ever that high when I was doing BFL. But I agree, it IS a great program if you follow it. I really think I was more around 2k cals but again, it didnt matter if you were doing the right foods. I will admit though, when training for a marathon, which I am, I dont know if it works as well to help build your long distance stamina.. Also, the one thing I did NOT like is when people call the one day a week that you eat whatever you want a 'cheat' day.. It's NOT a cheat day, it is an integral part of the program to keep your body from thinking you are trying to starve it or to go into survival mode. Trust me, from experience, when you cut the bad foods out, it only takes one or 2 FREE days of eating like you used to and feeling so sick afterwards to even get your free days in line.

 

[JamesGarvey]

For motivation, few things are as motivating as CASH!! So i recommend the smartphone app Gympact. You're basically gambling on your own fitness commitment. You begin by setting a pact of how many days per week you intend to work out. Then a financial stake from $5-$50 is set. Workouts must be a minimum of 30 minutes and can be dones via GPS check in at a gym, running/walking activity logged through the Runkeeper app or for iphone users only an Anywhere feature that uses the accelerometer to measure your activity.

For every day you miss of your pact per week, you are charged the stake you set. EXAMPLE: Pledge 4 days, with a $5 stake and only work out 2 times, you have to cough up $10. Money taken from those that fail is split among those that succeed. I've been using it since sept and have lost 22lbs and made $90

So working out can make you money and prevent you from losing it.

 

[JacksLilWench]

Bit confused by this. I've always been taught simple carbs = white flour, white sugar, white rice; complex carbs = whole wheat flour, brown rice, whole grain products. By that reckoning, white bread, most pasta, pretzels, etc. fall into the simple carb category. Is he saying to avoid whole wheat, brown rice, etc?

Thanks!

That's what I thought...my understanding was that you want to cut simple carbs out, because they're "digested too fast", while complex carbs take time to break down in your body, making you feel fuller for longer.

For what it's worth (and I'm not a nutritionist or anything!) I don't think brown rice is too much better than white. But I could be very wrong!