Advice and motivation?

Question

I am a 23 year old female I am 5 feet 9 inches , large bones, and weigh 196 lbs and have bad knees. My whole life I have been teased my family members and friends for being heavier then them. I would love to lose the weight I've counted callories, started a food journal, exercised but nothing keeps me motivated. I'm the kind of person who needs to see results quick otherwise I give up and think I can't do it. I have Tae Bo, The Biggest Loser, yoga and a few other vedio's starting to collect dust. I really want to lose the weight not just to spite my family but for me. Please any advice and motivation tips would be greatful.

Answer 1

Listen: you need to do 200 minutes of cardio a week. Remember fat does not turn into muscle, so you need to lose your fat while putting on muscle. The 45 minute thing is not true, but don't over 60 minutes at a time.

Do 5-10 minutes of cardio to warm up, then do your weight training. Do 30 to 60 minutes more of cardio, then go home.

The best time to eat is just after your workout within an hour when your metabolism is raging. For your muscles, incorporate some isolated soy protein or whey protein. Whey is more potent but the soy tastes better!

Don't look at your scale as the be all and end all, but get a measuring tape to check your progress, and that will show more tangible results.

Good luck and stick at it.

Answer 2

First off, don't give up on yourself, you are worth it just for you. Secondly, give up the notion of "big boned" that sorta puts it out of your control, when in fact your bones are just as big as anyone elses your age and height. And re-sculpting your body is your job.
You are trying to find results when that's the worst thing you can do. It took you a lifetime to grow that body, it should take you some time to loose it. All the quicky stuff is un healthy and will rebound and you'll gain more (you know that I bet). So, I suggest you re-learn how and what to eat. Avoid processed food. Keep to the basics. Start to reduce your portions, but don't starve yourself, and allow some wiggle room to take care of cravings. I happen to LOVE sweets, so I will have a nice dessert every once in a while if I find something really pretty and special. I try to make the craving a little celebration. (I don't use the notion of reward, because the other side of the coin is punishment - I need to move forward and always celebrate.) Also, since you are looking for that INSTANT change, do a personal inventory. When I started loosing some weight (still not too visible) I noticed that my feet stopped hurting. (it could be easy to miss). I celebrated that and it encouraged me to keep going. I noticed that my skin looked better. Nothing major, just a healthy hydrated glow. My energy level increased, I stoped having the shakes (poor nutrition). All well worth a celebration, but nothing so drastic. Ya know I'm worth "feeling better." Now, I'm trying to layer in some excersize. Since things aren't hurting as much I'm, working in the yard more (I still hate mowing the grass). This too will get better.
Find a way that it will work for you. Decide what is holding you back, change your relationship with food. Food does not equal pleasure it equals nuritment. When that is food is for you can wrap your head around fueling your body, and not feeding a craving.
Good luck!

Answer 3

Hi, I watched my weight slowly rise for years. Finally, I decided to do something about it. Once I found the right diet I quickly dropped 30 lbs (1 to 2 lbs a week) and have kept it off for 2 1/2 years. I am 5' 7" and now at 130.

What keeps me motivated from day to day is actually a hassle, but well worth it. You mention having tried a food diary. That is the first step. I carry around a piece of paper each day and soon after I eat I jot it down.

Then every day or so I record those notes on an Excel spreadsheet (you can buy software to make all this easier, in fact there is some free software). The Excel spreadsheet computes not only the total calories for each day, but also tracks about 20 other nutrients.

To get around the fact that some days I pig out, over the course of each week I watch the averages for all the days I have completed during the week. That way, when the calories are too high or some nutrient is too low, I can modify my diet for a day or two and get everything back in balance.

The immediate positive feedback is seeing I am getting 100% of my nutrition (which I never even came close to before I started doing this tracking. This taught me how bad my diet really was.)

Another positive feedback is getting complete control over your calories. Occasionally I will go so far as to fast for an entire day, which brings the calorie average down very quickly. When I first started I did 1500 calories a day (I'm a guy, women often do less), but made sure I never lost more than 1 to 2 lbs a week. So sometimes I would up the calories on purpose.

After I reached 130 lbs, I upped my calorie intake. Eventually I found I needed 1750 to 1850 calories per day to keep from losing or gaining weight.

And that is a third motivator. Tracking nutrients is tedious, but you will come to the realization that you have complete and utter control over your weight. You can raise it. You can lower it. You can put it anywhere you want. Weight just disappears as an issue.

Once I finally got my Excel spreadsheets working and most of the food I eat on it, it takes me about 15 minutes a day to record everything. Like I say, there is software to make that easier.

Now I am going to sound like some sort of snake oil salesman for this diet. But here is what really motivates me. It is not the weight loss, that is just a bonus.

All of the above is true, but when I wanted to lose weight, I read about a lot of diets - Atkins, South Beach, McDougal/Ornish, etc. Then I stumbled onto Calorie Restriction (CR). Boy did I become motivated.

CR diet had so much more science behind it (600 articles in scientific, peer reviewed journals in the last decade), that no other diet came close. Just this year there have been numerous articles in the Journals of the American Medical Association; the American College of Cardiology; Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism; and others.


Start up companies, academia, and the government are pouring money into studying how this diet works because of its dramatic results in species after species:

1. It makes animals much healthier - less cancer, less diabetic diseases, less heart disease, less nueurodegenerative diseases. So on average, animals live both longer and healthier lives

2. Above and beyond the average extension of life, many of the animals have a longer maximum life span than any of the animals not on the diet. In the case of mice, 30% or more longer.

The maximum life extension has not been shown to work yet in humans, and it might not apply. But the health effects show up immediately - within weeks. Blood pressure, cholesterol, HDL, LDL, C-reactive protein, and other markers all improve.

So that is what really motivates me. I want to be healthy and enjoy my life. And I am noticeably more healthy on this diet.

The diet has only 2 simple rules:

1. Get 100% of your nutrition

2. Cut your calories significantly (20% or more).

Only an adult should try rule 2 and get on this diet. Cutting calories significantly without knowing you are getting your nutrition is dangerous.

I have a personal website where I provide more info about CR and my experiences:

http://www.nbrhd.net/CR/CR.htm

It has links/references to some of the scientific articles, links to free software tools to help with tracking nutrients, links to others' websites and blogs who are following this diets, my own results, etc.

Answer 4

I think the best motivation you can get here is knowing how good you will feel about yourself once you've achieved your goal and can strut your stuff in front of all of those who ridiculed you!

I've had a hard time with my weight as well. I've gone up and down so many times. I understand how hard it is to stay motivated when you don't see immediate results. But listen up, nothing comes easy, this will take hard work on your behalf.

I strongly suggest joining a gym with a good girlfriend, you can push one another to get off your bums and work it out!

Think of all the small clothes you will fit into! Think of tanning on the beach in a bikini! Think of how much you'll love looking at yourself in the mirror.

ALSO know, PLEASE that it is NOT all about appearances. The hottest girls can be the biggest morons! I think a lot of what makes someone attractive, no matter how heavy or slim they are, is the way they carry themselves. If you are outgoing and confident, people won't be paying much attention to your size, but rather your great personality.

Answer 5

First thing - clean out your refrigerator. This means keep it simple. Take out anything that you can snack on easily so this will make taking snacks in the middle of the night impossible.
Throw out all drinks that contain sugar. Those are EVIL - even fruit juices because they are empty calories so, easily consumed and so impossible to lose.
Throw out alcohol - empty calories again and it causes depression and depression can lead to moping about and hence weight gain.
Get a dog - because dogs like and need to go for walks. Dog will be your personal trainer and good friend. People with animals are healthier mentally and physically.
Make lunch to take to work. Make it healthy with LOADS of vegetables. Make sure you get as many uncooked vegies in there because uncooked vegies and other foods with high dietary fiber content will drag the fats out of the body. It's an easy way to get rid of the fat.
Lastly, do not concentrate on whom you are today but whom you want to be. So, create a mantra about how thin and beautiful you are and repeat it to yourself with every step on your evening walks with your new puppy.
And just for kicks, you might want to take up personal fitness and become a personal fitness instructor (or yoga or pilates - which ever you prefer). Call up a couple of gyms and start teaching there... this will ensure that you are motivated to exercise at least those number of times you're contracted to work. (If you're worried about what your student will think - don't - because they will only appreciate the fact that you delivered an awesome work out.)
Hope this helps.

Answer 6

What?!?! Even your family members tease you for being fat? Then they are being really mean to you. Well, you might be heavy, but you can lose weight... They are ugly, and that can never change. Don't give up, it takes time. Just watch what you eat? Like don't eat so much meat? Eat more healthy foods stuffs like salads, etc. Well, you can do it, it takes time. You can't expect yourself to become thin in like one week... Have you watched this show called "The Biggest Loser"? Check it out on google... And good luck.

Answer 7

Get on a good exercise program, watch your calorie's, have will power, eliminate all soda drinking and drink lots of water, joining a support group is good too, you'll see that you're not alone, in the battle to lose weight. You have to give your body a chance, sometimes it takes time to see results, try not to get frustrated and give up, in due time, it will show, but you have to stick to the program, if you're serious about losing the weight, good luck.

Answer 8

You need to get a trainer. My trainer motivates me to work as hard as I can each day. Lunges and squats are your best friends. Don't do those home movies. You need to take a class where there are people there who will hold you accountable for coming. You can do anything you put your mind to. Sign up at a gym and speak to a trainer. It really works. I'm serious. You will get addicted to working out if you take the right classes and or have the right trainer. Best of luck to you.

Answer 9

Top weight loss tips

Today there is too much information available on losing weight that has become more confusing and sometimes difficult to follow. It’s actually very easy to lose weight if you follow my weight loss tips.


* Be in right frame of mind
Before you can start any diet program you need to be in the right frame of mind. If you do not feel good about yourself you probably will not want to choose healthy foods. You cannot expect the act of going on a diet to make you feel better about yourself. The only way you can choose to eat a healthy diet to lose weight is if you have a positive self-image.

* Eat whole food
Top weight loss tips
Eat whole foods that are as natural as possible. When you eat whole foods that are full of nutrients your body will know how much to eat and how much not to eat. You do not have to count calories because your body is a wonderful machine.

* Eat fresh fruit
Eat at least two servings of fresh fruit every day. Choose whatever type of fruit is in season.

* Drink enough water
Drink the best weight loss supplement known to man, water. Most people do not know the difference from being hungry for food or thirsty for water. A great deal of times people eat when they should drink. Most likely you will not feel as hungry if you are getting enough water. You will be satisfying the thirst, which is confused for hunger. Water also helps you digest food better. Drinking water before you eat will help fill you up.

* Always chew your food
Always chew your food well. Chewing your food well will ensure that you get the most nutrients out of your food. Getting the most nutrients will satisfy your body therefore you will eat less. Another benefit of chewing well is that it helps aid in digestion.

* Take small meals
Eat small, frequent meals in a day. Large meals tax your digestion system, making it work harder. Taking too much time in between meals makes you hungrier for the next meal.

* Include protein at meal
Include good sources of protein at meal, chicken, fish, legumes, peanut, cottage cheese, eggs or yogurt.

* Shut off TV while eating
Shut off the TV whenever you eat – that includes meals and snacks. Studies show that we automatically eat larger portions when we snack in front of the tube, and typically those foods are high in fat and sugar, which means excess calories!

* Increase your physical activity
Increase your physical activity. Most people are over weight because of a lack of physical activity. Start walking more, bicycling, walks your dog for longer periods of time, swim, dance and leave the car at home when you can. It’s important that you choose a physical activity that you enjoy because you’ll stick with it.

Answer 10

good motivation ideas...wow that is a tough one since working out is easy for me and i am 22 years old and 117 pounds. well, you could motivate yourself to make a reolution, lets say that according to research you could lose 1-2 pounds per week. if you think short term goals and lets say a better life like an extended life maybe it will make you lose the weight. think of doing this for yourself to prolong your life, to and feel better and to have more energy. start listing many motivation reasons then go with the one tha strikes you the most or applies to you. best of luck.