How to get motivated to not eat too much and excercise?!


Question: How to get motivated to not eat too much and excercise?
Okay, I have a real problem. When it comes to food I just cannot control myself, I uses to be really thin and sporty, but now because of exams and stress I'm doing less sport and eating way more. (been 4 years now) every week I tell myself that I am going to stop snacking on food every few hours and do more exercise, and I set goals but not even after a week I am snacking again, eating eating a brownie at school or something from home. It's a problem of my self motivation, I just cannot motivated myself.
I have decided to do more exercise now but I just can't seem to not eat/snack even when I decide to snack on a couple of nuts and dried fruit, I end up eating chocolate or something.
Do any of you have any ideas on how I can motivate myself and for it to last? Like some 'mind tricking' tips or something?

Please help!

Answers:

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

How to motivate yourself to exercise.

1. Do it with a friend.
Statistics tell us that people who exercise with a friend are more
successful at exercising consistently. You can keep each other
accountable. Knowing that someone is waiting for you to exercise with
them can be great motivation to show up and get it done!
2. Do exercising which you enjoy. For example, you find running
boring. You can replace it with any other cardio activity: roller
blading, playing badminton, tennis, bicycling burn a lot of
calories, and you feel more like you are having fun, than like you are
punishing yourself for that extra doughnut.
3. Choose music you like, dynamic and vigourous, to make it more
pleasant.
4. Check regularly with your clothes, see how they become bulkier,
whoop from joy, photograph the progress and create a photo gallery on
your computer.
5. Set fitness goals, independent on weight loss. For example, say to
yourself "Next time, I will run quicker, and it will take me only ten
minutes to do so", or such. You will feel like a real athlete,
preparing for a big day. Keep a journal of your athletic achievements.
6. Compete. Enrol into a local amateur tennis competition, for
example. This way, you will have a goal to achieve, which is different
from your weight loss, and you will have people to impress and you
will have to be adequate, so you'll try harder.
7. Reward yourself (but not with food, you will end eating more than
you burned, and will become disillusioned quickly). Invent a set of
rules for yourself, for example: every time I am not feeling like
exercising, but do it, I will put 1 dollar in my piggy bank, every
time I achieve this or that goal - three. At the end of the month go
out and buy yourself the most impractical things you were craving but
denying yourself with this money.
8. Do not wait for some big moment or big day to start exercising.
There are spaces in your daily schedule when you procrastinate - fill
them with activities. For example, instead of sitting on the couch,
saying "It does not matter, I am going to the gym the next day", get
off and do a series of push ups, or skip with the skipping rope (buy
it for one dollar in one dollar store), walk down the stairs at work
or around the block at your lunch break. This way, you are exercising,
fighting boredom, and do not have to sweat in the gym for hours
afterwards. This random 7-10 minutes activities will roll at the end
of the day into a full gym session!
9. Use "I will show them all" technique (sparingly). Think about the
mean people who teased you, the girl who refused to go out with you, a
sneering sales person in the clothes shop, imagine them all, and "show
them" - run fast, kick high, and end being and feeling gorgeous!



Actually snacking is completely wrong no matter how healthy so don't listen to any one that tells you you have to snack all day on the right foods if you are not working out enough you're only getting fatter if you snack even on healthy food.

LOOK IN THE MIRROR EVERY DAY AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE WHAT YOU SEE DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT YOU DONT HAVE TO STOP EATING BUT YOU HAVE TO WORK OUT TWICE AS HARD IF YOU DONT , IF YOU DONT WANT TO SACRIFICE WHAT YOU EAT THEN JUST WORK OUT TWICE AS HARD



Usually people like to eat just because they are bored.
Try not to keep too much junk food around the house. If it's there then you will be tempted to eat it. If you want to excercise maybe play a sport or go running. There is an app for ipod and iphone called Lose it! It keeps track of calories and excercise. It's really helpful.
Hope this helps!



Just remember,"if i eat that,i'll feel worse later>"



Wow, I have the EXACT same problem as you! I used to walk all the time and weighed 120-ish pounds, but then I started dating a guy with a truck and now I'm like 145. Super stress at college didn't help either.

At any rate I've found a couple of "mind tricks" as you put it that work for me and since I've started doing them I've lost a pound a week! This is what I've done:

1. Make a graph/chart thingy of my weight and variously assorted body measurements so I can track my progress over a long period of time.

2. Set a few simple goals to follow every day for two weeks, then add some more. For example for the first two weeks I decided to only allow myself one sweet thing per day, eliminate any drinks with high fructose corn syrup and all sodas, and no eating after 8:00 PM. They don't sound too hard but it was actually pretty tough for me to do.

3. Get some workout DVD's. For me, these things are perfect because I can do them in the privacy of my own home. I always hated PE classes because for some reason I get super red-faced and sweaty even when I'm not working that hard. It is always so embarrassing when it looks like I've just run a marathon even though I've only run two laps around the gym, but in my room I can as gross as I want and nobody is going to see. It's nice too to step right into the shower and get all clean and not have to worry about foot fungus or something. I also don't get discouraged by myself because there's no one to compare myself to, which can be majorly depressing.

4. Set long term goals to go along with the short term ones. My ultimate goal is to get back under 125, and I've given my self until June to do it. I already mentioned the short term ones.

5. Keep a journal thingy. In the same place where I have my graphs and such I also do some writing. I talk about how I feel and how depressing trying to loose weight can be, and it really helps to get it off my chest. I also wrote down all my goals there and the reasons why I want to reach them. I really really helps when I'm having a hard time sticking to it to go back and read those things.

6. Don't starve yourself. Do you want to snack? Then go for it. Just be sure that whatever you eat isn't too bad for you, and set some rule for it like you only get a snack every 2 hours or something. Personally I have a major sweet tooth, so if I'm craving sugar and I've already had my sweet thing for the day I suck on a Lifesaver's mint. It usually satisfies my need for something sweet, and the minty taste reminds me of toothpaste and somehow this helps me not want to eat.

7. Reward yourself. If I stick to my two-week goal set, I give myself five bucks to spend however I want. I know that doesn't sound like much, but I hate spending money on stuff I don't technically need so it's actually a nice treat for me. I've also decided to splurge on a really nice swim suit if I meet my goals by the time June comes around. I usually go swimming in a T shirt and shorts because I've never had the self-confidence to run around half naked, but I'm gonna let myself look sexy this summer if I can manage to loose some weight XD

Anyway that's the stuff I've been doing. I have never stuck to something so long before (it's been three weeks now- not super long but it's beat my previous record of four days XD) and hopefully these techniques will work for you.



Well the good news now is that you recognize you have a problem. The other good news is that snacking is good. You just need to be snacking on the right things. The problem is that if you snack on bad things, your body craves the bad food. If you eat the right foods, you stop craving. So don't starve yourself. If you're going to snack, do it every 3 hours. Secondly, if you eat right, you will have enough energy to exercise. Its more important to eat right when you do do exercise. So stick to eating raw nuts and dried fruit. If you really crave chocolate, at a little bit of dark chocolate and have a small bit. If you like sweet things, try herbal tea and add a bit of honey.
Stress causes a lot of bad eating and it's hard, because your excessive eating is linked to your emotions. Maybe a bit of therapy will help. If you can't do that, try keeping a diary and letting your feelings out there.



I had that problem for years! I used to eat a giant chocolate bar and a massive bag of crisps on a daily basis. I felt like I just couldn't stop eating. Everyday I would tell myself this is the last time and the next day I'd be right back at it again
I too used to be very athletic.
You have to break the cycle somehow once you do that it will be fine. The main problem I found was that I'd try and be too healthy straight away. I'd eat food I didn't enjoy as my main meals, get hungry and by the end of the day I'd have given up. Eat healthy foods but also foods you enjoy and make sure you eat enough!
Also try and find a snack that you really enjoy-for me is was salt and vinegar snack a jacks- which I like almost as much as crisps! :D
Also I have a wishing key necklace. Now obviously it doesn't actually grant wishes but I wished on it to stay motivated and not eat rubbish and its helped A LOT as its something that I take everywhere and can see most of the time. It reminds me not to give up on myself. Its kind of silly I know but it works for me!
Try and persuade yourself that there's one way to lose weight and that's by eating less and every time you eat something bad your just setting yourself back further. Objectify it- is there any point in eating this food, is this food worth sacrificing your body and health?
At the same time though do allow yourself to have small lapses. I have chocolate most weeks but only a fairly small amount. Also I keep an eye on its calories. If the chocolate was 300 calories I make sure I do 30 mins on the rowing machine to make up for it.
I've cracked it now- I can't even imagine buying the amount of unhealthy foods I used to buy. I still enjoy them occasionally but in MUCH smaller amounts! I'm so sure you can do this too! Once your out of the cycle you'll be fine.
Good luck x




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