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Posts Tagged ‘sustained motivation’

Losing weight has been one of the hardest battles I have ever attempted to win. There are some days that go great and then there are those days that just make me want to give up and accept that I am going to remain a fat person. What I have learned in the frontlines of the weight loss battle that it is a life long endeavor. I have learned that a person needs more than just a spark of motivation. A person needs to have sustained motivation.

All too often when a person attempts to lose 20 pounds or 100 pounds there comes a point where you wonder if you are ever going to reach the finish line. The problem all too often is that we equate losing weight to starting a “diet”. The fallacy of that premise is that a “diet” is not what it takes to lose the weight and achieve a healthy life style and therein lies the problem. All too often people get it backwards. They start a “diet” so the will be able to lose weight and become healthy. What a person does not realize is that if it is a “diet” there is a start date and an end date. The start date becomes the day you decide to “diet” and the end date is when you achieve that magical weight. The flaw to this theory is that which happens when (and if) you lose the weight. Is your “diet” over? Do you then go back to your old habits?

The correct and the more sustainable method to lose weight is by starting a healthy lifestyle which will set the weight loss into motion. Once you start eating healthier foods and exercising and sleeping better hours your weight will kind of just go away. By starting a healthy lifestyle there is no end date just a new healthy you that will be thinner.

So the simplest advice is that you skip the diet and start a “live-it”. By not starting a diet and simply eating better foods you will have changed your diet and that change alone will lead you into a new and healthier and thinner you to enjoy the rest of your own personnel forever.

I have watched the television show The Biggest Loser for many seasons and I must admit I really enjoy the show. I have sat and watched strangers lose weight and then I would get motivated and decide to lose the weight. I would get all fired up and then I would exercise for a few days in my attempt to lose 100 pounds. I would start to eat better and do well for a while but somewhere along the journey I would start to wander off the path of fitness and weight loss and stop going to the gym and start eating poor food choices again. Before I knew what had happened I would again be sitting in front of the television watching the season finale of The Biggest Loser and all of those on the screen would look slim and fit and be smiling from ear to ear. I would still be sitting in the same chair and weigh the same as I did at the start of the season, or maybe even gained a few pounds. There I would sit wondering what happened to my weight loss goals and wondering where my motivation had gone. Once again the season ended and I felt like I would be fat for the rest of my life. That was until the end of the latest season of The Biggest Loser. That was until I discovered the need for sustained motivation.

Something clicked in my weight loss mentality at the last episode of The Biggest Loser. When I saw the smile on the faces of all the contestants I knew that I had to make a positive change in my life or I was going to spend my life being overweight and always upset with myself because of my failed attempts at weight loss. When I saw all of the confetti fall down and the winner looking so much healthier I turned off the television and went to my room and packed a gym bag for the next morning.

When the next morning arrived I stained all of my mental weaknesses to the maximum. I pulled my way to the scale and weighed myself and the number that was displayed was the motivator for me to keep moving. I had gained 25 pounds since my last diet attempt. I have had a gym membership and never used it much but today I wandered into the building and everything about that morning was a struggle. I got winded on the machines easily and I struggled to keep myself even there. The binding force that kept my legs moving was the smile on the face of the newly crowned Biggest Loser. I kept thinking about all of my failed attempts and new that id I did not make a fundamental change I was sealing my future to include diabetes, heart disease and a whole host of other ailments that arrive merely because of the fact that I was overweight. I kept the cardio machine moving and the sweat was pouring off me and actually I felt pretty lousy about the whole event. I knew I was doing what was right and good for me but my mind was screaming for me to leave and go get a egg and cheese bagel and just give up.

Despite my urge to run away the smile of the first female Biggest Loser kept flashing into my mind and I stuck it out for one hour that day. I had done it and I was glad I had done it but I was even happier that it was over. I then quickly showered and headed off to start my workday. It had begun; I had started my journey to lose the weight. I had set my sights on the goal to lose 100 pounds in one year and today was the first day and I had done it. I had made it to the gym and although I was tired and my mind was racing I had a small glimpse of success in my mind’s eye. I had begun my weight loss journey and I was hoping to never look back. I had begun!  I had started the exercise but now I had to control the eating!

BodyBugg is a weight loss gadget, there is no denying that fact.  In the long parade of weight loss gizmos that have paraded in and out of the weight loss world, BodyBugg is currently the number one tool on center stage today. Looking through the tinted glasses of history, some may find it easy to dismiss BodyBugg as some fluke or just another waste of money.  We here at IChooseThin.com have fielded many questions asking if we thought BodyBugg was a scam.  Many people today are afraid to spend money period, and are even more scared to spend their hard earned cash on what many feel is a gimmick.  BodyBugg really has not been around very long and as a result many people are just starting to learn about what BodyBugg is all about.  Since it has been seen on the arms of The Biggest Loser players, BodyBugg has taken center stage for “must have” weight loss tools.  The interesting thing is that BodyBugg is the most dynamic weight loss motivator ever unleashed on the weight loss world.  When individuals place their order they really have no clue as to how powerful the BodyBugg will be in helping them lose weight, through diet and exercise.

The one thing I never expected BodyBugg to do for my weight loss jurney was to motivate and educate me.  I really do not know what I expected the thing to do, but everyday there is always another experience that validates my pleasure with owning and using a BodyBugg.  The only other “toy” I have ever owned that brought me this level of satisfaction is my iPhone, but that is another story.  Suffice it to say, I have not one regret for using BodyBugg.  The experiences I have had with using BodyBugg are not only rewarding, but also educational.  Let me explain.

There is a lady here, at IChooseThin, who claimed she could never lose weight.  She is in her late 40’s and claims she has been overweight since her first child was born over 25 years ago.  She has tried diet after diet and although had success, it was always a short lived victory.  The Atkins diet played tricks on her confidence when it teased her with a shapely body that was only taken away once again when she realized she could not avoid carbohydrates for the rest of her life.  When her BodyBugg arrived she complained the entire first week that she hated dieting because she always had to go hungry.  That first day she really was not very nice to be around and it showed in her grumpiness.  She griped about being hungry all the time and how she thought that she should just stay fat, because it was better than starving herself to death.  She told everyone how the BodyBugg only reinforced her belief in how she hated to diet.  She complained that she was tired of being hungry all of the time.

After the first week of insufferable agony, listening to all her whining and complaining, it all  came to an end when she experienced her first ah ha BodyBugg moment.  What she learned after she weighed in the first week was that she was not eating enough food.  She was hungry all of the time because the amount of calories she was eating everyday was not enough to support her daily schedule of exercise and desk work.  She is not an athelete, just a 40 something mom that gave up on herself, when it came to weight loss.  Around here many just call her….Mom.

Since that moment of weight loss revalation she has adjusted her calorie intake and no longer complains about being hungry.  She has even become nice to be around again.  Now mind you, she does not eat pizza and drink soda, but her diet is not without decent food and although she has started to exercise, she is not training for the Olympics.  The important thing to note is that with the use of BodyBugg she has learned that if a person does not eat enough food, your body stops burning fat and then starts to go after the muscle.  By comparing the calories eaten with the calories burned she has been able to adjust what she eats and when she eats.  That one little nudge of information from BodyBugg has been one of the most liberating experiences she has ever had.

Since that revelation, she has gone on to lose 6 pounds in the last three weeks and never go hungry.  That number may seem low to some people, but to her it is a gigantic number that she is very proud to have obtained.  The interesting thing that all of this has shown is the motivational force that 24 Hour Fitness BodyBugg now provides her on a daily basis.  She has come to accept the fact that weight loss is really just a case of applied mathematics.  Weight loss is no longer even a diet, it is just a matter of eating less calories during the day than are burned off.  The BodyBugg keeps a tally of all the calories you burn and when compared to what is eaten, you know right where you are at during any given moment.  Since BodyBugg allows the user to download their current status as often as desired, it is easy to decide if you can afford to have popcorn at tonight’s movie theater visit.  By uploading your BodyBugg you are making real time food choices that impact your weight loss journey.

Being able to see the results flash across your computer help keep a person motivated to not only continue trying to lose weight, but also provides the knowledge needed to adjust those decisions as the weight loss attempt progresses.  24 Hour Fitness BodyBugg is not just a weight loss gizmo….it is the best weight loss tool the world has ever been able to provide the frustrated obese moms in America!  (Dads too!)