Weight Loss Motivation

The last time I checked in with you about my weight loss journey (9 months ago), I had lost 20 pounds overall. I wrote about how it took me 2 years to lose that much weight in a daily uphill battle. I pointed to my friends as a source of strength and motivation on that journey. My friends still support me each day.

The biggest change I’ve made to my life is to eat less. I still eat pizza and drink beer, but I do it less. I pound back the caramel banana bread pudding, but I make up for it by eating greens the next day.

How do I accomplish this “eating less” business? By judging myself less. This is not easy. I constantly have to tune out the little voice in my head that says, “You’ve ruined your whole healthy eating plan,” whenever I slip up and have too many brownies. That voice is not helpful. That voice gives me permission to continue the downward spiral of eating all the things. That voice is a judgmental bitch. So I ignore her and tell myself things like, “Wasn’t that brownie awesome? SO GOOD! If you want another one, take a nibble on that salad for dinner. I know you want another one.”

I have lost 2 pounds since my last post on the subject, and I’m happy with that. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of days where I say, “Mads, you can do better! I can’t believe you’ve only lost 2 pounds in 9 months! What have you been doing that whole time?” That judgmental bitch again. But there’s an even bigger part of me, one that knows I’m worthy, that says I’m still moving, inching, crawling, clawing, in the right direction. I know I can keep going and I know that progress is progress.

How do you keep motivated to stay healthy? Do you use self-talk to stay on track?

-Mads