Unbelievable!!! I get pumped, go shopping, eat good and maybe two weeks, a month, month and a half and flame out. WTF!!!! I hate this. How do you stay with it? How do you battle through the times you'd rather eat than hit the treadmill for 40 minutes? I hate myself for not being strong enough to stick to this. How do you guys do it? Let me know if you need more info

It's really all a mental set. You have to envision the end product, and if you're motivated enough, you'll be able to blast through plateaus.

But always remember, that we're all human, we aren't perfect. We're going to fail from time to time, and we're not going to always stick with the program. We have live a little, too. So, failing from time to time isn't bad. It's getting back on track that is what's important.

Here's things I do to help me from failing too often:
Vary your food. Try to eat something new every day and try not to repeat for one week. If I eat the same food more than once a week, I'll get tired and want to cheat again.

Have one cheat meal a week, and one cheat day every month. These won't hurt your progress and can usually satisfy your cravings, which will help you keep on track during the long run.

Whenever I feel like skipping a workout because I'm lazy, I go do it, and usually I feel awesome afterwards and had one of the best workouts in a long time. However, if I'm tired and worn out, I listen to my body and rest.

Learn to appreciate diet soda and Crystal Light. These satisfy my sweet tooth often.

This one sounds like a whopper, but it's true. Keep in mind that your taste and smell senses are linked. If I really crave a food that I shouldn't eat, I smell it repeatedly. That's right, slowly inhale the fumes for a few minutes. After awhile, you won't crave it anymore. Your body is somehow tricked into thinking you must have eaten it. Try it, it works!

Drink water. Most of the time we humans mistake the thirst sensation for hunger and eat when we should drink water.

Hope these help.

for me, that is the way that it used to be. if you have someone/something to help keep you focused it will help you stay going longer. right now for me, it is the challenge going on in the challenge thread that i am in, realizing that if i dont get healthy now, i may never, and then seeing what citrixmeta has done. i am starting out heavier than he was, but to just see what he could accomplish, shows me that anyone can do it, and i just look at what he has done, and keep on going. i am 4 weeks strong into my current workout time.

ive basically been there and done that (by there i mean fat city)... ive lived that life and i wasnt happy with it. im going to try out something on the opposite side of that.... looking fit.... i guess i just got bored with being a fat slob... so now its time for something new. anything that gets in my way of achieveing this is my enemy.

I am fueled by anger. I started this transformation of sorts when I got dumped on New Year's Eve. The girl eventually came crawling back (and I broke up with her a month ago, ironically), but the night she left was the breaking point for me. I said to myself I was never going to be fat again, and so far I've done pretty well. Nowadays I just look at old pics of my bloated self and it makes me terrified to ever look like that again. And all the compliments I get now really help keep me going.

Plus, I love the way I feel now. I never get sick at my stomach like I used to on my frozen pizza/nachos/sugar cereal/cokes way of eating. I just feel so much better than I used to in every way, and I'm not going to give that up.

The vengence of vindication is a powerful tool. I was the token fat kid at my school when growing up and I was picked on all the time. Now I'm the guy in shape and all the ex-jocks are fat and bald. I use this as fuel sometimes.

You must want it yourself. Others can´t help you much. But I´m sure that different people get motivation from different things. It´s up to you really. You must find a reason to do it that you think is important enough.

Personally I´m very stubborn. And if someone tells me something can´t be done I will often try to do it just because it feels good to prove that other people are wrong.
That personality certainly helps me with training and diet. And often makes me do things that other people find odd or strange. And I can get very fanatic and put in effort and work way beond normal when I´m doing something feeling like that.

:gl:

I think a big key to sticking with it, is to eat a variety of foods. Don't limit yourself to just chicken,tuna and oatmeal(not saying you specifically eat this). Get creative. Add some ground turkey breast or lean ground beef. Try whole wheat pasta or tortillas. This will help shift your attitude to one of a new way of living and not a "diet". I speak from experience, because I hovered around 10%bf for months because I would eat right and then screw off for a week. When I started adding other foods, I was able to get to where I'm at currently, 8%-9%.
The same principle applies to working out. If you don't enjoy cardio, then don't do it. I dreaded cardio but did it because "everybody" said you had to for fat loss. I loved lifting weights however, so I decide to ditch cardio and concentrate on weightlifting. Haven't missed a workout in forever.


Good luck to you

Jason

diggity,
I was just there, for a whole week :mad: I didn't work out at all and ate some junk for meals. Suprisingly after I put the stuff I ate in fitday I wasn't over my macros too much. But, what got me back was reading how other people faultered and got back on the horse. I feel very accomplished today because it's my first exercise day after a week of lounging. The lounge week is gone, it's history. It is a mental trip to psych yourself up to reinterate your goals and past success. The challenges do help, try starting one to find people with your drive. I'll be lookin' for you ;)

I'm totally with RM.Andersson.

It's about remembering why you do this.

If your motivation is something bigger than yourself, something that really matters to you, like living longer for your kids, or doing whatever is important to you with your life, then you can put every little hardship in perspective.

That's why all the serious programs I've seen so far put such emphasis on "making the decision" or "knowing your why", whatver you want to call it.

Then, when you start seeing the results, think how good it is to be ripped, or before that, just to get compliments instead of being fat and hiding from mirrors, cameras or even people. Think how good it is to be strong and able to play sports or just walk somewhere easily instead of being out of breath when you tie your shoes (depending how bad you were). And when you see that [ice cream/chocolate cake/insert favourite temptation here], ask yourself if it is really better to eat that than enjoying all the benefits of your better lifestyle.

Another powerful one is to realize that everything changes. You are different every day. Therefore, you can only get a bit better or a bit worse every day. Slip back or reach for your best. Check out your old pictures. If you give up, you will get back to the worst shape of your life, only it will be even worse because you'll be older and you will have a sense of failure. This kind of thought is a bit dark but it should make you choose the right thing when you come across temptation.

Then again, if you slip, if you eat the ice cream or chocolate cake once in a while, or fail to give your best during a workout, do not beat yourself up. We've all slipped at some times. What matters is the big picture. If you do the right thing 99, even perhaps 95 or 90% of the time, you will progress. Do not dwell on the few times that you fail to do the right thing. Do not feel guilty. Just get back on track. Always keep going.

And you will always find support here. :)

Vincent.

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragment. I feel better this morning, especially after reading these comments. I should expand on what I'm thinking. I've solid guy, 5'9'' 225. I'm @ 25% BF but when I work out there is A LOT of muscle definition. I'm definitely not bragging just being honest. I have pretty broad shoulders, a wide chest and decent size arms. My frustration exist in that I have a lot of fat around my waste, specifically the lower back i.e. lovehandles, and around my chest. NO, I don't think it's gynechemastia (SP?) it's just excess fat. In addition, it's frustrating because I have the hardest time breaking the 220 mark. I fluctuate between 225-228, NEVER LOWER. I'm focusing more on my diet but honestly I've been much worse, dietwise. I feel like I kill myself but I just can't break a below 225. Ideally I'd like to be 210. That is my goal by the end of my birthday which is 9/3. It's just frustrating b/c I feel like I really try but with little to no major results. I take multivitamins and a fat burning supplement. I'm starting to take protein shakes in the morning instead of other meals but I'm still not succesful.

In the end I'm going to heed the consensus advice on here just to keep going. I think three things I will do that should help are:
1. Change my meals. I haven't been very creative and that is part of my problem.
2. Find a motivation. I have a lot of people I want to prove wrong. But I feel malicious in trying to make them look bad. I've got to loose that nice guy act I guess.
3. Be Patient. I had EXCELLENT Success in January, going from 233 to 225. The problem is that I missed my goal of 220 and got really pissed/frustrated/disappointed/discouraged. That was due to lack of knowledge. I'll make a goal to reach 220 by the end of July.

BTW on top of this, I feel pressure because I'm going to propose to my GF this month and want to look/feel good for the occassion. I really appreciate all of the encouragment. This website has officially added value to my life. I guess I'll be making a donation as a result. Thanks guys and thanks JSF. Please keep any advice, comments coming!

I think the number one key to sticking with a healthy lifestyle is variation. Instead of running on the treadmill, try running outside - just simple things like that can make a world of difference.

Diggity there is still plenty you can experiment with.

For instance, do you drink enough water? Even if you eat right, simply not getting enough water can slow down your progress in a major way. Do you get enough good fats? Etc. Sometimes it takes time to learn your own body, how it reacts, and to fine tune your food intake accordingly.

Assuming you do not take alcohol as well. Difficult for me to guess what's wrong. However, if you have a plateau, every little detail matters. Changing a small thing may suddenly help you through it. You may be surprised what a small change can do sometimes.

Vincent.

I think three things I will do that should help are:
1. Change my meals. I haven't been very creative and that is part of my problem.
2. Find a motivation. I have a lot of people I want to prove wrong. But I feel malicious in trying to make them look bad. I've got to loose that nice guy act I guess.
3. Be Patient. I had EXCELLENT Success in January, going from 233 to 225. The problem is that I missed my goal of 220 and got really pissed/frustrated/disappointed/discouraged. That was due to lack of knowledge. I'll make a goal to reach 220 by the end of July.

BTW on top of this, I feel pressure because I'm going to propose to my GF this month and want to look/feel good for the occassion.
Maybe you're biting off more than you can chew.
I know everyone says "set goals", but for me, that strategy just didn't work. I didn't say "I want to lose 15 pounds in four months." Every day, I said to myself "I want to be healthier today than I was yesterday."
Not meeting your goal of 220 is NOT a sign of failure. It's just a sign that your target's going to take a little longer than you thought. Is this an endurance race, or is this an ongoing journey and lifestyle?

Your girlfriend loves you because you're you, not because of how you look.

So I just finished a workout. Today instead of the treadmill I decided to play hoops. Unfortunately there was no one there so I played one on one, full court, by myself. that was brutal but fun. I set my stop watch timer for 45 minutes and ran, jogged, walked up and down the court shoting "J's" and running layups. That was a good workout, after I worked legs. It was a good workout and I feel a lot better because of it and reading this board.

Vincent, thanks for the advice. Suprisingly I do not drink alcohol. I had an associate's family member recently be diagnosed with liver failure. Of course he is morbidly obese and a smoker/alcoholic, but after reading up on what the liver does for you body, I decided i wanted to work with it, not against it - thus no more alcohol. The only exception are the rare special occassions such as weddings, anniversaries etc.

As far as my water intake goes, I would say it's high. Probably not as high as it could be, but high. Water is the primary fluid with the exception of a daily shot of wheatgrass and the occasional gatorade(maybe once a month). I do drink Orange Juice in the morning but otherwise it's water all the time. I'd say I drink about 2.5 Liters of water a day. I piss and sweat a lot. Like I said I'm really dedicated to keeping my liver and heart healthy so soda's and such are out the window.

I'd say my biggest weakness is Pizza, Ice Cream and movie popcorn. Understand I don't have neither regularly. Pizza maybe twice a month. Ice Cream maybe once a month. Movie popcorn...well maybe that is a regular. I have a hard time not having popcorn when I'm at the movies and I see A LOT of movies. So while I'm bitching and complaining I'm sure that is one of my problems. The three headed horsemen, Pizza Ice Cream Popcorn. I've found a way to eliminate ice cream: Fat Free Jello Pudding snacks with only 100 Cals. Maybe I'll see some results with that.

Assuming you do not take alcohol as well. Difficult for me to guess what's wrong. However, if you have a plateau, every little detail matters. Changing a small thing may suddenly help you through it. You may be surprised what a small change can do sometimes.

Vincent.


exactly... thats why im concerning myself about the details now. some say im worrying too much about this... but i need to focuse on the details because getting through a plateau is about the details.

Diggity, your water intake is ok but borderline too small. Depending on your activity level.

Reducing that popcorn is a good idea if it has added sugar. Yes something like that CAN stop you in your tracks depending on the quantity/frequency. Personally I would not have it AT ALL if it has sugar added.

Another thing that I notice from your posts is that you focus very much on measurements.

Just something to think about: in the last 3 months or so, perhaps even 4, the calipers have hardly moved for me. Less than a millimeter average. The scale has also slowed down for a while as well (I talk about plateau in my signature).

Yet, that's about the period when I went from being just ok in 34" jeans to having them way too loose and being able to squeeze into my wife's 30"s.

What I mean is, don't focus on the numbers too much. Keep doing the right things. There are improvements that can take place without you noticing, yet they are important. For instance, your resting heart rate may be dropping.

Your body could also be burning fat from places you are not checking, intramuscular fat, legs, wherever... they say that calipers give an accurate sample, honestly I don't think so, not always, not for everyone. They are good in that they take your mind off bodyweight, but they do not tell the whole story either.

Guava talked about this: it's an endurance thing. It's not a sprint to the finish. You will get there. My coach tells me the same: slow and steady wins the race...

Also, check out your carb intake. Type and quantities of carbs. Think carb cycling perhaps, and tapering (starchy carbs earlier in the day, fibrous carbs later in the day).

By the way, do you get your vegetables? Not having them can also slow you down. Get green beans, lettuce or something, several times a day, every day.

And it's normal that you made quicker progress in the beginning. The less fat you have left, the harder it becomes to burn it off.

Vincent.

ive basically been there and done that (by there i mean fat city)... ive lived that life and i wasnt happy with it. im going to try out something on the opposite side of that.... looking fit.... i guess i just got bored with being a fat slob... so now its time for something new. anything that gets in my way of achieveing this is my enemy.

i was reading your biography journal. you mentioned that one day you would eat protein and on another day you eat carbs, how many days in the week/month did you do that, did you alternate those meals?

i was reading your biography journal. you mentioned that one day you would eat protein and on another day you eat carbs, how many days in the week/month did you do that, did you alternate those meals?


hmm i think i was trying to say that i ate more carbs on one particular day as oppose to the other days... hence why this is a "load day". i carb loaded (not excluding protein... just got more carbs in) evrery 4th day.... or i tried. at first it was probably one day out of the week. 3 days low or mid carbs... 4th day... high carb.
i did this for about 1 month and a half with the rest of the months just eating a lot more protein then carbs.... very bad in my opinion.

if i were to do this again i would do the same every 4th day deal but make sure i get most of my carbs (no matter if its a low, mid or high day) on every day that i lift after i lift and an hour before i lift... bookend carbs anotherwards.

carbs around lifting is very important. never neglect that.

[QUOTE=Jaybird]Keep in mind that your taste and smell senses are linked. If I really crave a food that I shouldn't eat, I smell it repeatedly. That's right, slowly inhale the fumes for a few minutes. After awhile, you won't crave it anymore. Your body is somehow tricked into thinking you must have eaten it. Try it, it works![QUOTE]

I agree with this one, I'm a sincere believer! I do this often - if my parents buy chocolate cookies or something, I'll just open the bag, inhale the smeel of them deeply a few times, then close the box and walk away. I always feel like I actually ate some - then I just drink some water and forget about it completely. :tu:

I agree with this one, I'm a sincere believer! I do this often - if my parents buy chocolate cookies or something, I'll just open the bag, inhale the smeel of them deeply a few times, then close the box and walk away. I always feel like I actually ate some - then I just drink some water and forget about it completely. :tu:


can you burn calories while smelling bad for you food?

if so i need to buy a butt load of bad food just to smell it. http://www.toyotaunderground.net/images/Smilies/greamlins/woot.gif

can you burn calories while smelling bad for you food?

if so i need to buy a butt load of bad food just to smell it. http://www.toyotaunderground.net/images/Smilies/greamlins/woot.gif

Lol! Of course not, unless you're the kind to believe in all the eating clean or "diet" myths out there! However, it's just an easy way to stay off the unhealthy foods if it's often right there in front of you in your kitchen and you want to avoid eating it even though you are tempted. :jumping:

Another thing that I notice from your posts is that you focus very much on measurements.

Just something to think about: in the last 3 months or so, perhaps even 4, the calipers have hardly moved for me. Less than a millimeter average. The scale has also slowed down for a while as well (I talk about plateau in my signature).

Yet, that's about the period when I went from being just ok in 34" jeans to having them way too loose and being able to squeeze into my wife's 30"s.

What I mean is, don't focus on the numbers too much. Keep doing the right things. There are improvements that can take place without you noticing, yet they are important. For instance, your resting heart rate may be dropping.

Your body could also be burning fat from places you are not checking, intramuscular fat, legs, wherever... they say that calipers give an accurate sample, honestly I don't think so, not always, not for everyone. They are good in that they take your mind off bodyweight, but they do not tell the whole story either.

Guava talked about this: it's an endurance thing. It's not a sprint to the finish. You will get there. My coach tells me the same: slow and steady wins the race.

Vincent.

I agree, but for me, I'm actually driven by the numbers, or measurements if you will.

Everyweek, I have an official weigh in day to guage my progress. I also have an official "bodyfat" measuring day. I only use an "electronic" BF tester every week, but I figure it's good enough to measure whether you're going up or down every week. I'm driven, if you will, to get to these days unscathed (or without cheating), because the day after is my cheat day, then I start again. This little "competition" with myself keeps me going week in and week out. I measure my success every week, understanding that for the long haul, I'm building a better me.

This also helps when I hit a plateau. If I do, I can change something and see how it affects me week to week.

How about this for a reason. You are literally trying to save your own life. For every 10lbs overweight you are, you are increasing your chance of heart disease.

Be a hero. Save a life. Your own.

How about another reason. Vanity. Works for some. I know a guy with a pic of the hottest chick he knows. Looks at it for a minute and heads out to get his work done.

Do you have to get on the treadmill for 40 minutes? No. Start with 5. 5 no matter what. Next workout do six. Six no matter what.

I think a lot of people jump in the deep end.


I think every other day doesnt work for a lot of people. Too easy to say you will do it the next day. Plan on workout out every single day. No matter what. No excuses. No putting it off a day. At least something every day. Get in the habit. After about 30 days of something every day, you'll be ready to go on a real program.

You need your "no matter what" workout. You need ot make the committment that no matter what, you are gonna do this program before you head hits the pillow. Here is the great part, you can do it anywhere anytime.

20 pushups + 1 next workout
20 sit ups +1 next workout
20 bodyweight squats + 1 next workout
50 jumping jacks. + 1 next workout

Heck. Do this every night no matter if you worked out or not. It wont hurt your progress.

If you can go 30 days doing this you are ready to really embark on a serious program.

I like online games. America's Army, Counter-Strike etc. You know what i do between rounds? Pushups, situps, jumping jacks, shadow boxing.

Once your body gets accustomed to movement, it will want more.

But make the mental committment. Make it deliberate. I do it in front of friends if they are over. I get off the phone and feel anxious or mad or whatever? I drop down and do 20 pushups. Go to the stairwell and run up to the top and back down.

You are saving your life. It's that simple. And that important. Just do it 5 minutes at a time.

In the end, it will come down to motivation, determination, and your will. But here are a few things that can help you along the way.

First off, this has been touched up on by a few others, but make sure you are eating what you LIKE. When a lot of people begin a diet they eat foods that they dont like, they eat them because they were told its good for you. Nonsense. I used to do that and I would quit my diet after two weeks. I use to cringe and eat tuna fish although I hated it, but now I no lnoger do that. If I dont like a food I dont eat it no matter how good it is for you. As others have said, get creative and find things that you like (and are also healthy ofcourse) and build your diet plan from there... It is much easier for me to diet in the summer than in the winter beause in the summer I love steaks, burgers, porkshops on the BBQ. Come winter time, when you cant BBQ I have to cook all that on the stove and it doesnt taste as good, but good enough to get by.

Second, make sure you have a cheat meal or cheat day once a week. I have one cheat meal every saturday and sunday. And if a holiday happens to fall on a Monday (such as July 4th) then I extend it and have a bad meal for 3 days. Dieting is extremely difficult, so do not be afraid to reward yourself.

Lastly, just keep in mind that there is an end result in all of this. You are not fighting your craves, and working your butt off for no reason. The reward is that you will loook better, feel better, and people will compliment the heck out of you. When you get down, and you are on the verge of quitting just think about how guilty you'll feel after you quit and how you wont look as good as you desire.

In the end, it will come down to motivation, determination, and your will. But here are a few things that can help you along the way.

First off, this has been touched up on by a few others, but make sure you are eating what you LIKE. When a lot of people begin a diet they eat foods that they dont like, they eat them because they were told its good for you. Nonsense. I used to do that and I would quit my diet after two weeks. I use to cringe and eat tuna fish although I hated it, but now I no lnoger do that. If I dont like a food I dont eat it no matter how good it is for you. As others have said, get creative and find things that you like (and are also healthy ofcourse) and build your diet plan from there... It is much easier for me to diet in the summer than in the winter beause in the summer I love steaks, burgers, porkshops on the BBQ. Come winter time, when you cant BBQ I have to cook all that on the stove and it doesnt taste as good, but good enough to get by.

Second, make sure you have a cheat meal or cheat day once a week. I have one cheat meal every saturday and sunday. And if a holiday happens to fall on a Monday (such as July 4th) then I extend it and have a bad meal for 3 days. Dieting is extremely difficult, so do not be afraid to reward yourself.

Lastly, just keep in mind that there is an end result in all of this. You are not fighting your craves, and working your butt off for no reason. The reward is that you will loook better, feel better, and people will compliment the heck out of you. When you get down, and you are on the verge of quitting just think about how guilty you'll feel after you quit and how you wont look as good as you desire.

The diet is the hardest for me also. It will take a longtime before i have a good arsenal of healthy meals that i like. I just try to take it in baby steps. There's a lot of good looking recipes on the forums thou. A full post of very tasty looking homemade bars (receipes forum). A lot of work was put into that i'm sure.

For me my greatest pitfall was a lack of organization. I wouldn't plan out meals ahead of time, I wouldn't have the foods I need in my fridge to make the meals, I wouldn't put time aside to prepare daily meals. Now though, I have created a weekly meal schedule with a large variety of meals, including two seperate shopping lists, items I needed to purchase montly like rice, oatmeal and protein powder, and items I needed weekly.

Once everything was organized, I found it limited the ability for myself to make excuses, I knew the game plan, it was laid out in front of me, setup and ready to go. I just had to follow it. That comes with the mental aspect of working out. People often talk about using intensity in your workouts for the best results, use some intensity in planning on how to make your workouts as effective as possible, and removing anything that may increase your chance for failing your workout goals, with lifting and diet.

Make sure you are eating what you LIKE. When a lot of people begin a diet they eat foods that they dont like, they eat them because they were told its good for you. Nonsense. I used to do that and I would quit my diet after two weeks. I use to cringe and eat tuna fish although I hated it, but now I no lnoger do that. If I dont like a food I dont eat it no matter how good it is for you.

Second, make sure you have a cheat meal or cheat day once a week. I have one cheat meal every saturday and sunday. And if a holiday happens to fall on a Monday (such as July 4th) then I extend it and have a bad meal for 3 days. Dieting is extremely difficult, so do not be afraid to reward yourself.
Great advice. I didn't touch tuna or cottage cheese for the longest time because I couldn't stand them. I also tried to cut out cola and chocolate, and that was a big mistake. It worked much better to allow them in reasonable quantities.

You don't need to have a cheat meal once a week, but do make sure that you include your favorite foods at least once a week. I'd rather have a small serving of ice cream, a few bites of brownie, and a slice or two of pizza spread throughout the week, rather than indulging in them all at once. Either way, I couldn't keep up this weight if I had to give up all that stuff.

You can do that too, guava. Although indulging on them all at once, one day a week is probably no worst. Most of that weight you would put on from the meal is all water anyway. I talk to a personal trainer at the Gold's gym I go to who is chisled, he is in phenominal shape and he told me every sunday is his cheat day. He eats anything that doesnt move. He actually starts his day off with a dozen donuts lol.

I shouldnt say you NEED a cheat meal/day every week, I just think it is very helpful which is why I recommend it to people.

One thing that I've discovered is that lack of exercise was the root of many of my problems such as:

* depression
* blood sugar problems
* laziness
* fatigue
* stress

So, I pretty much require it in my life. I'm sick without it. After most of my life being sedentary, I can honestly say I think exercise for the body is like oil for an engine. The human body just doesn't operate properly without it. I've been fairly consistent for a few years now.

One tip for working out when you feel like crap: ease into it with warmups. Also, set specific workout goals before the workout that are realistic and progressive. I like to be able to keep small promises to myself to do cardio 5 more minutes or whatever. After all is said and done, the workouts when you feel the worst are often the most beneficial and may turn your whole day around.

I'm still struggling with diet. I eat healthy, but I haven't yet achieved my weight loss goals.

Bill

I guess I'll give some advice a shot. I might reiterate what some others have said, but I've been going about a month, which is longer than I've ever gone steadily on a good workout plan. I can tell you what made me fail before, and what's helped me succeed now.

Before, I did all the wrong things. I set unrealistic goals, and when I didn't meet them, I'd get frustrated. I'd pledge to go to the gym every day, and then feel terrible if I missed one. I looked at junk food as this wonderful thing that I couldn't have. Last summer, boredom led to alcohol, which kicked me right off the fitness wagon. I was lucky not to gain much back during that phase.

Now, during the past month, I've taken a much more laid back approach, and it's worked. When I say laid back, I mean that when I make a mistake (I've made roughly one or two per week at this point), I haven't killed myself over it. Instead, I just make my next workout that much harder, or pay that much closer attention to my nutrition. Mistakes can be a great motivator if you let them.

I believe my real strength lies in my changed attitude towards junk food. Like I mentioned before, I used to look at junk food as this great thing that I was missing out on. Feeling deprived leads to cheating, and for me eventually always led to falling off the wagon. Nowadays, junk food literally grosses me out. I used to love pizza, but one day I said to myself 'Pizza is disgusting and I don't need it'. I continued that every time I saw pizza, and eventually I started to believe it. Mental tricks like this can help. I was watching a movie with a friend last night, and she grabbed two cokes out of the fridge, another of my old favorites. I politely declined and put it back in her fridge. Regular soda is gross, and I don't need it. This has been key for me, truly believing that junk food was disgusting, and as a result, staying away.

Anyways, to sum up, my two greatest secrets have been to use mistakes as fuel, and to convince myself that junk food was disgusting. Sounds crazy, but it's worked for me.

Along the lines of some other people's advice, I'd say pictures are an amazing motivator. I took a picture of myself about a month ago, and whenever I feel too lazy to go to the gym, I look at it. My gut hanging over my belt, the color of my skin, the love handles. I get disgusted, and I hit the gym harder than I did before. Take it one day at a time. Look at each day as it's own encapsulated thing, and make each day the best day for fitness that it can be. If you screw up, just remember that you screwed up and that you can and will do better next time. All the greats screwed up on their way to the top, John, Jeremy and everyone else included. Don't worry so much about a mistake here or there, just get out there and do it.

This was rather long. Anyways I hope it helped. I've lost 10 lbs in the month since returning to the forums and a healthy way of life, and I'm going to continue on.

Best of luck, diggity. A few months from now you'll be laughing about it with your new fiancee, while buying yourself all new clothes. Just think about that. ;)

There is definitely something to be said for the power of strong emotions. Mine is an abject hatred of looking so fat and disgusting. I let myself go and it is my responsibility to turn it around.

I hit my clothing size goal and realized that was NOT the real goal I needed to reach. I still look in the mirror at the squishy marshmallow and cringe. It also pisses me off because I have been aware of the problem since the end of 2003 when the scale topped out at 176 pounds.

I finally got my life in order enough to stop the hit or miss work-out and diet crap this past December which is how I hit my size goal this past April. Now I am dedicated to life without the excess fat covering the muscles I have and continue to work on so diligently.

Basically I am using all that "negative" emotional energy to keep my butt on track to leanness. My motivation truly is little more than current self disgust and a deep desire to know what it feels like to have accomplished a very serious personal goal.

Eye on the prize...