Djburney's Journal, 18 October 2012

Ok, getting to something I've been thinking about: Motivation

Aren't every one of us motivated to lose weight? Is there one person reading this who doesn't want to lose weight? We say, "I've got to get motivated," or "I'm so motivated right now," as if yesterday our desire to lose weight was different from what it is today. So what pushes us or prevents us from taking action on our desire?

What motivates us to take action?

For some of us, it is fear. We are afraid of getting sick (or already sick in most cases), afraid of losing love, afraid we won't fit in an airplane seat, afraid to show up at a high school reunion 50 lbs heavier than the last reunion, afraid of being judged. But fear can also work against our goal of losing weight. We might be afraid of becoming attractive and getting attention, we are afraid of living up to expectations from people if we are thin, we are afraid that it will be fleeting and that we will just gain all the weight back. The biggest problem with fear as a motivator s that our minds will find a way to reduce the fear through justification and rationalization.

On the flip side of this is reward as a motivator. We are hoping for the prize of being thin. This one works for me as long as I am clear on why I want to be thin. Not just thin for thin's sake, but real reasons. We can use reward (or incentive) as a motivator extrinsically as well. We can build in motivators like "If I do this, I will get this." I'm doing that with the boots and dress when I reach 185. Is it working? Not really. I want that dress and boots, but I've hit a point where I'm stuck. The reward of being a size 8 seems far off, and the reward of the clothes isn't enough to overcome a different problem.

Which leads to self-image as a motivator. This one is powerful because what it means is that we develop a certain image of ourselves, and our mind will do everything it can to align us to that image, whether it is skinny, fat, or like me, almost there. We can overcome it for a while, but like those little rubber bands that come in different shapes, we will eventually pop back into the shape we see ourselves as. But unlike those rubber bands, we have a powerful and limitless tool called a brain, and we can change the shape that is our self-image. How do we do that? It's difficult, but not impossible, and absolutely necessary if we are going to keep the weight off.

i thought about this topic for several days, and when I sat down to write this morning, I wasn't sure where I was going to go with it. As I was writing, especially that last part about self-image as a motivator, I realized that the reason I'm stuck in the mid-190s is that I haven't imagined what it's going to be like to weigh less than this, and it is not built into my self-image yet. I already knew what this feels like, I've been here in the -not-too-distant past. I've reached my lowest weight now since 1984, and I haven't thought about what it feels like or really visualized what I am going to look like to weigh less than this. I'm having trouble "getting my head around it."

This is where I need help from my FS Buddies. How do we change the image of ourselves that is so deeply imbedded in who we are? And which of these motivators are you relying on to get you where you want to be?

---

950 kcal

Fat: 34.59g | Prot: 111.21g | Carb: 33.89g.   Breakfast: 100% Whey Concentrated and Isolated Whey Protein, Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla Milk, Original Powder Creamer, Unsweetened Frozen Strawberries. Lunch: chicken breast. Dinner: crookneck squash, Kirkland salmon. Snacks/Other: chardonnay, Kirkland Beef Steak Strips. more...