Having Trouble Staying Motivated...

I am in a weight loss slump right now.  I went on vacation in November and then got a stomach virus when I returned, so I lost 8 lbs in the span of about a week and a half.  I have now gained back 7 lbs of the 8 that I lost and I feel like I'm not making good food choices.  I have 17 lbs to get to goal and I feel like I will never get there.  I'm not tracking my food (it is so tedious!) and in a slump right now.  Please give me some encouragement and motivation to continue my weight loss!  Anyone else gone through this?  (I am 14 1/2 months out.)

I am a couple months behind you and can very much understand looking for motivation especially when things are MASSIVELY better than they were a year ago.  And, we are in traditional food months as well and it isn't lots of fun to watch others joyously eat

But, it doesn't sound like you are truly ready to call maintenance?  Here are a few things that I think about when I think about motivation:

• I didn't give up 85% of a perfectly healthy organ to almost get to goal
• Once I am to goal, very little changes. The extra calories that I will be allowed in maintenance aren't going to make any difference in head hunger.  So what's the point of quitting early?
• Once I call maintenance, I need to pivot to avoiding regain. (Again, little will change.)
• Those people who seem to be eating joyously almost all have regrets later
• I have to walk the walk even if I am not feeling it.  For me, that means weighing and tracking my food.  
  • Tedious is weighing so much that I can't physically do things that I want to do.  Tedious is constantly having to maneuver around my weight (Will the chairs at the restaurant have arms? Will the person I am sitting next to on the plane hate me? Will the staircase have a rail? Can I physically manage to walk thru a museum on vacation?)
  • The

hmm, formatting issues in my post above.  The last comment I had was that the

The only thing you need to do is to change your attitude a bit. Don't dwell on words like "slump," "tedious," and "never." Your thoughts are reinforcing the very thing you want to change. Catch yourself when you think in defeatist terms and replace them with thoughts that will move you forward -- "Tracking my food is a daily necessity, like brushing my teeth," "Protein first," and "No junk carbs. They are 'da debbil.'"

When your thoughts are directed in the right direction, your actions will follow them. From everything I've read from VSGers who maintain after reaching goal, it takes just as much mental effort, if not more, to maintain as it does do lose. Every worthwhile thing takes effort.  

Start again with the basics -- meal planning, tracking food, etc. You will get there.

psychoticparrot

I recommend getting a fitness band if you do not have one.  Jawbone UP3 is on sale at Costco for around $125 and you get a free UP move.  I got the UP3 for my son, gave it to him early and he is loving it.  I gave the UP move to my daughter last night and she is excited to program it and learn how to use it.  Tracking food is so easy with their program, everything else tracks itself and you can link friends or family members in if you want.

Thank you all so much for your comments.  I think I needed a big swift kick in the rear! 

It took me what felt like forever to get the last 6-7 pounds off.  I did it in about 5 weeks once I got serious about it.

Early on I decided that I will track my food forever.  I never want to lose track of what I'm putting in my mouth.  I think about the calorific valve and protein content of everything I eat.  Thats not to say I don't make some bad choices, but this keeps me honest with myself.  Also once I reached goal, I want to stay close to it.  My lifestyle is forever and I didn't know any other way to maintain my goal than to keep the behaviors that got me there.

Good luck!

In the spirit of Star Wars, my favorite Yoda quote is "Do or do not. There is no try".

Eat less, move more. Realize you are worth the effort and just do it.