How on earth do we lose our motivation?

How on earth do we lose our motivation?


We end up in a place where we are so unhappy or unfulfilled that we have decided that there is no other path than to forego pizza and spend our free time getting sweaty and sore? It seems like a crazy answer to melancholy and distress (but we all know its the right answer) Three? Six? months goes by and all of the sudden things start to drop off. A workout here, a day of charting there, and all of the sudden you find yourself eating fried chicken on your 3rd season of Mob Wives, in leggings that haven't seen the inside of a gym in forever.


Come to find out there is a lot of validity behind this type of behavior. You see it in alcoholics, they stop drinking for a while, repair their relationships a little and figure things are better. Often times it starts with one drink (slice of cheesecake) and before you know it they are drunk (eating McDonalds) everyday. This is a common behavior in people with mental illness. They are diagnosed and hit a bottom. They go see the doctor (trainer) get on a great therapeutic dose of medication (exercise) and after a little while they start to feel better. Things are great! you feel amazing and tell yourself that you don't even need medication.


We all have crazy things that pop up that deter our motivation. For me it is a stupid chronic illness. For you it might be work or kids? Death in the family? Divorce? The one thing that I am finding is more true than how long you lift, what you lift, what you eat or don't eat is motivation. Consistency.


I have been on this journey for quite a few years. I started at 220 got down to 165, back up to 195 and today I'm at 175. By all accounts this may seem like terrible "yo-yo dieting" but its not. Fitness is not linear. Despite what Pinterest tells you there is not sure fire way to "lose a pound a week" I, just like everybody else go through peaks and valleys when it comes to fitness. I have a handful of tools that I use to keep me on track that I would like to share with you.


1. Share your journey with your friends. If talking about your weight or your struggles is too embarrassing, take it to Instagram. Make an account with an alias and post your progress. Follow everybody and use a million hashtags. There is support and motivation there. I personally use my Facebook and it is amazing, the camaraderie. Everyone struggles like you do.


2. Ask for help! This is HUGE! I personally chose to seek out a professional trainer. I have a metabolic disorder and I have been in a few car accidents and sometimes I'm an absolute mess about it. I need professional help! ;-) I'd suggest this to anyone with old injuries, chronic disease or if you are even teetering on obese. It is important that we do things right or we will never make progress. Now, if you are none of those things, sign up for a class, enlist the help of a friend or even downloading the Couch25k app is sometimes enough.

3. Set a goal. Now we as women like to have a weight goal. Forget it! Quit fantasizing about "120 pounds" or being a "size 2" Here was my first goal: Walk around my block 3 times this week. That was it. My first goal wasn't to be a bikini competitor or to run a marathon. I'm 3 years deep and those still aren't my goals. Buy a pair of pants ONE size smaller, chart your food the day before and stick to it, make it to that fitness class.

4. Be easy on yourself. I have a tendency to hate myself for "failing" What do we do when we think we have failed? Blow it UP! Well I already had too much sugar today, so you know what Ill do? Finish a cake. A friend of mine calls this "going dark" Just stop tracking your foods, throw it all out the window and stomp on it. We all do this to an extent, but if you go over your limits that doesn't mean its time to gain 20 lbs and quit all together. It also doesn't mean start again on Monday or even tomorrow! Make your next meal on point!


5. STAY OFF PINTEREST! That place is where fitness dreams go to die. You spend 4 hours pinning squat challenges and water concoctions that promise instant weight loss. No one is getting a squat booty from a 30 day body weight squat schedule! Not all the information is bad, but the time you spend is wasted being led to believe that things happen fast and they happen easy.

I've just gone through a valley myself. I got sick, I got hungry, I got sad and I took 3 weeks off. Everytime you feel like you "failed" comeback at it with a few more weapons. Weight loss and fitness, just like life is never going to linear. Just dont give up.