Staying Motivated

Staying motivated - clearly one of the hardest things to do. Really, it ranks right up there with sitting through graduation ceremonies, balancing a checkbook, and finding a flashlight in the middle of the night. Maybe harder than all of those, actually.

If you are keeping track of the Kingman-Norwich Biggest Loser Competition you are well aware that we are on our last week of the event. It is at this point in the past that our team has felt the "fade" coming on and though we always said "let's finish strong" we never really did. But, this go around feels different. I think we are all a bit more focused and driven. Though, I'd be lying if I said that it has come easy.

Which leads me to this blog post. Staying motivated --- how do you do it? What are the tricks you play on your mind to keep your tummy from taking it over?

Some people try the ole "picture on the fridge" trick. You know, you post a picture of your ideal body on the fridge so anytime you go to open it, you see that picture and it is supposed to remind you of your goals and then IDEALLY you shut the door and walk away. Or maybe you post a picture of what you DON'T want to look like for the same impact.

I tried the "picture on the fridge trick" and here is the photo I used.

This photo was taken probably....ohhhhh....I'd say in 2001-ish. I had lost a few pounds and was feeling pretty good about myself. Was I bigger? Definitely. Was I unhealthy? Oh totally. But did I still love the body I was in? Yeah. Was I too scared and grossed out to actually touch a live fish? Uh-huh. That is beside the point. I've never been skinny or thin or anything, so the body I had was the body I was used to and I didn't have those icky negative emotions attached to it. I had also spent my whole life focusing on "loving the inside" instead of worrying about the outside, for the very same reason. So, now when I have this picture up on my fridge, I don't see a "Fat Steph" that I don't want to be like. Because I see the same person in that photo as I am now and that Steph in the photo and I had a great time! We laughed, we were active, we rocked bandanas...so, this way of finding motivation obviously hasn't worked for me. Apparently denial is way stronger than the power of photography.

Speaking of photos....

Until a judge recently ruled it unconstitutional, the tobacco industry was being pushed by the government to put graphic photos on their products to show the dangers of smoking and tobacco on health. Mouth cancer, blackened lungs, that sort of thing. Would we find motivation to eat better if this was idea was implemented to food? I think someone is working on that....though I'm sure a judge will find it unconstitutional as well.

But what if?

What if this photo were on the side of a frozen pizza box?

(That's human fat....pretty gross, right?)

Would that be motivation enough to choose a salad instead?

Do scare tactics like this really work? 

Is this an ENJOYABLE way to find a healthy lifestyle? No way. I'm not a fan of being scared into doing something that you will hopefully like better than you did the choice before. It attaches an "icky" feeling to it. 

Rather I like the idea of posting POSITIVE things all around you for motivation.

Like these:

Share with us some of YOU motivational tricks!!!!!!!!!!!!!