Motivation/will power

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

I'm getting increasingly frustrated with myself in terms of hitting my fitness goals.

From Jan 2011 through to about Feb this year I dropped from around 16st to 12.5st and have hovered between 12.5st - 13st since (probably at teh higher end now). I'm a 5ft 10 guy, so I look pretty normal now.

But my target weight is between 11.5st-12st, and I just cannot get this last 1-1.5st off; even though i'm massively motivated to do it, I don't seem to have the iwllpower to follow through with as good a diet and exercise regime that I had throughout 2011.

It's really frustrating me and getting me down that I can't do this, as I have a fairly good understanding of nutrition and am pretty good in the gym, I just can't seem to get myself to stick to a diet/exercise regime at teh moment to get down to that target size.

Any ideas?

[The Jay]

You could change your diet and type of exercise. What is your normal style of eating and working out?

[Positivist]

I'm not sure how legitimate this is, considering it is part of the P90X advertising campaign, but allegedly our muscles adapt to certain exercises when performed often, leading to a stagnation in results. He solution is to change up the exercise routine often in order to keep your muscles "confused" and continue their growth. I'd imagine this, if true, also applies to fat-burning exercises.

[Lynx]

Your body is telling you it's happy where it is now.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Your body is telling you it's happy where it is now.

Body's an asshole then :(

It's really frustrating. It's nothing to do with (though i'm thankful for the advice) the actual content of my diet or exercise regime, i'm quite good at changing everything up regularly, i'm just lacking the willpower to stick to it at the moment.

I've tried everything I can think of - setting targets, planning, cooking in advance, reading motivational stories of proper fat people that have become toned.

Decided i'll re-join the gym tomorrow and force myself to go in the mornings. Will report back when/if progress is made :)

[MacdonaldIvy]

If you always think about hitting your target, there is a big chance of missing it. You have the motivation, discipline and hardship, but it seems like your body is no longer cooperating. Try to change your meal plan, maybe your body needs some changes in your diet. If it still doesn't work, I think you should temporarily stop your workout and focus on mind conditioning.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Yeah, i've had a bit of a change in diet.

Swapped cereals in the morning for an omelette, occasionally adding some cheese, sometimes some hot sauce, anything to get the metabolism going. Changed the diet to less meat, more veg, rarely eating late at night.

Seems to be working in general, taking it one day at a time, being stricter, getting in the groove. Will hopefully have some good progress updates in a few weeks' time.

[wandnancy91]

For a year of doing same exercise and diet routines I think your body had adopted to it that's why your losing weight became so slow. Try new exercises and diet routines and find new things to motivate you. That's all I could suggest. Good luck and go go go..

[Blake's Baby]

Added to which the weight you lose first is the easiest to lose. Once you approach your target weight, the losses are harder to accrue. Basically, diminishing returns applies here.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Added to which the weight you lose first is the easiest to lose. Once you approach your target weight, the losses are harder to accrue. Basically, diminishing returns applies here.

yeah, such a painful reality.

happily back on track now, got the willpower going and am in the groove.

[Invader Zim]

I'm getting increasingly frustrated with myself in terms of hitting my fitness goals.

From Jan 2011 through to about Feb this year I dropped from around 16st to 12.5st and have hovered between 12.5st - 13st since (probably at teh higher end now). I'm a 5ft 10 guy, so I look pretty normal now.

But my target weight is between 11.5st-12st, and I just cannot get this last 1-1.5st off; even though i'm massively motivated to do it, I don't seem to have the iwllpower to follow through with as good a diet and exercise regime that I had throughout 2011.

It's really frustrating me and getting me down that I can't do this, as I have a fairly good understanding of nutrition and am pretty good in the gym, I just can't seem to get myself to stick to a diet/exercise regime at teh moment to get down to that target size.

Any ideas?

If you are regularly exercising then it is likely that you won't lose much more weight. I'm 6 ft 3, and weigh about 13 stone or there abouts. I used to do a lot of jogging, and lost about half a stone, but I didn't lose any more despite the fact that I went from running about ten miles a week to forty in the space of around two months when I was training for a half marathon. I guess what you lose, weight wise through burning fat, you then put straight back on after a while as you build muscle.

I think that setting goals based on weight can be a misleading way of approaching both diet and fitness. I always found that the better way of getting myself in shape was setting specific fitness targets. For example, I gave myself two months to increase my semi-regular jogs from three miles at a time to ten miles. I also worked on decreasing the time it took me to cover distances. For instance, I set myself the relatively modest target of covering four miles in half an hours. But despite all that, I didn't lose any weight. I certainly looked slimmer, had vastly better cardio - but my weight didn't change noticably, and I doubt that even if I hadn't packed it in when I fucked up a knee it would have come down. I guess that the way we store fat, motabolise, and build muscle when we become fit must make losing weight while maintaining a balanced diet very difficult, if not impossible, beyond a certain point.

But yeah, that is my rambling over. I guess, I'm saying don't be discouraged, and maybe you are setting yourself goals that you don't actually reflect just how successful you've been already.

Oh and smoking while trying to become fit is, in my experience, rather counter productive. But, I'm currently quitting and my wasit line has gone up from a 32 to a 34. I guess I need to start running again and hope my knee doesn't give me trouble again.

[Ele'ill]

Body's an asshole then :(

It's really frustrating. It's nothing to do with (though i'm thankful for the advice) the actual content of my diet or exercise regime, i'm quite good at changing everything up regularly, i'm just lacking the willpower to stick to it at the moment.

I've tried everything I can think of - setting targets, planning, cooking in advance, reading motivational stories of proper fat people that have become toned.

I get frustrated and very bored with extended exercise and diet plans but I've found that shortening the workouts and simplifying the meals really helps a lot. Instead of long runs all the time I'd switch up to high intensity interval training and make every meal unique but with the same general food items. Sweet potatoes baked the night before for breakfast instead of oatmeal and honey, fresh spinach in a wrap with black beans instead of mixed veggies and grilled tofu etc..That way 'sticking to the program' actually means living in the moment so long as you're thinking about what you're doing. The one thing I really grew to hate was left over brown rice, it got really boring.

Doing this doesn't have to be your actual program either you can switch up to get over plateaus or lack of motivation. I will frequently for weeks at a time need more time for myself just to sit and read or go for walks and what I said above has helped me open up that free time while still getting the same workouts in- arguably better workouts.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

Try out some of the non-traditional stuff if the gym you joined has the equipment and space for it. I'll sometimes hit a wall like you've described and i've found that taking a break from machines and free weights and using the sled or doing tire flips for a while instead really helps. I have a lot of fun lifting but do anything long enough and you'll learn to hate it:lol:

[Invader Zim]

I get frustrated and very bored with extended exercise and diet plans but I've found that shortening the workouts and simplifying the meals really helps a lot. Instead of long runs all the time I'd switch up to high intensity interval training and make every meal unique but with the same general food items. Sweet potatoes baked the night before for breakfast instead of oatmeal and honey, fresh spinach in a wrap with black beans instead of mixed veggies and grilled tofu etc..That way 'sticking to the program' actually means living in the moment so long as you're thinking about what you're doing. The one thing I really grew to hate was left over brown rice, it got really boring.

Doing this doesn't have to be your actual program either you can switch up to get over plateaus or lack of motivation. I will frequently for weeks at a time need more time for myself just to sit and read or go for walks and what I said above has helped me open up that free time while still getting the same workouts in- arguably better workouts.


Yeah, this is all very true.... though maybe not tofu, that shit is horrid. But yeah, switching up your routine with high intensity work is really important. I'm a big fan of using a cross trainer or sprinting for that kind of thing.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

I get frustrated and very bored with extended exercise and diet plans but I've found that shortening the workouts and simplifying the meals really helps a lot. Instead of long runs all the time I'd switch up to high intensity interval training and make every meal unique but with the same general food items. Sweet potatoes baked the night before for breakfast instead of oatmeal and honey, fresh spinach in a wrap with black beans instead of mixed veggies and grilled tofu etc..That way 'sticking to the program' actually means living in the moment so long as you're thinking about what you're doing. The one thing I really grew to hate was left over brown rice, it got really boring.

Doing this doesn't have to be your actual program either you can switch up to get over plateaus or lack of motivation. I will frequently for weeks at a time need more time for myself just to sit and read or go for walks and what I said above has helped me open up that free time while still getting the same workouts in- arguably better workouts.

You're exactly right. Only occasionally do I get the urge to run 30+mins, mostly I just do uphill sprints for cardio or competitive sport.

And yeah, I love using different spices/sauces/herbs/cooking methods to make even just rice and peas a bit tasty.

No thanks to tofu, though. Soya milk is nice though! :)

Pasta is infinitely more long-liveable than rice, I find. Rice needs to go with re-friend beans/onions to really taste good, or be a risotto, otherwise I agree it gets boring.

[Philosophos]

I don't know if this is a stupid tip but I accidentally did it and I lost 30kg (60 pounds) with it. I was sleeping for lots of hours so I was missing lots of weight because I was missing 1 or 2 meals. It was for 3 months (summer)and I didn't even realise when I lost all this weight.

Anyway if you have lots of free time as I was you can do that. There are also some really good types of exercices depending on your body shape and some good diets depending on your blood type. They are not trollish my father used them and he lost some wome weight (note that he's 50 years old and he was like 130kg).

If that doesn't work just stop eating some of the basic foods that cause the problem e.g. white bread, sweets and some foods that contain lots of oil or butter.

Hope I helped

[fizzy]

You've put so much effort into achieving what you desire. Don't give in now, look where you've come and your destination now is only a few steps ahead. Give it a break, take it lightly. Get it off your mind and start again after a couple weeks with new ambition. You're close :)