What are things you do to stay motivated once the weight loss slows down?

You need to make sure that you are TRULY motivated, for all of the right reasons, BEFORE you begin to lose weight. You also must remember that losing weight is about SO MUCH MORE than being thinner! It's about being healthy (therefore at far less risk from many obesity-related diseases), renewed self esteem/self image, and visualizing yourself in a new way for the rest of your life.

If you just think short-term (like, "I'm going to follow XX diet and lose weight), you're pretty likely to lose your motivation quite quickly along the way.

You need to psych yourself into REALLY wanting to make a permanent lifestyle change! You need to remind yourself about all the things you WANT to have, and all the things you have now that you DON'T want! I can't tell you what will work for you; that's your call. But I can tell you that you need to look at the BIG picture.

Don't let the scale take center stage, either. Even if you're not "losing weight," you are still boosting your energy, eating more healthful foods to make yourself more fit, building muscle tone and sculpting (if you work out), and simply making yourself a better YOU all the way around.

Make yourself a list of all of the benefits of living better: more energy, looking younger, fewer health risks, etc. etc. You'll find those far OUTWEIGH the simple matter of a number of the scale. (And don't forget if you're building muscle mass that muscle weighs more than fat!)

To sum it all up: you have to really WANT it. There's no other way around it.

=^..^=

Gee DaraCat, this is some really powerfully good advice. I hope people will listen to you. I don't want to repeat my story over and over but I was fat for years (100 lbs. overweight) and I just couldn't stay motivated. I've said before that I actually met my husband when I was STILL fat and eventually (and he had to really work on me!) I got the motivation to lose and stay on course.

I reminded myself every morning why I wanted to lose weight on a permanent basis. You know like Gary on TBL lost all of those health problems when he lost the weight, well, that sure was something that happened to me. I lost my weight before Gary did, but same kinda thing. Once you see how its making you healthier, you start seeing that's even more imp. than looking thin. It can save your life.

DaraCat is right about not focusing too much on the scale. I swear that's the kiss of death for so many people trying to lose. Just do the right thing and it WILL happen. Don't get real obsessed about how many pounds when. i swear I used to get caught up in that kinda thinking and gosh it never did anything but blow my diet to smitherenes!

Think of the big picture!! My motivation was a happy life with a beautiful family. We all have our own motivation. Oh, and I also used the anger of my childhood when people called me names to empower myself instead of feel sorry for myself. Okay well I hope that helps you a bit.

Good luck and God Bless,

Windy