Grai-

Some good motivators for me were taking a long look at my before photos and (I know this is malicious) I would think (and still do) of the look on my spiteful sister-in-laws face when she will see me this summer at the family reunion. She once told my brother that I wasn't pretty and I didn't take care of myself.  I can't wait to prove her wrong!!

Mostly, I think of how my daughter will grow up- will she take care of herself and exercise if I set the example? If I don't, will she sit on the couch eating baked potato chips?

Silly, But I worry about the example I set for her.

I think that's awesome Stacey!  My daughter (12 almost 13) will sit in my gym room while i work out.  I asked her if she wanted to start working out with me.  She said NO! Muscles on girls are gross!.  I told her I would show her she is WRONG!  The other day she was doing crunches while i was doing my HIIT.  She said she wants a 6 pack.  Something must be rubbing off!  There is no better example you can set for your kids than for them to see there parents taking care of themselves!

And I'm sure your sis-in-law will drop over dead!  You go girl!!!

Grai, my best advise is to realize you will have setback but to just keep going.  And to be patient!  Remember it is a process from the inside out, the results are not instant but they will come and it will be done the right way!   Congrats on taking those first steps!

Read your book, watch videos on u-tube of body for life champions.  Today is my 1st day of really the rest of my "new life".  You can't help but be inspired watching these videos.  Most of all this forum rocks.

I am starting 5th week tomorrow.

It goes really fast.

I get motivated with the fact I am upping my dumbbell weight for bench, incline and decline press 5# plus a week.

I am decreasing 10# each week off of the pull up weight assist. I will be pulling my whole body weight in a couple weeks.

Before I start a new week, I analyze the previous week and make resolutions for what I am going to improve and do better, pin point the weak moments and think about how it could have been different, and what I am going to do when it comes up again.

Each week, I take more control and focus on mental strength.

I am planning my work outs and keeping detailed records.

There really is not a moment to lose.

Each week has to get better and generate results. I find this fascinating, and love it.

This is an exciting time for me, and I am concentrating on the journey, and amazing path of discovery.

What I put in, is what I will get back.

Grai - Are you still excited and motivated?  You posted this on April 26.  It sounds like you're in a good place if you realize you want to stop saying one thing and doing another with broken promises.  I can relate to that.  For years I would live by intentions, rationaling my dreams away which produced a low self worth/esteem.....I was emotionally and mentally unhealthy which led to physical suffering too.  No surprise I become what I think about!  

When I write my goals and dreams down on paper I can see my future in the moment.  If I take action today to support my goals and dreams they come true.  It's so simple.  Before I would talk about.  Now I do it!

When you ask what motivates me top drive through the tough times, or the not so tough times and any other kind of time below, in the middle or above any time is ......"PAIN".  Pure and simple pain.  Someone told me once.....Pain is mandatory, suffering is optional.  Today pain is OK.  I can live with life as it is.  However, I have learned that I don't have to suffer anymore.  My thinking has totally changed.  So today, I write down with a sincere honesty what I want to become and I do it.  If I like the results I repeat it.  If I don't like what I see or am vecoming I change it.

That motivates me!  Sometimes I can become afraid of failing or succeeding.....either way I need to account for my thinking.  Hope that helps. You are helping me.  

I just started week 1 of my 2nd challenge.  Its all good!!

One of my goals today was to write to someone on BFL before I went to bed tonight.  Thanks for being there.

Make it a great day!!

RT

I'm so GLAD that I found these messages!  What wonderful ideas to share.  I thank you so much as I am also beginning my first challenge on this upcoming Monday.  I will keep your motivational thoughts with me on this journey.  

Stacy Lynn...I think HeatherC said it best.  YOU GO GIRL!!!  (I secretly wish you could take a picture of your sister-in-laws face when she sees you, to post for the rest of us! lol.)

HeatherC...I am also hoping to set a good example for my children so I loved what you said.  My hope is that my youngest son (my daughter has already decided to join me) will be impressed and want to join in on the fun too!

RT...great motivation thoughts from you too!  Thanks everyone for sharing.  I needed that!!

What helped me to finally get through 12 weeks was communicating with like minded people.  This forum with help you when all else fails.  Use it as much as you need.  Also not starting over when a day didn't go as well as I hoped.  You won't have many perfect days, who does?  Do each week and keep moving forward.

I purchased the 4-DVD set from this site.  It always helps me stay motivated.  Check out the thread title "Body of Work Video," I supplied the link to order it.

Here's the link to the Body of Work thread

http://bodyforlife.com/community/boards/bfl/f/13/t/722.aspx

Grai you said: " i can't break anymore promises to myself and need to do this to boost my self esteem and to get healthy." 

Lots of times people have to hit what they feel like is their bottom before they can make changes and be fully accountable to themselves.  The line that I bolded in particular tells me you are at that point.  What I suggest is very, very simple:  keep that sentence in your line of vision.  It's quite a powerful little sentence and could serve as a good motivator.

Thanks Blessed5 -

Hope you make it a great day today!!

RT

wow i find all these messages inspiring, im finishing up week 2 today,

only problem i have encountered that i am fixing this weekend  is the times i eat.    This week i would eat after 3-5 hours and starve myself cause i got extremely busy with work and didn't schudule in when to eat,      so this weekend im going to see to it that i schudule in each day time for me to eat every 2-3 hours

northern IL Russ its true i am learning how important it is to set goals and walk the walk, and feel extremely good im finishing up my second week and keeping to my commitment

armster exactly i hate the feeling of low self esteem and failure after failure, i hate setting the bar low in my life and settling, with the beating ive given my self esteem its not a good place to be and im using it to motivate myself to push myself out of the hole i dug for myself

stacy 815 i look at myself in the mirror and know i can't continue to be out of shape and fat, i hate looking myself in the mirror but force myself to do so to keep myself motivated

heatherc thats so wonderfull how you are teaching your daughter to set the bar high in life at such a young age

landhippo i hope you keep me up to date with your progress

terry yea im closly recording everything i do in the gym so i can keep track of my progress to keep myself feeling excited, didn't really figure out all my 9/10's last week but i know my 9/10's this week

also i was wondering what type of meals do you guys eat and how do you guys fit them into your busy schudule,    thats something i have to work on this weekend schuduling in when to eat so im eating every 2-3 hours

and i would love some more about what keeps you guys inspired

Clearly, the hardest thing to really get used to in BFL is getting the hang of eating every 2.5 hours. But, it's also by far the most important part, because the dieting at those intervals with the nutrients balanced is what gives you the ability to constantly burn fat while still preserving or even adding muscle. It keeps both blood sugar levels and insulin levels stable. It is critical to pre-prepare your weekly meals during the weekend so you're not putting off meal times or going fishing in the vending machines or 7-11 stores. Ready to drink protein shakes can certainly fill in a couple of those meal times while you are at work and there really should be no excuse for missing meals during the day--even with a hectic work schedule. I can knock one down in 2 minutes.

During my challenge I had a lot of bad habits, including sugar bingeing, to break. I went from drinking wine on my porch overlooking Miami Beach and eating anything I wanted to going completely cold turkey and doing every single aspect of BFL by the book.  I had to surround myself with things to help me stay motivated at all times. You are talking to someone who couldn't even make it through the line at the grocery store without eating a Twix and handing the clerk the empty wrapper when paying! I used tons of things like...

Goal pics on my fridge and bathroom mirror

I made a dream board (a posterboard full of goal pics of my dream body, my dream home, my dream everything....it also had the EAS logo at the top and under that it said, "Winning Plans." Well I did win, and many other things on it have happened as well since then. I still have the dream board today.

I also kept quotes in my purse and on my dash in my car. One of my favorites was, "Nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels." and I also liked, "If you train hard, you'll not only be hard, you'll be hard to beat." and "If you want something you've never had, you must do things you've never done."

I bought subscriptions to fitness magazines. I didn't even have to go buy them. There was a steady stream coming in the mail at all times. If I was watching tv at night, I'd mute the pizza commercials and read a short article instead. Instead of reading Sky Mall when traveling, I'd read my fitness mags. I basically surrounded myself at all times with a health mindset.

I also scheduled body fat testing at week 0.4.8 and 12. It was a huge motivator to be accountable to someone else. Knowing I was going to get a DEXA scan that was about 99% accurate, I knew I couldn't fudge that and it helped keep me motivated.

I read my goals EVERY SINGLE DAY. They were taped to my fridge as well.

One of the biggest motivators for me was also being involved in this online community. I owe a lot to the man who just posted above me for being so supportive and for smacking me in the head (virtually of course) and telling me to DO IT BY THE BOOK and stop trying to think you can "tweak" things. Having the support of this community is such a huge help!

Nowadays, 2 years later, I still use fitness magazines as a way to surround myself with a health mindset. I cut out a lot of the toxic friendships I had as hard as it was and decided there wasn't room for people who were bringing me down too. Not all of my friends are super healthy, but I don't allow people into my life that are toxic by any means anymore. No room for that stuff. I think it's important to keep your goals visible and forefront in your mind at all times and don't allow thing into your psyche that don't compliment your mission to be healthy. I always tell people, if they are at a crossroads or are tempted by something they have to think twice about doing...Stop. Ask yourself.."Will doing this get me any closer to my goals?" It can be a food temptation or anything else in life for that matter. If the answer to that question is "no" then it's probably not the best choice. I am constantly asking myself that question, and it is helping me get that much closer to accomplishing all of my goals.

Best of luck to you. As Mike stated above, there's really no room for excuses in this program. Plan, prepare, and make it work according to your own schedule. Get in the workouts, eat according to schedule and do what you need to do to get in and stay in a healthy mindset. Check out the BFL insider Blog I wrote on that very topic if you'd like..

bodyforlife.com/.../mind-over-matter-getting-and-staying-in-a-healthy-mindset.aspx

Stay focused and do it by the book, and you will do great1 Best of luck to you!

Em

EmAlvers-BFL Champ thanks for the advice, that is one thing im doing im checking what i let my mind focus on, i made a poster with pictures of the body i want to have, as well i read my goals and my why's out loud everyday so i remind myself why im doing this challenge

But i do have some great news i am finishing week 3 today and today i noticed my pants were a little looser and i have noticed i have gotton a little stronger as i was able to push myself and lift more today then i was able to on monday, which has got me excited to push my upper body a a lil harder next wednesday and push more weight for my 6 7 8 9 and 10 intensity level

what is it  that you guys focus on while you guys our working out to keep yourself motivated, one thing that helped me huge today is pushing myself to progress and seeing the results as i was able to lift more