So I want to lose weight but i struggle with motivation.

How do you all keep pushing on? 

For me I just hate being outside in summer.. and even nights are hot. 

Gym is an option but I feel depressed when i go alone, and no one wants to go with.

I want to get more fit but idk how to keep myself going ;_;

Girl we've talked about this already xD but I'm happy to repeat myself on fb lol

Tana I want to hear?

I am not going to lie, the way I talked my husband into a dog was "it will motivate me to stay active" XD Yeah, we are all couch potatoes.

LOL. I stay motivated by setting goals for myself. SMALL GOALS. Starting with diet first and then easing into the getting more fit is always the key for me.

Like

"I'm going to drink __ water a day." Or "This is my meal plan for the week" and then not changing from that. Making sure that I set those small goals that change my diet always gets me into feeling better so that exercise seems like less of a chore.

I think getting into a routine would help me. 

I plan on starting to walk a certain route daily once I'm done work for the summer. 

Starting small I think too helps. Going big right away when you're out of shape is brutal. You hurt the next day and don't want to continue. So I think building up helps. like, say, 5 pushups the first day. then the next do 7. then 9, etc.

Ok let's see how short I can keep this. First of all, I agree with Siib's idea of small goals. You still need a main goal like "lose 20 lbs and build healthy habits to keep me fit for life," but you need smaller goals that help you get there or you're just gonna get overwhelmed. I tried to "lose 1 lb per week," but let's be honest, getting your diet under control is hard. Aim instead to make healthy choices at least 80% of the time (and don't overdo the cheat meals - have chicken wings if you want, just don't eat 50 in one sitting). Try to make your own meals, too. You don't even need a special diet, just try making your portions gradually smaller. For example, if you put 4 slices of cheese in your sandwich, cut it to 2 (trust me you'll learn to live with it, you really don't need all that fat lol). If you buy a meal from some restaurant, chances are the portion is huge (e.g. Chinese food), so immediately cut the portion in half or even smaller, and put away the extras for later. This will be easier if you eat regularly. If you're starving, it'll be more difficult. 

It could help to track calories and activity levels with an app. I'm using Samsung Health and tracking steps walked, hours of sleep (very important for weight loss), exercise, and even heart rate whenever I remember to measure during the day. Another big change recently is eating way more veggies. I make giant salads and I get at least 4 meals out of it between Tatu and me. Add lean protein to it, like chicken (not deep fried, preferably no skin) or a can of tuna (or 2, depending on how big the salad is). Tuna is low-cal, low-fat, but it's basically all protein, so very good for keeping you full. As for dressing, either reduce the creamy stuff or use my fave: olive oil and lemon. You can add a pinch of salt and pepper, too. If you want creamy dressing, try to make your own. I bought some Greek yogurt the other day, gonna make a sauce with it :)

The take away point is: smaller portions over time & think about what you're eating!

Exercise time! Start by walking the dog more. My phone app set a goal of 6k steps daily for me, and between Pokemon walks and daily life, it's so easy to go above that, so I'm gonna increase it. I personally go to the gym, 3 or 4 times weekly for 60-90 minutes. Depends what I'm training that day. Some people say the gym is not for them or that they need a buddy. While I agree that it isn't for everyone, you still need to find something that makes you burn enough calories. And you don't need a buddy, you need discipline and goals. You'll feel good once you start sweating and stop complaining. Tough talk, yes, but it's the truth. 

If you decide to get a gym membership, great! The money spent should help keep you going regularly ;) if you've never gone befoe, get a personal trainer to at least show you the ropes. You don't wanna overdo it on the first day. You could get really sick. If you can't afford one, then just go easy in the beginning and gradually get more intense. I didn't deadlift 220lbs on day 1 lol. 

Speaking of lifting, I highly recommend it with cardio, over doing just cardio, regardless of whether you just wanna be skinny or toned &skinny. You don't have to lift as heavy as others either. The point is strong muscles keep your bones safe and well, it's nice being able to open the pickle jar by yourself lol. Plus they increase your metabolism, among other benefits. Divide your workouts, though. For example, I have leg day (usually no cardio because it's my toughest day), chest & back (often with cardio), shoulders & abs & cardio, and arms & abs & cardio. I used bodybuilding.com to find exercises, also certain fitness magazines. I started with a 3 sets of 10 scheme, with weight gradually increasing over the last 2.5 years, but now I also have days where I do 3x15 (endurance and lower weight) or 3-5 sets of 5 (strength-heavy weight). 10 reps is in between strength and muscle building. Use challenging weight, something in the middle. You can even alternate the sets-reps scheme every week, to keep your body guessing and to track progress in strength and endurance. Btw I usually do max 20 minutes of cardio AT THE END of my workout. Sometimes steady pace, sometimes HIIT. Build up gradually. 

Now you're gonna tell me, "But I don't wanna get bulky!!!" Lol you won't, since your goal is fat loss. First of all, as women we lack the high testosterone levels, and if we don't feed the muscles, they can't grow. Plus bodybuilding women (the ginormous ones) are 100% on steroids because they just can't achieve their goals otherwise. And they probably eat 3000 calories or more. Fat loss diets are 2000 or less, depending on your physical stats and goals. You'll just get that toned look :)

Is there anything I missed?

@tana I have been super bust this last week and a half so I've barely been on the forums but I totally have decided that you need to move to Illinois and be my personal motivator/trainer/life coach. Please and thank youuuuuu. Lol jk (or am I?)

Haha. I'm also happy to try to help give people meal ideas. I cook a LOT for Viking and I, and I've gone through crazy phases where I cut out all junk food. I'm a firm believer in cheat meals though, as Tana said in moderation. 

Literally you can keep ANYTHING in your life as long as it's in moderation!

I'm really bad at this because I get bored so easily. I'm literally just not capable of motivating myself to keep working out at a gym because I hate it and it feels like I'm slowly dying and my brain is melting, and I'm honestly just not interested in living my life that way. So I have to find things I actually like to do with fitness benefits on the side, like riding horses and recently Joel and I bought bikes which is super fun. As far as staying motivated on the food side of things, this is something I have struggled with immensly but been forced into due to medical need with going gluten free and the answer is that I make sure that I'm excited about anything I eat - so you'll never catch me eating plain grilled chicken and steamed broccoli because I'll be miserable, but I'm much happier about it if I'm making a chicken curry with veggies in it (for example).

Some people aren't gym people, which is totally fine. If you're not then being motiviated to go hiking is really good, but to burn fat you need to get your heart rate up above a certain number for a certain period of time. Obviously not the only way but one of the most effective. I'm not really a gym person, I honestly just go in to run because it hurts my knees to run on concrete.

I hate running on any solid surface lmao so I use the elliptical and 95% of the time I do some HIIT. But like Siib said, you find your own way to get active. Bikes are great tbh. So is just walking around and hunting for Pokemon. The truth is what you eat is more important than how much you sweat, especially if you hate sweating xD

I want to lose weight too because I'm so much heavier than I used to be and I don't like that. I'm absoutely terrible at motivating myself because I work long hours in a manual labor job and I'm just too tired to do anything when I get home or on the weekends. I'll tell you guys what I do now to motivate myself but you all may not like it because basically I fat shame myself. Honestly, it's the only thing that makes me actually work out every day.

One day my sister took a picture of me and I couldn't believe the way I looked. I realized that is exactly what would motivate me to work out. So I blew up the picture and printed it out and hung it all around the house where I would see it every day, all the time. Whenever I see my picture I'm reminded of why I need/want to work out and lose weight. 

I went to darebee.com and printed out a 30-day challenge and that's what I'm working on right now. 

I used to love walks, but summer is like... not really something im able to do xD I dont want to melt... it can be 11pm and be in the 90s still -.-

Im going back to the gym, slowly. a few days a week and will increase. Have cut soda, stopped eating out and started cooking at home again. Ive been drinking tons more water. Its just some days my anciety and depression disables me and im bed ridden on my days of :P i hate it. But small steps right?!