Motivational visualizations...

[Aways2Go]

Along with many others, I find it easier to keep to my diet, water drinking, and exercise routines when I can easily see in my mind where I want to go . . . looking at an old picture of myself near my goal weight, a photo of someone else who has the body structure and size I am aiming for, visualizing myself looking at the scales and the scales reading my goal weight, imagining what I will look like wearing a much smaller size of jeans, etc.

I have also recently found it motivating, particularly when walking on the treadmill and getting bored after a while, to think about what this weight I am losing actually LOOKS like. I did some internet searching, and although I am sure all these are not EXACTLY accurate, they seem like pretty close comparisons as best I can tell:


A POUND OF BODY FAT -

- is about 2.13 cups in volume

- is pretty close in size to a one pound block of butter (similar densities)

- is about the same in size as a coffee mug, a medium sized grapefruit, or maybe your fist (depending on the size of your hands)



OTHER THOUGHTS -

- 5 or 6 pounds of body fat would nearly fill a small shoebox

- 8 or 9 pounds of body fat is roughly equivalent to a gallon jug

- for every pound of body fat you lose, your body sheds about 7 miles of blood vessels, taking that much extra work off your heart. These vessels break down, reabsorb and are excreted as you lose the fat.



So on Atkins, as I understand it, most all of the weight you lose after some initial water loss the first week or two is FAT and not muscle and fat, as would normally be lost on a low calorie or low fat type diet.

A quarter pound loss may seem trivial until you think of a stick of butter peeling off of you! And the more than a mile and a half of blood vessels your heart doesn't have to pump through anymore that disappeared along with it! Even 1/16th of a pound would be about 2 tablespoons of fat that went away from SOMEwhere!

So congratulate yourself for every stick of butter/quarter pound you are no longer hefting around I've lost 88 sticks so far, not worrying about the initial water weight lost...
(really? that is a crazy thought, but as far as I can tell from the above equivalents, also true)!

What do YOU visualize for motivation?


Happy Labor Day - now I'm off to go "labor" on the treadmill and hopefully walk off some extra tablespoons of "butter"... ;-)

[mizski]

Originally Posted by Aways2Go

What do YOU visualize for motivation?

So far I've lost the equivalent of a 25# sack of birdseed. And those are pretty heavy to lug around! Next goal is to be rid of the 40# sack.

For those of us with a lot of weight to lose, how many of us could lug around 100#s or more? Yet we carry that on our bodies. Our bones must be so thrilled when we lighten up.

[Aways2Go]

LOL, I'm with ya! Every time I carry in a 40 pound bag of dog food from the car, I think to myself
"Good Lord this is heavy! And I'm carrying 2 1/2 of these in extra weight all the time!"

but hopefully for not too much longer! How good THAT will feel with every step of every day!

[pagliaccia]

I've just about lost the weight of my dog... I realized that the other day. Pretty awesome. (She's a big girl!)

[imagood1]

I posted this before - but I went to Sam's Club and picked up a 25 pound sack of rice when I got that far down .... it was amazing how much that sack weighed....when I get upset or down that I'm not loosing mounds of weight like others I go back and pick up that sack of rice and find something that amounts to the weight I've lost now. I'm very happy with my progress and it keeps me going.

[Aways2Go]

I wish *I* had lost the weight of my dog - I have an Irish Wolfhound, LOL!

I would be at my goal - and that's a LOT of sticks of butter! ;-)

[onesenalife]

I know its cliche, but my children are my motivation. This is just one example of how being overweight affects what I can do for them.

My children LOVE going to the pool, they can play in the water for hours and be completely content. I know this and yet everytime they ask to go to the pool I am petrified, I want to tell them NO, because I don't want to get into a bathing suit. How horrible is that?

I look forward to getting to the point where I ask THEM if they want to go to the pool, because I WANT to get into my bathing suit.

The ease of the diet itself keeps me eating right.

My kids get me on the bike trail everyday

[IrishIrish]

The visuals of piles of 5 pound bags of sugar are amazing to me when I go grocery shopping. All I can say is that it is a wonder that I ever moved at all at my high weight (and it wasn't often, nor was it graceful).

My true motivations came while I was losing. Yes ... it was all about me. I wanted my health back. I hated doing blood sugar readings all the time and adjusting my insulin. I hated taking medications every morning, every afternoon, at dinner and every night. I hated being embarrassed when I had to go into a new environment because I didn't know what kind of chairs they had or how many stairs I might have to climb and what the bathroom stalls were like.

Having said all that. Today, I enjoy my smaller self because it makes all I do easier. I am healthier. The only real praise that matters to me is from my husband and physician. And every day in the morning when I put my feet on the floor and do it without pain, walking implements, medications, bracing myself with furniture, I have allt he motivation I need to never let this happen to me again.

[CaseyB]

You know, I can't really imagine myself thinner because I've never been thin. But Mizski, you made me think! I would whine if I were carrying a 40 pound bag, but that's [almost] what I've lost! Awesome!

[Aways2Go]

I have been thinner in my younger years, but if I were to wait too many more years, I might not be able to REMEMBER what I looked like then, LOL! If it weren't for a couple of good photos I could rustle up to remind me, I might have had to resort to finding a photo of someone else who has the body shape and size I want and paste my head on it, LOL! I do notice when I flip through a magazine or something, though, if I see someone closer to my age who looks to be at a reasonably healthy weight and toned/muscular, and think "there is no reason at all I couldn't be shaped about like this...".

Every night right as I am about to fall asleep, I do try to spend a couple of minutes imagining myself wearing smaller clothes, what I will look like, trying to put my goal weight into my brain, trying to see the scales reading my goal weight, something like that. I hope it is helping to reprogram my brain to "think thinner,". For sure it can't hurt, and is a relaxing way to fall asleep.