Staying Motivated
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Staying Motivated

So you've started a new diet plan and you're really excited about it. But then the weekend comes and your motivation has come to an all time low. You keep asking yourself, "whats the point, I'm going to fail sooner or later, anyway.." You let yourself take two bites, three bites.. And then you're off.

To combat that:

---> Create a thinspiration book. Seperate into sections, assigning each section some sort of subject. For example, one section can be for pictures, another for your food journal, another for quotes/lyrics/etc.

---> Wear a red bracelet. Associate it with ana. Think of all the other Anas in the world, starving the same way you are. Do you really want to let them down? Do you want to let Ana down? Do you want to let yourself down?

---> Wear a rubberband around your wrist. Snap it everytime you want to eat. Pretty soon your mind will associate pain with food and you will notice a decline in cravings/hunger.

 ---> Similarly, reward yourself every time you don't eat. Your mind will associate not eating as a rewarding experience.

---> Write your goal weight on your wrist. If/When people question it, just say that's the grade you want for a test. If its above 100, say its a project and thats how many points you want. If it's a really low goal weight, then just put a temporary goal in, say, 10 pounds less than you are now.

---> Save up all the money you have from not eating and buy yourself something you will remember. Perhaps a better ana bracelet, an exercise machine, some good ED books, or some clothes!

---> Speaking of clothes, buy yourself a pair of jeans that are one size too tight. Push yourself to fit into it within a month. However, don't make the size difference drastic. It might make you feel worse in the end, and therefore, you might cave and eat in a fit of negativity.

 ---> Keep a record of everything you eat when you restrict. Do the same when you binge. Compare the two when you're hungry, and think of which you'd like to see as your total for the day.

 ---> Exercise. It encourages release of endorphins, which makes you happier. Happiness will lead you not to binge.

---> Pretend you're a thin person. Pretend you are where you want to be. If you were 98 pounds, would you really be eating that garbage? You're too beautiful, too pure, too clean for that dirtiness.

 ---> Set yourself small goals instead of big ones. Instead of twenty pounds, set your goal to five. By making it smaller, you'll reach it faster, and therefore, feel more motivated to reach more goals faster.

---> Weigh yourself weekly. Seeing a bigger decline in numbers will make you hopeful. Losing .5 lbs everyday might piss you off, but losing 4 lbs every week is much better of an improvement!

 ---> Drink a lot of water. Water will make you feel really full. By feeling full, you won't want food. By not wanting food, you'll succeed. And by succeeding, you won't want to fail. Your own success will motivate you.

 ---> Post on a lot of forums or keep a xanga. Comments will motivate you, as well as reading what everybody else has to say. Some sort of friendly competitiveness might overcome you and you could always aim to do better then the next person.

---> Compete with somebody. Trying to lose more than them is always a big motivater, especially if they're tinier than you. Or if they're bigger, try to get even tinier and make them envious. (Hey, nobody said we had to be nice about it..)

---> Put a Before-and-After picture of yourself in a place that you constantly see. Remind yourself of how much progress you made, and how much more you want to make. Eating honestly will not bring you closer to perfection, and you know that.

---> In random places through out your residence, place pictures of skinny models or things that might somehow remind you not to eat. Just casually place a vogue in the kitchen or tape up models in your room and say that you love fashion, or something of that nature. Remind yourself you want that, not a 490-pound heffer for your future body.

---> Pretend that somebody you are really impressed by/nervous around is watching you eat. For example, a really good looking, thin boy, or somebody you see that if really, really thin and beautiful. It will make you eat less and motivate you to be more like them.

---> Make a chart somewhere relaying how much you eat everyday. Your motivation would be to eat less/exercise more everyday. What works well is a calendar, just write in your cals in the box. If somebody sees and ask, says its how many meters you walked that day, or something.

---> Eat in front of the mirror. You will be disgusting. It will motivate you to eat less -- Nobody should see anybody chewing like that!

---> Pick one phrase that you really like and repeat it to yourself, over and over, whenever you want to eat.

---> Allow yourself some small bit of your craving. Knowing you have control not to binge will motivate you to futher yourself in restriction.

---> Put on a pair of pants you wore at your highest weight. Take a picture in it. Note the differenece!