How hard am I willing to push myself?
How do I know if I'm pushing myself too hard?
How do I know if I'm pushing myelf too little?

Do I want others to push me? How much or little?

How hard am I willing to push myself?

For me, this varies over time. I was willing to push myself quite hard in 2003 and 2004 when I was first starting out. This year, especially the mid-part of this year, I have not been willing to push myself much. As noted in response to another of these questions, I tend to go through an obstinant/rebellious phase now and then. It doesn't mean that I stop doing good things. I just don't watch myself as closely.

How do I know if I'm pushing myself too hard?

I get resentful and attitudinal. I pushed my exercise to 6 days a week for most of a year and found it was too much for me (at least while working full-time). I got very resentful but, once I dropped back to 5 days vs. 6, that evened out.

How do I know if I'm pushing myelf too little?

As others said--lack of results.

Do I want others to push me? How much or little?

At this stage of my journey and life, I really don't want to be pushed unless I ask to be pushed. I don't mind pushing on small things, but tend to resent pushing on more major things.

I've been at this for a long time--I dieted for decades before I switched to a lifestyle change in 2003. It's not like I don't know what to do. It's just about getting myself in the right head space where I want to do it right and do it consistently. When I don't know what to do, or I'm not sure why what I'm doing isn't working, I'm pretty good about asking the group here for help.

How hard am I willing to push myself? I am doing what I can do with my life the way it is. So I guess the answer is yes.

How do I know if I'm pushing myself too hard? I get stressed out and eat.

How do I know if I'm pushing myelf too little? I don't see the results I want to see

Do I want others to push me? Suggest maybe, not dictate. If I ask, great, if I don't great. But having asked for suggestions I usually get dictation, and I don't do well with that.

I don't like being told what to do. That makes me rebel. If I tell myself, that's different.
If I'm pushing myself too hard, I get all obsessive and stressed out, and then I'm nasty to my family.
If I'm not pushing myself enough, I eventually get nasty too because I get frustrated.

In terms of weight loss: If I don't do enough, I don't lose weight and I even gain weight. If I do too much, I think only about food and exercise, and woe to anyone who gets in my way. Not a healthy or happy state either way.

i believe that we are ready when we are ready. however, sometimes others can see that we are ready but we need that push. so i love it when supportive friends give a push, point out something i need to see, offer a different perspective, challenge my thinking, etc...as long as it is done with the right intention.

i think marlo thomas wrote that book "the right words at the right time". i do believe they can change you significantly.

i push myself hard at times. so sometimes, the push i will get some a friend is about softening myself.

I think sometimes that I'm not willing to push myself hard enough...then others will tell me I'm being too hard on myself, so I suspect I *think* I could be pushing myself harder, when in reality, I'm doing fine. (That made total sense in my head, but I'm not sure how well it came out in words.)

I don't know when I'm pushing myself too hard. I have trouble seeing the crack in the dam; instead, I only notice when the water's already broken through and engulfed everything. I'll go go go go go...and then drop. I do feel selfish (in a bad way) for NOT working (at work, at home, on my health, on my mind, on my emotions, whatever) at any time. That's hard for me. I'd like to sit down & enjoy time, but feel guilty doing it.

Based on that, I don't think I tend to push myself too little in general...with weight loss, though, I can definitely fall into a rut. It's HARD to lose weight, and when I feel too much pressure from too many other sources, my well-being is the first thing I give up. If I'll run on too little sleep, not enough relaxation, and under too much stress, it's not a stretch to think I'll postpone weight loss, too.

I do want others to push me, but kindly. I've had coaches yelling at me from the sidelines, and I don't like that. It makes me want to NOT do well, just to say, "See!? I TOLD YOU I couldn't do it!"

I want to hear others say, "It looks like you can fit ___ in your day, if you move this," or "Your choices are fine for what you're eating...but you could definitely be eating better, and you KNOW the right things to buy and eat."

I don't mind others picking apart my choices...if I can't explain them, then I didn't think them through very well. If I get defensive, then I need to look at things--I don't get defensive about things I'm comfortable with.

I like to be pushed, challenged and stretched.
I have high expectations for myself but that can get into trouble being too self critical. When I start hearing too many negative messages in my head, I know I need to back off and find a better balance.

As far as pushing too little, it's all about results for me. If I'm not seeing the results I want, I'm simply not pushing hard enough.

I welcome pushes from others. That's when I've challenged and grown the most. Not always easy, sometimes I got my feelings hurt, but always positive in the end.