The key to weight-loss motivation is analogous to having fuel in a car. You need to have fuel to keep on going. Just like that “energizer bunny.”
I advise people not to waste time and energy trying to stay highly motivated because it has a natural rhythm. Most people mistake a drop in motivation for failure, but it is not.
If you realize that your motivation to lose weight is fading, take a one to three-day break. The more individuals who try to ‘capture’ it, the more elusive it becomes. Let your motivation, or lack of it, run its course.
With these suggestions and ideas for keeping motivated throughout weight loss, you can power through an “off” day and maintain seeing results.
Select an Achievable Goal
Set a sensible target: Expect to lose 10% of your body weight in six months and keep it off.
However, don’t rely simply on numbers on the scale. That shouldn’t be your goal or measurement of success. Instead, concentrate on the behaviors you want to modify, such as lowering your daily fat intake to less than 35% or giving up your afternoon soda or vending machine snack. Consider setting non-weight-related goals, such as running a 5K. The pounds you’ll instantly shed as a result will appear as a bonus — and may even work as a little weight-loss motivation.
Create a Plan That Fits Your Lifestyle
Make your own plan that works with your lifestyle. In principle, you only need to cut away 150 calories every day to lose 15 pounds in a year, so start small to increase your chances of staying motivated to lose weight.
Little changes to your current eating habit, like portion control or preparing foods differently, can add up to big results.
Consider which foods you can and cannot live without, and then design your diet around them. Divide your daily calories into multiple tiny meals if you’re a natural snacker so you constantly feel like you’re having a nibble. Don’t give up your favorite foods, no matter what. You’ll surely feel deprived, which will fuel your appetite – and weaken your willpower.
Note: Check out why the 80/20 Rule Is an Excellent Method for Achieving Dietary Balance
Put Your Strategy on Paper
Every successful enterprise has a strategy that explains its objective and instructions on how to achieve it.
Begin by writing down all of the reasons you can think of for wanting to lose weight — in other words, describe your weight-loss motivation. Working backward from what you want to achieve and your deadline, build a monthly plan of action with realistic and specific weight-loss targets (such as committing to healthy snacking).
Keep Your Promises
If you’re having trouble staying motivated to lose weight, advocate practicing integrity in other areas of your life. Pay off your bills, keep obligations to friends, family, and coworkers, and declutter your life by cleaning out your closet.
Stick to promises or commitments you’ve made in other areas of your life to increase your subconscious belief that you can keep the promise you made to yourself to lose weight.
Avoid Making Comparisons
Pinning and publishing photos of supermodels may appear to be a fantastic weight-loss incentive, but the study shows that it is more likely to hinder your success.
Researchers in the Netherlands placed obese women into two groups: the first received a meal journal with photographs of thin models on the front and internal pages, while the second received a journal with a logo of a neutral image on the front. An interesting result was while the control group lost weight, those who received journals with supermodel photographs gained weight.
Rather than comparing yourself to unrealistic fashion models, keep motivated by posting photographs of yourself at your healthiest to get a dose of weight-loss motivation.
Concentrate on a Feeling
Just about everyone who wants to lose weight gets frustrated by focusing on numbers on the scale.
Focus on how you feel after eating a nutritious meal or after a terrific workout.
Concentrate on how you feel each time you exercise.
Feeling good is contagious. Soon you will be looking forward to working out to get that good feeling back.
A workout boost Your Metabolism, which boosts your mood.
Every success should be celebrated.
Instead of waiting until the huge finish line to reward yourself for weight reduction, set little targets and reward yourself along the road. Once you’ve accomplished your first goal, you may treat yourself to a pedicure. Plan something fantastic (such as a day at the spa) at the midway point. If you have interim rewards in place, you’ll be less inclined to give up when things become rough.
Reward yourself for positive behavior, but only if they’re meaningful. When you reach a milestone in your exercise routine or your weight-lose, reward yourself with something that both celebrates and advances your progress.
Display Your Motivation in the Mirror
Displaying a particular piece of your clothing is a terrific way to get daily weight-loss inspiration. Choose something you’ll enjoy wearing and hang it near your mirror. I imagine myself wearing it and thinking about how good I’ll feel.
Because it’s something you currently possess or want to wear, it’s less likely to be an unattainable goal (as opposed to, say, that photo of Gisele Bündchen) and will help boost your drive to keep going to the gym.
Join forces with a friend or a group.
When it comes to weight loss, working with a friend or a team might help you stay motivated. According to some studies, the social influence of team-based weight-loss tournaments can help you lose up to 20% more weight than if you did it alone.
Even more intriguing, team captains lost more weight than team members, which the researchers attribute to their position and participation in the group competition like the mud runs.
Having a group of friends who will accompany you on a walk or cook nutritious meals might help you stay accountable and achieve your goals. Take it a step further by involving your family – play tag with the kids and go to the gym on weekends with your partner.
10 Workout Motivation Strategies to Get You Off the Couch
Determine Your “Why”
Before you start on “weight-loss” programs, figure out what motivates you. If you’re motivated by your family, think about how exercising can help you be involved in your children’s life as you age.
In order to work on behavior change, you must first recognize them and understand why they exist.” If you can channel your healthy weight-loss desire into a new action, your goal will become more compelling and attainable.”
Enlist the Assistance of a Professional
It might not be easy to find balanced diet dishes that work for you and will not leave you hungry at the end of the day. Consider consulting a dietitian or nutritionist for expert advice on choosing the best balance of healthful foods for you.
If your inability to become motivated is causing you to feel depressed, anxious, or insecure, you should get treatment from a therapist.
Get Rid of the Daily Weigh-In
The scale can be a useful tool for tracking your progress, but many people make the mistake of weighing themselves too frequently. While some research shows that weighing in daily helps people manage (maintain) their weight better, the same cannot be said for losing weight. Daily weigh-ins will only hinder weight-loss motivation with a roller coaster of emotions.
Experts suggest weighing yourself once a week or even every other week. Meanwhile, keep an eye out for non-scale triumphs that can serve as a major inspiration.
Keep a Photo Journal of Your Progress.
You’ve heard the expression, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Track your success by keeping a weight-loss and fitness photo diary. Take images after a good workout or after a nutritious lunch to help you capture changes in your lifestyle and body that you might not notice otherwise — and that the scale might not reveal.
Keep these photographs for yourself and scroll through them whenever you need a little motivation to lose weight.
Don’t be too critical.
Unfortunately, many individuals have a bad habit of using self-criticism as an inspirational tool, particularly when it comes to weight-loss motivation, but this not only does not inspire, but it may really sabotage your efforts. When we engage in self-criticism, we actually engage the portion of our brain that is linked to our fight-or-flight survival reflex. This produces an increase in cortisol (the “stress hormone”) secretion, which leads to the desire for fatty and sweet meals.
Place your palm on your heart the next time you find yourself criticizing. Simply holding it there and taking a few deep breaths can transform your physiological condition, mute the negativity, and allow you to gaze in the mirror and have a new experience.
Surround Yourself with Healthy People
Staging your home to represent the new you can be very helpful. Stock and arrange the refrigerator with healthy, ready foods in transparent containers, put fruit in lovely bowls on worktops, purchase a shoe rack to exhibit your sneakers right by the front entrance, keep filthy laundry away from workout equipment, and so on.
Changing your environment to reflect your weight loss and healthy lifestyle goals might help you stay on track.
Utilize Technology
With more free weight-loss applications available than ever before, getting fast weight-loss and healthy living encouragement is as simple as a tap away. Whether you lack the motivation to cook dinner (try a healthy eating app like BigOven to find recipes based on what’s already in your pantry), need some accountability (download Fitocracy to team up with a buddy), or are simply looking for a new way to get moving (try Zombies, Run! ), there’s a great app to help keep your weight-loss motivation mobile.
Find Gift Givers
In theory, rewarding yourself with gifts along the road is excellent, but in actuality – your schedule is already full! Make it more enjoyable and realistic by involving your buddies.
You and your buddies can give each other gifts when they accomplish the goals you set. The gifts don’t have to be expensive ones.
Set Goals That Exceed the Scale
Even if you do everything correctly, there will be moments when the scale refuses to budge, or the weight does not appear to be dropping as quickly as you had planned. Don’t let that deter you! Measure your development in different ways. Set exercise goals, such as running or swimming longer distances or keeping to a daily or weekly regimen, and celebrate each of these small victories.
Alternatively, set goals for healthy eating, such as packing your lunch for work every day or drinking 64 ounces of water per day, and celebrate when you reach them. Celebrating these new milestones is an excellent method to sustain your weight-loss motivation and stay motivated to persist with your program, even on days (or weeks) when the scale does not appear to reflect your success.
To Conclude
If you’re feeling particularly uninspired or down on your physique, you should turn your emphasis to self-appreciation. Rather than beating yourself up for not losing a pound this week, be grateful for how your body moves and all that it does for you (it got you through a week’s worth of workouts, right?).
Change your focus from how you look to how you function, creating thankfulness for your senses, limbs, and capacity to dance, walk, and run.