Motivation is that frame of mind that takes you from wishing something would happen to making it real. You have a goal – lose the weight. You can pick or add your reasons:
* It’s almost swimsuit season
* That guy in HR is going to notice
* You really need to get around to it
* The doctor said so
* You only fit into half your wardrobe
Lack of knowledge can’t hold you back. There’s a healthy eating and exercise guru on every corner and channel to tell you how to do that. You’ve got the goal, the reason and the know-how. So, how is it that you’re still dragging your feet like a puppy on it’s first leash?
Expecting More from Eating Less
If you expect more from a weight loss plan than your own satisfaction, then budging your bulge might be tougher. Intrinsic or inner motivation is powerful because it means you want to lose the weight for you, with no outside pressure, a desire from within rather than without.
Losing weight for outer or extrinsic reasons involves rewards beyond shedding the weight. Approval from your doctor, a potential date with the guy in HR and double-takes at the beach become as much a part of the reason you want to lose weight as the goal.
Both types of motivation work, sometimes together, but it’s better to be honest with yourself about the true outcome you expect.
Negative Desire
Replacing your enjoyment of eating hot fudge sundaes with chocolate ice cream and extra sprinkles with a sweaty, low-cal workout plan seems like trading bliss for hunger, and maybe even pain. Ice cream – good. Starving on purpose and muscle aches – not good.
Many people who want to lose weight do so under duress. It’s something they feel they must do to be a better person (or at least a thinner one), but they really wish deep inside that they wouldn’t have to give up anything to make it happen. That’s why you hear so many dieters ask “How do I lose 10 pounds fast?” They don’t want the pain of change to last very long.
Losing weight becomes a have-to negative, a promise made because “it’s good for you”, but so many times that’s just not enough to keep a weight loss program going. Just visit any gym right after New Year’s Day.
American Fitness Magazine’s editor, Meg Jordan, says gyms know that up to 30 percent of January gym joiners will be long gone by the time spring rolls around. Fifty percent leave by summer. Weight loss is hard work and losing weight just because you ought to probably won’t keep you motivated enough to finish what you started.
Disappointed Overachievers
Losing weight isn’t all about getting motivated to diet and exercise. It’s also about staying motivated and understanding that results are not instant or always pleasant to achieve. Putting 10 pounds of extra weight on your body took longer than a month and it’s going to take time to get rid of it.
There’s a higher chance that dieters will fail in new eating and workout programs if they run before they walk, sometimes literally. The zeal a dieter takes into a weight loss program has to be tempered with a reality check. Running to a gym and working out for three hours on the first day is only going to produce very sore muscles and a promise to never go back.
Likewise, eating only shredded lettuce and carrots in order to starve weight off is more likely to collapse a diet plan than making slow or moderate dietary changes.
For those dieters who see losing weight as a gotta-do idea, getting injured or self-starvation can be a self-fulfilling failure prophecy, the most soothing excuse for not continuing to lose weight.
Weight Loss Motivation Tips
Clear the Calendar
Let nothing come between you and your goal. Everyone can claim a busy schedule. Commit the time and energy it will take to get the weight loss you want.
Rally the Troops
It’s true that outside help can make a difference. If going ahead with a weight loss program seems intimidating alone, share the experience with a friend who has the same goal in mind.
Let it Be Known
Keeping your weight loss wish to yourself makes your promise easier to break. Tell other people out loud that you plan to start eating well and exercising to gain support and keep you going.
Pick the Day
Don’t be so hasty in your decision. A spontaneous new diet or workout routine doesn’t have as good a chance of success as a preplanned, conscious effort. Circle your start date, gear up and savor the anticipation.
Under-Do
A small step in the right direction is still a positive. Any immediate huge diet or exercise changes can cause a big backlash that can make it easy to give up. They aren’t called “crash” diets for nothing.
Stay on It
Some weeks it will seem like you punished your body for no good reason. You may get bored, hit the wall, plateau on the weight and miss chocolate, dammit. Remember, pounds don’t drop consistently. Some weeks will be golden, others static, but expecting more than two or three pounds of weight loss per week is not real.
Focus Positively
Weight loss is more difficult when you focus on the effort. Look beyond the day-to-day sacrifices you’re making and keep your eyes on the prize. If you’ve lost two pounds, that’s two pounds already off the wish list. Congratulate yourself for the job you’ve already done and encourage yourself to go forward.
Maintain the Motivation
As you begin to see and feel the results of your hard work, motivation will increase. When your reach that weight loss goal, keep it. You worked hard to get where you are and there’s no reason to go back.
About the author: Daniel T Anderson, a writer at the essay help service. He keeps up with advancing technologies so as to get acquainted with latest technological tendencies. Besides, Daniel is keen on reading modern literature and traveling.
