How to Stay Motivated to Lose Weight

How to Stay Motivated to Lose Weight

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Because of the rate with which conditions change, the authors reserve the right to alter and update their opinions based on the new conditions. The report is for information purposes only. While every attempt has been made to verify the information provided in this report book, neither the authors nor his affiliates/partners assume any responsibility for errors, inaccuracies or omissions.

This information is not presented by a medical practitioner and is for educational and informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read.

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Introduction One of the hardest parts of losing weight is simply staying motivated along the way. Losing weight isn’t the easiest thing in the world. It takes energy, willpower, but most of all it takes time. There will be ups and downs (both in your attitude and your weight). It can be very hard to stay motivated and in the right frame of mind through all of that.

The thing is, motivation is one of the biggest factors in your success. If you don’t stay motivated you’ll find yourself falling more and more off track. This type of yo-yo in your diet motivation is bad. It’s going to make it harder for you to reach your goals, creates an unhealthy relationship with food, and can even lead to diet depression.

Just like you have to work on creating healthy habits surrounding what you eat and how often you exercise, you need to take time to work on your mindset and stay motivated. It could be the deciding factor in reaching your weight loss goal! Will you push through the hard parts to reach your goals or will you let yourself give up?

In this report I’m going to share some awesome methods to help boost your motivation and keep you excited about getting healthier and losing weight. You’re not meant to use all of them (though you can).

Read through the whole report and pick one or two to add to your schedule. Find which ones work for you. This is your journey. I’m just here to help.

Things to Consider When Choosing Your Methods of Motivation Not every motivational tool is going to work for you. Every person is unique. Now, it may be tempting to say that none of these are a good fit or that you don’t need or have time to focus on motivation. I encourage you to pick even one and stick with it for at least two weeks. If it’s not working, maybe it’s the wrong fit. Don’t be too quick to dismiss the power of motivation!

Motivation is the difference between sitting inside and watching TV because you’ve had a long day and it’s cold outside or putting on an extra layer and going out for a jog. It’s the difference between saying, “I’m not hungry so I’m going to stop eating,” and “I’m not hungry but I could eat a piece of pie anyways.”

It’s that little bit of extra something that helps you stick to your plans and reach your goals.

So, when choosing your method of motivation you need to think about you. What do you enjoy? What may actually be fun for you? You also need to think about time. Some methods are going to be more time consuming than others. Some may cost you more money than others.

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Don’t feel like any one is going to be more effective than another because of money or time. It’s all about how much of you that you put into your method.

If you choose journaling it’s all about really getting your feelings out there. If you choose a support group your success is going to depend on how well you can open up to other people. It’s all about you!

So, let’s get on to the methods I’ve chosen for this report. There are others out there and you can always mix and match or create your own. This is just a starting point.

Create a Dream Board Dream boards are a great visual reminder of your dreams and goals. This is a fun project if you like things like scrapbooking or crafts. Even if you don’t, it could be fun to give it a try!

The concept of a dream board is based on the Law of Attraction. Basically, by having a positive attitude and looking at the positive things you want out of life you’re creating that future for yourself. “Like attracts like.”

You’re going to create a visual representation of your dreams and place it somewhere where you can see it off and on throughout the day. You want to see it early in the day so you start out the day in the right mindset. You could also create smaller versions and place them in your office, workout area, and kitchen.

Before you actually create your dream board you want to take some time and really think about you goals. Don’t just think, “I want to lose weight.” Think deeper. Think about the reasons you want to lose weight. What do you want to do when you drop those pounds? “I want to lose weight and get strong enough to go hiking.” “I want to be able to run marathons.” “I want to be thin, healthy, and happy while spending time with my kids.” You want more than just losing weight, you want the perks that come with it!

Now, let’s focus on creating our first dream board. Here’s what you need: 

Big piece of poster board.

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Colored paper.

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Old magazines or access to a printer.

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Markers.

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Glue sticks.

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Any extra embellishments you want to add.

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Now it’s time to let your imagination run wild! Think about what’ll motivate you as time goes on. It may be pictures of thin and attractive people. Don’t limit yourself to that though! Include pictures of things you’re going to do along the way and once you reach your goals.

If yoga is a big part of your plan, you can include pictures of people doing yoga poses you’re hoping to do once you lose more weight. Maybe you want to go hiking at a famous location. How about some pictures from there to help keep you excited about the trip?

My dream board is filled with pictures of beaches I’d like to visit once I’m in better shape, yoga poses I dream of being able to do, women running and winning marathons, and a before picture from when I was younger and hadn’t gained all of this extra weight.

You can use the paper and markers to include notes of encouragement or quotes. They can be very powerful!

Make sure to have fun and really focus on what’ll inspire you, because that’s what this dream board is.

It’s about helping you stay motivated day in and day out.

Treat Yourself, But Do It the Right Way Rewarding yourself along the way is a great way to keep you motivated. The problem is too many people go about it all wrong.

There are two important factors when using treats or gifts as motivation: when and what.

You should reward yourself regularly along your journey. Even small accomplishments deserve rewards and the bigger achievements deserve bigger rewards.

When planning out your goals you should pre-plan milestones where you’ll reward yourself. You can even pick the prize ahead of time so you can be looking forward to it! Maybe the first time you make it to the gym 5 times in a row without canceling or postponing you’ll get yourself that new workout outfit you wanted. When you hit your first pounds lost milestone you could go out for a night of dancing with the girls.

I like to grab a piece of printer paper and make a big check list of my milestones and write in the rewards I’ve chosen for the bigger ones. I like to leave some prizes blank so I can pick something more in the spur of the moment, but that’s really up to you.

Taking time to pick these milestones will help you remember your goals and show you that you’re getting closer. It’ll help them feel much more obtainable. On top of that it’s easy to get excited when you think of claiming your hard earned rewards.

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I remember when I first started going for my walks every day I told myself that if I could go two weeks without missing a day I’d get a Fitbit, which I had been wanting for a while. It helped me get up off the couch and outside day after day and I was so excited when it finally came in the mail!

Now, on to what to reward yourself with.

So many people make a huge mistake here and reward themselves with a night out at their favorite restaurant, a special dessert, or a trip to a fast food restaurant. Don’t do that! NEVER reward yourself with food!

By calling food your “reward” you’re more likely to overindulge because you earned it. It also creates an unhealthy relationship with food in general. When you reward yourself with food it leads to you finding more comfort in food which leads to two things. You’re going to continue to reward yourself with fatty and calorie filled foods (possibly for smaller and smaller achievements), and you’re more likely to turn to food for comfort when things get though. Rewarding yourself with food is one of the big signs of a food addiction. Don’t do it! There is a famous quote that says, “Don’t reward yourself with food. You are not a dog.”

Here are a few great ideas for rewarding yourself without food: 1. Plan a fun (but active) day out with friends or family. Maybe go for a road trip to a new and pretty walking trail, go to an amusement park, or head to the beach for the day.

2. Get yourself a massage. It’ll feel great, be relaxing, and after you go once you’re going to work harder to earn a second one.

3. Try something new like rock climbing or scuba diving.

4. Take a trip to visit a friend you haven’t seen in a long time.

5. Buy something cute from Etsy that you’ve been wanting for a while.

6. Buy that new pair of shoes or shirt you’ve been looking at lately.

7. Do a home spa day with a homemade face mask, pedicure, and all of that.

8. Buy some new music from iTunes and set up an awesome workout mix.

9. Head out to the store or farmer’s market and treat yourself to a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

You don’t need to wait for someone else to buy them for you!

10. Go to a museum or art show. If you’ve never been to one before it can be a lot of fun, plus you’ll get in plenty of walking.

These are just some ideas to get you started. Pick something that gets you excited and go for it!

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Start a Personal Journal Journaling your way through this journey to better health can be great motivation and a way to deal with the struggles or negative feelings you encounter. With fitness journaling it’s usually a bit more than just writing what you’ve been thinking (though you do that as well).

You can buy fitness journals on Amazon or you can use a plain notebook. I really like buying fitness journals because they guide you through the process and help with accountability. If you use a notebook, plan ahead for what you’re going to include in your entry each week.

I’d suggest at least including these things: 

Date

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List of things you ate (maybe calories too)

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How much water you drank

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How well you slept the night before

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A list of your exercise and physical activity

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Do some free journaling talking about how you’ve been feeling, how your day went, and discuss any new plans or ideas you have moving forward.

Once a week set aside a page to list your weigh in results. You can do measurements here too if you’d like and talk about your overall feel about how the week went. Be sure to talk about mistakes you made or any time you fell off track and plan a solution to keep it from happening again.

The big thing with journaling is it keeps you aware of your emotions and progress. It also gives you a great look back at everything you accomplished once you start reaching your milestones!

Start an Online Blog or Facebook Page Both a blog and a Facebook page will accomplish the same thing, though depending on which you pick it’ll take different levels of effort and technical knowledge to maintain. You can even do both if you want.

The big part here is accountability. You can stay more motivated when you know other people are watching your progress and cheering you on.

It basically gives you a way to talk about anything related to your weight loss journey. It’s like a journal but other people can read and respond. Though it may seem a little nerve-wracking to start since you’re putting yourself out there.

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As you gain readers and fans you can build a community of people, like an online support group. You can do weekly weigh-ins, congratulate each other on accomplishments, and encourage each other through the difficulties. It can be a lot of fun, but don’t take it lightly. If you want this to be an effective motivator expect to take some time each day to sit down and blog or post on your Facebook page.

Join a Support Group This one is scary for most people but for me and a lot of people I know it was one of the most effective options. Being surrounded by people who know what you are going through and can help support you is such a huge help. You need a strong support network, especially if you’re trying to lose a large amount of weight.

You can find support groups through your doctor or local newspaper. You can also check out gyms in your area. Weight Watchers and Overeaters Anonymous are also fantastic options.

You get out what you put in when it comes to support groups. Be willing to open yourself up and talk about things. Get to know other members and cheer them on as they tackle their struggles.

Along with support you get a level of accountability. You want to come back and tell them how you’ve progressed (whether you’ve lost pounds, were more consistent with your workouts, or maybe slipped up and gained a pound or two), you start to look forward to going to talk to them.

For me I loved that I could be totally open and not feel ashamed like I may telling a friend or family member who has never struggled with weight issues. They’re all struggling. They know it’s not easy.

They’re not going to make you feel ashamed.

Conclusion It doesn’t matter which method of motivation you choose. What matters is that you take time each and every day to remind yourself why you’re pushing. Show yourself that it’s going to be worth it. Remind yourself that you’re making awesome things happen in your life!

I urge to you pick any one of these and give it a try to see if it works for you. There is nothing more powerful than a positive mindset when you’re trying to make big changes in your life!

Make it Simpler with these Tools. Follow this link: http://www.lifeity.com/reports/How-to-Stay-Motivated-to-Lose-Weight-Tools.pdf