Published on December 1, 2020
In weight loss, as in reaching many other goals, the key is motivation. Those who are most motivated are those who succeed. And you need to keep your level of motivation high not just at the beginning of your weight loss program, when you have decided to lose weight, but also throughout the program.
Tip #1 Weight loss motivation is all about desire rather than willpower. How much do you want to lose weight? How much more do you want to lose weight than you want to eat fattening food and while your world gets smaller as you get larger? List all your reasons for wanting to lose weight, and for staying healthy and slim. Add more reasons to your list as you think of them.
Tip #2 Sustain motivation by making getting to your target weight believable. Visualize success. How will you look when you lose weight? How will you feel? What will you be wearing? How will your clothes look on you? What will people be saying to you? What will you be saying? What will you be doing? Spend 5 minutes a day imagining and enjoying your future success . . . a great way to pass the time while waiting in line at the bank or while commuting to work.
Tip #3 If you have a lot of weight to lose it can be hard to sustain your focus. If that is the case, plan some activities throughout the year that you would like to be slim for, for example—Valentine’s Day, your birthday, a weekend away, your annual vacation, Thanksgiving, etc.—your weight loss motivation dates! Plot out your goal weight for each event with a sensible rate of weight loss and use each milestone as a major target. Use the same strategy for weight maintenance by ensuring that you stay the same weight for each special date in your calendar.
Tip #4 Boost your weight loss motivation by promising yourself a treat when you reach your goals. Build in some non-food rewards for every little step you take as well as for major milestones. How about a spa day for each 5 lbs. lost? Or buy a book by your favorite author and allow time for yourself to read in peace. And each time you make a healthy choice rather than an available unhealthy choice (walking instead of taking the car, fresh fruit instead of cake) pat yourself on the back. Tell yourself that you’re doing great, because you are!
Tip #5 Take a picture of yourself in your swimsuit at the start of your program. Each month take another picture wearing the same thing. Feel your weight loss motivation soar as the swimsuit gets baggy while you shrink.
Tip #6 For extra weight loss motivation, keep a diary of your thoughts and feelings as you lose weight. At the start of the day quickly note down your intentions for the day, how you plan to eat healthily, what exercise you might plan to do, what strategies you need to adopt for particular events coming up that day. In the evening, review how your day went. Don’t berate yourself for any of the choices you made, see only what you learned from them. How did you feel after you made your choice? Was it still worth it? What would you do differently next time something similar comes up?
Tip #7 Listen to uplifting music. Put together a collection of all the music you love that makes you feel great about yourself and the world. Play your tracks whenever you need to feel good about your own strength to succeed in your weight loss efforts and the great slim future you have ahead of you.
Tip #8 Sometimes you need to get real about your fat and stop hiding behind excuses. Just decide for once and for all that you have had enough of being fat and you are going to do something about it. Take responsibility for your own choices. Look at what has made you fat and how you have let this happen to yourself. Is it easier to make excuses? No! It’s far, far harder to stay as you are, unhealthy and unhappy with your shape.
Tip #9 What makes the better weight loss motivation? — slopping around in old baggy clothes, berating yourself for how ugly you feel, or looking your best at whatever stage you’re at, wearing clothes which fit, and your hair and makeup done? You are a beautiful person. You’re just trying to match the outside to the beautiful you inside. Make the effort to look as good as you can while you lose weight to boost your morale. Always have at least two smart casual outfits that fit you perfectly rather than wearing too-tight clothes (you refused to buy a bigger size) or clothes you’ve long since got too small for (they make you look as baggy as they are).
Tip #10 Have a role model, someone you know who eats healthily and has an active life. Notice how that person acts around food, what they eat and how they eat. How do they fit exercise or tennis or golf within their lifestyle. You need to think like a slim person too.
Tip #11 Why not train for an event? Apply to run in a marathon planned for six months away. Plan a bicycle tour in Europe for next year’s summer vacation. Commit to a 10-mile cancer fund raising walk. Whichever you choose, let your goal of participating in these events drive you to success.
Tip #12 Lose weight for yourself. No one cares about your health and your looks more than you. Your family and friends may even fear that you will change too much from the you that they love. You may not get the encouragement you want. More than anything you need to do this because you love and value yourself. You matter. You really do!
Slimcerely yours℠,
