Staying Motivated After Weight Loss

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While you’re actively losing weight, it’s exciting to see the numbers on the scale drop and to see or hear other people’s reactions as you get smaller. With time, however, the slimmer you is no longer the “new” you. The compliments taper off and some people in your life don’t even know you were once heavy!

So, how do you stay motivated?

😢 Recall the pain of being heavy and never forget why you lost weight.

😮 Look at “before” photos.

Recalling emotional and/or physical pain, rejection, isolation, and any other feelings that looking back evokes is NOT the same as dwelling on past failures. Not at all. Rather, recalling the pain of being heavy is an effort to keep yourself from becoming complacent and going back to old habits.

Losing weight permanently is one of the greatest accomplishments of a person’s life. Acknowledge that accomplishment. Recall what you went through to get to where you are in the present and how much more you enjoy life:

✅ There are so many more fun things for you to do than eat.

✅ You feel physically fit.

✅ You’re wearing bathing suits again.

✅ You buy clothes that you like and not those that hide you.

✅ You love fitting into airplane seats and bathrooms.

✅ You can tuck your shirts into your pants.

✅ You can zip up your jeans and see a flat tummy.

✅ You’ve become healthy; you’re off prescription drugs.

✅ You’re more active and engaged with your children.

Let those accomplishments be the foundation to specific strategies that keep you eating (and exercising) the way you do to stay slim for life.

Like the recovering alcoholic or drug abuser who never wants to go back to that life, successful long-term weight “losers” hated the fat life and never want to go back.

Bottom line: Live in the future but don’t completely forget your past.