Anybody who has ever been on any kind of diet, fitness or exercise program will testify that keeping your motivation to lose weight high, is one of the most difficult things to achieve. Everyday life is full of struggles, trials and tribulations that can grind down our resolve. It can be so easy after a bad day to lose sight of what your goal really is and succumb to food that you know is unhealthy for you, or to skip a training session or two.
With this in mind, here a list of our top 10 tips to use which will keep your motivation to lose weight high, and to ultimately help you reach your goal:
1: Think “eating healthily” instead of “on a diet”
The word “diet” comes with negative associations, feelings of loss or limited happiness. These associations can make us feel low and reduce any motivation to lose weight. Instead of thinking you are “on a diet”, train yourself to think that you are just eating balanced meals and living a healthier lifestyle.
2: Do it for the children!
Obesity in children is rising at an astonishing rate. A diet full of junk food, high in trans and saturated fat, salt and sugar are major factors in this statistic. This bad diet combined with a lack of exercise in our kids is leading them into a future full of illnesses like diabetes and heart disease. By eating healthily you will be changing the way they think about food, and exercising regularly will set them a good example.
3: Use the Social Network to get support.
Use Facebook, Twitter and google+ to update your progress and get support from your family and friends. Receiving positive messages from loved ones will go a long way to keep your motivation to lose weight high.
4: Keep to a schedule
Plan out your workout routines or gym sessions well in advance the same way you would do any other appointment. Keep these “appointments” in the same way that you would if you were visiting the doctor or dentist. This will enable you to gain more structure in your life and remain positive.
5: Baby steps.
It can be extremely difficult to change everything in your diet at once. Making small changes one at a time will make the transition into a more healthy lifestyle much easier. Maybe in week one you could reduce or stop having sugar in your coffee, week two switch from butter and vegetable oil to olive oil, week three cut down on chocolate or sweets. Changing your diet in this way will help diminish any food cravings.
6: Attach “anchors” to unhealthy food
The mind is a powerful thing. Think of it as the most powerful computer in the world that didn’t come with an instruction manual – you have to learn to use it in the right way. Changing how you perceive unhealthy food in your mind will be a huge step in your quest for a healthy lifestyle. Replacing thoughts of “I love takeaway food” with “takeaway food is so expensive, and I can prepare a meal just as good for a lot less money at home” is a great way to start.
7: Limit, don’t eliminate.
If you loved to eat chocolate, and I was to say “you can never eat chocolate again!” there is no doubt that would be a horrifying thing to hear. Instead, just reduce your consumption and eat chocolate on special occasions. Allow yourself to eat unhealthy food every now and again, or in smaller portions. This will diminish any thoughts of feeling deprived.
8: “Secret” it.
Close your eyes and create a mental picture of how you want to look and what your goal is, now imagine you have already done what you need to do to get there. Imagine how you would feel, think of how much easier it would be to move, imagine how much more energy and vibrancy you would have in your life and how much confidence it would give you. When you open your eyes, act! Go for a jog, prepare a healthy meal for the family or hit the gym. Studies have shown that creating mental pictures in this way leads to much more powerful and positive behaviour.
9: Once in a while, cheat!
Allowing yourself a “cheat day” every so often will reduce the chances of you quitting altogether. By giving yourself some lee-way, be it a meal, day or weekend of “naughtiness”, you are actively controlling when and how you do anything negative. Once your cheat day is over, go straight back to your healthy lifestyle.
10: Don’t just have one big goal, create a dozen mini-goals that will get you to it.
Let’s say for instance, that your main goal is to lose 30 pounds of fat in 3 months. To imagine losing 30 pounds in weight can seem like an almost Herculean task, but if you break your major goal down into smaller mini-goals, the task seems so much easier. You could for instance, have a target weight loss each week of 2-3 pounds, or a monthly target of 10 pounds lost. These mini-goals seem far simpler to achieve, but get you to your final goal just as quickly.
Whatever your goal may be, whether it to lose X amount of weight, build muscle or simply enjoy a healthier lifestyle, using these tips and tricks as motivation to lose weight will help to get there much easier. We recommend using them along with diet and fitness regimes such as the Fat Loss Factor for the quickest and most effective results.
