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When the goal is to be slimmer, knowing how to stay motivated for weight loss is useful information!
Summertime is almost here, and many of us are getting to work on our summer bodies. But whether you find yourself reading this during the summer, over the holidays, or when you’re deciding on your New Year’s resolutions, it’s just as likely that weight loss and fitness land somewhere on your list of goals.
Whether it’s for weight loss or simply to improve your overall health, dieting can often fail due to a lack of motivation or lack of focus. Here are 10 tips on how to stay motivated for weight loss even when the going gets tough!
- Don’t think of your new healthy eating plan as a diet. You are seeking a healthier lifestyle and paying closer attention to how you nourish your body. It is much more powerful for your mind if you see yourself as improving your lifestyle rather than simply going on a diet.
- Be careful about what you feed your body. Do research on what is good for you and what is not, and then read food labels carefully to be sure you’re making good choices.
- Don’t eat just because you’re trained to think it’s time to. How often do you actually feel hungry? Try eating only when you feel hungry and see how this affects the amount of food you eat each day.
- Find an exercise method that you enjoy. You will have to exercise if you want to be healthier, but doing forms of exercise that you don’t enjoy will make it easy to make excuses to quit. Find an exercise method that you can have fun with and can look forward to each day.
- Be specific with your goals. Don’t just decide to lose weight or to eat better. Instead, decide to lose 20 pounds or decide to stop eating processed foods. Make sure you have exact rules of engagement for your efforts. You will also need to weigh or measure yourself before you begin so that you have a clear starting point with which to measure your success.
- Once you know your specific goals, you will need to create a plan for reaching them. Set a schedule for your exercise and create a meal plan. This is often the easiest part of starting your journey, but don’t get caught up in the fun of planning and fail to follow through. Once you have your plan laid out, stick to it!
- Be kind to yourself. Don’t lose patience with you progress, and don’t lose faith if others are progressing differently. Your only competition is you.
- You know exactly what you are supposed to be doing, but do you know what you are actually doing? Keep a journal for a week or so and track everything that you eat and all of the exercise you do. At the end of a week, check your actual behaviors against your goals to ensure that you are following the plan.
- Don’t be taken in by fad diets. Your body needs a little bit of everything to survive, be it carbohydrates, fats, or proteins. Any regimen that asks you to completely exclude one of these groups can be very dangerous. Always talk to your doctor before changing your eating habits, in case you have any health conditions that may cause your body to react differently than others.
- Be willing to forgive yourself. You will almost certainly have days where you completely fail to follow the plan. Don’t beat yourself up over it. The most important thing is that you get back up and do better the next day.
- Bonus tip: Use the power of your mind to help you on your way. See yourself in your mind’s eye the way you know you can look and feel. See your body as making the best use of the fuel you give it and the exercise you do to maintain optimal health and fitness.
Go to Fit for Life for more discussion
Fitness can be a component of HAPPINESS. Find out more in my 30 Days to a Happier Life Challenge.
