Wednesday, January 11, 2012

HOW TO STAY MOTIVATED : How To Keep your Weight Loss Motivation

You know that you need to lose weight, you make efforts and results start coming in, but after sometimes your progress somehow stalls and this is the time when frustration sets in. You curse yourself, get angry and than forgive yourself. Weight loss does not need to mean hitting a gym after work every day. Keeping your weight loss motivation is even more important than that salad you had at lunch. Here are a few ways to keep you running towards your end goals:


Know why you want to lose the weight

Sit down one night and write out all the reasons you want to embark on this weight loss journey. There is no right or wrong reason here. The key is to put some serious thought into this list.

Write that list down and keep it somewhere you can always go back to it. You can always add more reasons. Whenever you feel like you want to just quit, grab that list and read it. The reasons you have written down will remind you why you are working so hard.

  • “Because I like making an entrance when I look good, not because I can't fit through the door before bumping into a million people”
  • “Because my face looks thinner”
  • “I want to wear those fancy cloths, without bothering to check about the plus size section”.
  • “Because a healthy glow is sexier than caked on makeup and Thanksgiving hangover puff-face”.
  • “I want to be able to run the marathon”.

Set your goals
Time to write down some goals. These need to be realistic goals. Don’t shoot for the moon when you haven’t even developed the weight loss rocket. You want goals that are attainable along the way to keep that motivation zooming along.

Goals should come in the short, mid, and long-term ranges. Short-term goals can easily be mixed in with all the rest of your goals as well. Write these goals down and stick them with your list of reasons for weight loss. Every time you hit a goal, be happy and enjoy that milestone you just hit.So if you think sometimes that you are a big failure but you have a strong threshold for rejection, then you will end up always a big success with a big threshold for failure!

When thinking of your goals, remove all fears by:

  • Focusing on the good 
  • Focusing on the objective 
  • Focusing on the goal 
  • Focusing on the solution 
  • Focusing on your aim 
  • Focusing on your destination 
When you do, you'll see how quickly the fears disappear and you'll realize that you are retaining a high level of weight loss motivation. You can motivation to overcome the number two obstacle responsible for preventing discipline towards your weight loss goals: procrastination!


Partners are full of win
The best key for motivation is a partner. This partner can push you to your limits. They can call you on your laziness. They can even get you active when you might just stop for the day.

  • Join a gym with a fat friend. Lose some weight together. In some cases, you might even be able to get a membership discount or referral bonus if you join together. Turn gym time into social time. It’ll make workouts more fun and weight loss just a little bit less painfull. 
  • Engage in fitness related social activities. For example, you might organize a lunchtime basketball league. You might get your friends to go out bowling together (just watch out for the beer and pretzels). 
  • Avoid food related social activities. Let’s face it: when you’re fat, you can be fat with a group of people. When you diet, you diet alone. Instead of tempting yourself with that Friday buffet, consider opting out of activities with your friends that revolve around food. 
Find events you want to take part in
Weight loss does not have to mean regular trips to the gym. Exercising can be as simple as getting out and walking around your favorite park. Activities you enjoy will make it easier to get out and exercise.

This can be taken even further though. Maybe one of your goals should be running some sort of marathon. You may want to ride your bike in the local bicycle race. This all comes down to choosing some event that you will enjoy. Once you have the event picked out, it becomes easier to train for that event than to think of it as daily exercising.

Do a little something every day
Don’t take exercise for granted. Even the slightest bit of exercise can keep you motivated to stay the course. This can be as simple as waking up, doing ten pushups and then starting your day out.

The reason this keeps you motivated is you think of that bit of exercise you did. It stays on your mind that you walked half a block across the parking lot. This in turn helps keep you from shying away from your weight loss diet plans. The end result may not be a full workout, but the peace of mind in know you still put forth an effort for the day.

Staying motivated in your weight loss goals can be difficult at times. Set your sights on the healthy end results, find some fun things to do, and watch as it becomes more about the enjoyment. This whole process can be very fun.

Tips and WarningsChoose healthy foods and activities that you enjoy. There are many options and there is no need to force yourself to eat or do something you truly don't like. Be patient with yourself. The lack of weight loss one week does not mean that you aren't benefiting from your efforts. Changes in health and fitness can't always be seen immediately, but you can be assured that your efforts are paying off even if it takes a little while to become evident.



credit:*http://www.weightloss.org/