It can be hard to get or maintain the motivation for dieting – IF we lose sight of our true reasons for doing it. In this article I’d like to share 2 tips that can increase your motivation to stick to your diet and achieve the healthy body and lifestyle you truly desire.

Refusing To Settle For Less Than The Best In Your Life

One way to achieve true motivation for dieting is to go at it from the perspective of refusing to settle for anything less than the best for yourself in your life. This is about deciding that you deserve the best – you deserve a fantastic body, excellent health, high levels of energy – and you’ll settle for nothing less.

Most people settle for less in their life; they don’t make their health a priority, and so they suffer both in their health and with weight problems. By deciding to go on a healthy diet, you are refusing to settle for this in your life. It doesn’t matter if until now you’ve not made health a priority in your life. The moment you make the change – the moment you decide that you deserve nothing but the best in your life, which includes having excellent levels of health and energy – and the moment you act on that, from that moment on you are no longer someone who is willing to settle for less than you deserve in your life.

Dieting is about far more than simply losing weight – it’s a statement of who you are and what you are prepared to accept in your life. Chose to diet because you deserve the best in your life, and because you refuse to settle for anything less.

Thinking Long Term: Chose Diets That Work For You

If you take the above perspective – that the purpose of going on a diet is to enjoy the best for yourself in life in terms of health, physical appearance, and so on – then it’s also important to take a long term perspective on your diet.

Most people go on a diet simply to lose weight, and often choose highly restrictive diets that they find difficult and don’t like very much, because they want to lose weight as quickly as possible. The problem with this approach is that it isn’t sustainable. You may lose weight, but a highly restrictive diet isn’t something you can maintain long term – so inevitably you’ll gain weight again as soon as you come off of it.

The perspective that works – and that will motivate you and allow you to sustain both your ideal weight, is to find diets that work for you and fit your lifestyle. What this means is that you think long term, and select a diet that you think you could sustain as part of your lifestyle. The question to ask yourself is “could I stick to this diet for the next 5 years or more?”

Refusing to settle for less than the best in your life is about putting your health first – as opposed to simply wanting to lose weight. By choosing diets that are sustainable and that you believe you can maintain as a part of your lifestyle, you’ll find it easier to maintain your motivation because its FAR easier to stick to a diet when you actually enjoy it. What this means is taking some time to research various diets, and finding one that best fits your personality and lifestyle preferences.

This doesn’t mean you have to stick to one diet for your whole life – you’ll want to continually improve it as you find more of what suits you best in your life, and you may end up trying several diets until you find the diet (or combination of diets) that works best for you. It’s a worthwhile process however because it will make the process of losing weight, keeping it off, and living a healthy long term lifestyle a smoother and more enjoyable process, as opposed to a restrictive battle of grit and willpower which is unlikely to last long term.

Refuse to settle for less than you deserve in your life, and find diets that work best for you. Doing these two things can help you sustain you long term motivation for dieting, and achieve the lasting weight loss success you truly deserve.

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Introduction: Your WHY Is Far More Important Than How

When it comes to losing weight and staying motivated to do it, your WHY is far more important than the how. If you have a strong enough why, you’ll find the how.

When asked why they are going on a diet, most people say “because I want to lose weight”. However, what most people don’t realize is that it’s very difficult to maintain your dieting motivation if you’re trying to do it for physical reasons alone – it needs to mean more than this.

Losing weight and getting thin and healthy will impact every area of your life. The key to staying motivated is to realize this and to focus on it. The more reasons you can identify and give yourself for losing weight, the bigger your “why” will be and the stronger the motivation you’ll have for losing weight, getting thin and staying that way.

What follows are 10 motivations that are common in people who are able to stay motivated to lose weight and get thin permanently. See which ones you can use yourself to focus on to create and maintain your motivation to lose weight.

1.     The Success Of Others

2.     The Desire To Be The Best You Can Be

3.     Recognition

4.     Health

5.     Increased Energy

6.     Family

7.     Competition

8.     Building Confidence and Self-Esteem

9.     Sex And Relationships

10.     Embarrassment

Motivation is THE MOST important part of losing weight – without it no matter how great your diet or exercise equipment is you’re likely to fail because unless you’re able to stay motivated, you’ll end up giving up. Therefore it’s critically important to find things that motivate you. The above are 10 common motivating factors that drive many people to lose weight, that go beyond wanting to lose weight for purely physical reasons alone. Use the ones which apply most to you, and give yourself as many reasons for losing weight as you can. The more reasons you have that you feel are directly relevant and meaningful to you, the stronger your why will be and the easier it will be for you to stay motivated to successfully lose weight

For more reasons to lose weight and to get the latest tips and techniques to ensure you stay motivated to lose weight, subscribe to our free newsletter below.

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It’s hard when you don’t know what to do when you’ve lost motivation to lose weight, but you CAN turn things around by understanding why you’re not motivated. In this article I’ll show you one of the primary reasons why people lose their motivation, and show you what you can do to make sure this issue no longer causes you to lose your motivation to lose weight from now on.

The Importance Of Values, And How They Run Your Life

What we do every day is determined by our values, or in other words, by the prioirties we place on specific things in our lives. The key to high levels of lasting motivation to lose weight is to make health one of the highest priorities in our lives. By placing a high value of your health, you will naturally feel motivated to lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle because we AUTOMATICALLY move towards things that we place a high value on. Therefore, if you don’t feel motivated to lose weight (or if you’ve lost your motivation) it may well be because your health isn’t a high enough value in your life. If this is the case, you can increase your motivation and prevent yourself from losing it again by increasing the value you place on health and making it a high priority in your life (I’ll show you how to do that in a moment).

The way to know whether you’re placing a high enough value on health is to look at what you do on a daily basis, because our daily activities are a reflection of our value system – we act based on the things we prioritize and place the highest value upon in our lives’.

Weight loss is achieved by placing a high value on the lifestyle behaviours of: weight loss, eating healthy foods, and exercise. If your value rating is high for these lifestyle behaviours, then they should be reflected in your daily life. In other words, if you currently place a high value on weight loss, eating healthy foods, and exercise (the things you need to do to lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle) then this should be reflected in what you do on a daily basis. If these lifestyle behaviours are not reflected in what your daily actions, then it is highly likely that the reason why you don’t have any motivation to lose weight is that health and weight loss isn’t something that you’re currently placing enough value on in your life. If this is the case then what you need to do therefore is learn how to increase the value you place on health and weight loss.

How To Increase The Value Of Weight Loss And Health In Your Life

Increasing the value you place on weight loss and health you will automatically increase your motivation to take the actions (eating healthy foods, exercising) that you need to take in order to lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle on a day to day basis.

The way to do this is to first ask yourself the following questions and exercises:

1.     Where do your weight loss and exercise goals fit into your list of life priorities?

We all have many priorities in our lives – for example, our work, friendships, relationships, family, children, leisure, and so on. The specific things that you place a high value on (or not) however are specific and unique to you. The first step here is to become aware of what your highest priorities are, because we’re often so busy living life that we’re not necessarily consciously aware of our priorities. To do this:

• List out all the priorities in your life that you can think of
• Arrange this list in order of priority – with your highest priority at the top, then next highest priority second, and so on. Look to your daily actions as you do this. Don’t write what you think “should” be your highest priorities, order your list based on what your current priorities actually are – based on what your current daily actions tell you about your priorities.
• When you’re done, see where your weight loss and exercise goals fit into your list of life priorities.

2.     Is the ranking high enough that you act on it?

As you look at your list of priorities, take a few moments and assess whether your health and weight loss goals are high enough on the list to be causing you to consistently act on them on a daily basis.

3.     Are your lifestyle goals overshadowing more important priorities?

Often we allow things that are of less long term importance to us to overshadow the things that are truly important in our lives. As you consider your current situation you may find that there are lifestyle activities (watching too much TV, going out often, etc.) in your life that are taking priority over and overshadowing more important areas of your life, such as your health? Consider your current situation and determine whether or not this is true for you.

4.     Would your priorities change if you began to suffer adverse health consequences?

Many of us make the potentially fatal mistake of neglecting our health because we neglect to see the consequences that our negative actions can and are having on our lives. For some people, it takes a major wakeup call like a cancer scare before they make health a high priority in their lives. Considering how your priorities might change if you were faced with adverse health consequences can act as a self “wake up” call, and help you realize what’s actually most important to you in your life deep down.

5.     What would it take to commit to making health a priority in your life?

The final question to consider is what it would take for you to make health a priority in your life? Are you willing to risk a major – perhaps fatal – health scare in the near, medium or longer future before making health a priority? Or is this something that you’re no longer willing to risk? If so, the decision to commit to making health a priority in your life is all it takes.

Lets now look at how you can shift your value system and make health a priority in your life.

Shifting Your Value System

The above questions and exercises will have revealed the current value system that you have that has been determining your day to day actions. Until now you may not have even been consciously aware of it. The beauty now, however, is that once you are aware of your value system you can consciously change it if you feel that there are aspects of it that are having a negative impact on your life and that aren’t supporting you in having the things that you truly want for yourself. The problem is that most people’s value systems are largely controlled by other people or by the events and circumstances of their lives – as opposed to consciously identifying the things that they value and that are most important to them, and living their lives based on those values and priorities. Most people don’t consciously choose their values, largely because they aren’t aware of or don’t realize how much of a powerful impact their value system is having on their life.

Now that you are aware of your current values and priorities, the beauty is that you can consciously shift your values if you feel that your current value system isn’t serving you. If until now health hasn’t been a high enough value for you, you can re-order the list of priorities that you identified for your life and place health at a higher up position on your list. You can of course do this for other important areas (such as family) if you feel that there are other areas in your life that until now you’d been neglecting.

The key once you’ve clarified the true priorities and re-defined your values is to then ACT based on those new values day to day. If you’ve made health a high priority in your life and placed it towards the tops of your values then you will find that you automatically feel motivated to lose weight, eat healthy foods, and exercise on a day to day basis. Bear in mind however that shifting away from the old patterns of behaviour that were part of your previous value system will take effort to begin with, as it take time to build up new habits of behaviour. The key is to keep acting in a way that is consistent with your new values – doing so will strengthen and reinforce them, and move you away from the old behaviours that no longer serve you. To further motivate and aid yourself as you make this transition you can remind yourself WHY health is now a high priority in your life by making use of visualization techniques and visualise the future consequences you will experience if you continue to neglect your health, as well as visualizing the positive benefits you will experience now and in the future as a result of continuing to take actions that are reflective of the high value that you now place and your health and general physical fitness and well being.

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I just came across this video that I thought I’d share – it’s great for whenever you feel down or like things are getting on top of you, and you feel like giving up. Give it a watch….

One of the keys to maintaining your motivation to lose weight is to surround yourself with all types of things that motivate you. Having videos to watch like the one above is a great tool to use whenever you feel in need of a boost – because no matter who you are we all have days when we feel down or off. Add watching it to the list of things you can do whenever you’re not feeling motivated – or feel like giving up, and you’ll strengthen your confidence as a result of knowing that you have lots of resources (like the video) to draw upon whenever you need it.

I’ll be posting more videos like the one above in the near future – subscribe below if you’d like to be notified (and to receive all our other motivational tips, tools and updates!).

All the best.

In this article I’d like to talk about how to use your focus to supercharge your exercise and fitness motivation. Your level of motivation to do anything is largely a result of what you are focusing on in any moment. Therefore it’s important to control your focus and to use it in a way that increases your motivation to exercise and get fit.

We can only focus on a limited amount of things at any one time When we focus on things that we perceive to be painful, our motivation levels drop. Focusing on positive things increases motivation as it has the effect of “blocking out” everything else.

Here are some things you can focus on to increase your exercise and fitness motivation

1. Getting fit by exercising makes you feel great, decreases stress, and increases your general levels of happiness

Exercise realeases endorphins into the body which have the effect of making you feel great. It also releases built up tension in the body. The join effect of this is higher levels of both health and happiness in your life generally. While working out – or before doing a workout, it can be tempting to think of how “difficult” exercise is, which will decrease your motivation. Instead, think of and focus on the positive effects that exercise will give you both during and after your workout.

2. Being Fit And Healthy Increases Your Energy And Productivity In Every Area Of Your Life

Increasing your fitness levels impacts every area of your life. When you’re fit and healthy, you have higher

levels of energy at work. You’ll get more done which is likely to make you more successful and effective – both in work and in your personal life. Therefore focus on all the benefits you’ll get in every area of your life by exercising and getting fit. As a result of focusing your mind in such a way, you’ll see how exercise and fitness fits into the bigger picture of your overall life and feel more motivated.

Directing your focus onto the benefits you will get in your life as a result of exercising and getting fit is the key here to increasing your levels of exercise and fitness motivation. The above are three examples – ther are many other ways you can direct the focus of your mind in a way that increases your motivation. The main point here is to remember to control your mental focus. Use your focus consistently in a way that increases your motivation, and your levels of motivation will continually grow.

For more tips on how to increase your exercise and fitness motivation sign up for our motivation tips newsletter below:

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Reading inspirational weight loss success stories like the 3 stories in this article is a powerful way to motivate yourself and strengthen your own self-belief. This is because reading about people who were in the same situation as you (or WORSE) and yet who managed to successfully lose weight helps you realize “if someone else can do it, so can I”. This is a powerful way to maintain your motivation to lose weight.

Often we fall into the trap of thinking that we’re the only one faced with the challenge of being overweight. Reading about other people who faced similar challenges who succeeded reminds us that we are not alone and that if anyone else has ever been in our situation and yet succeeded, then we are capable of doing the same.

What follows are 3 real life weight loss stories to use to inspire and motivate you.

Inspirational Story 1: Donna Lennart

Donna Lennart lost 83 pounds, going from 245 lbs to 162 lbs – and she has kept it off for the past 5 years. Donna stopped being active and became “addicted to food” after graduating from school and went from a reasonably petite girl of 175 lbs to overweight and 245 lbs. The turning point? Reading an article on BMI which told her that being obese can shorten life expectancy by 5 to 10 years, and seeing her son picking up her bad eating habits. Donna used the weight watchers method to lose weight and keep it off for 5 years since, and appeared on the cover of Good Housekeeping for a “half her size!” story. (more on donna at http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/success/lose-weight-inspiration-stories)

Inspirational Story 2: Joanne Abbot

Joanne Abbot went from a size 16 to a size 6 in less than 12 months. Her transformation was driven the realization at age 40 of the life threatening danger she was in if she continued to live in such an unhealthy way. Realizing that it would just be a matter of time before she would be taking daily doses of high blood pressure medication, cholesterol medication, and perhaps even diabetes medication if she didn’t change, Joanne made the decision to make her health her number one priority – and set a new year’s resolution in 2007 to reach a size 6 dress size by the end of the year, starting from size 16. She made this happen by joining gym contests, controlling her eating habits and reducing portion sizes, and by becoming a running and regularly participating in 5k races. Joanne achieved her new year’s resolution goal, and having done so has remained committed to never going back to the person she was before (more on Joanne at http://www.runwalkjog.com/weightlossstory/weightlosssuccessstory23.htm).

Inspirational Story 3: Kris Bierek

Kris lost 50 pounds in 6 months, going from 230 lbs to 180 lbs (overweight, to the perfect weight for his height) – and has kept it off for the past 10 years. The catalyst for Kris’ change was being told that he was failing to fulfill his potential in his high school football team due to being so overweight. Kris transformed his body by dropping junk foods (sweets, chips etc.) and adhering to a strict nutritional regimen, as well as hitting the gym and conditioning his body through focused cardio and weight training. Within 6 months, Kris lost his target 50 pounds. Not only has Kris kept that weight off and remained in prime physical condition  for 10 years, he also went on to set up ShapeFit, LLC (ShapeFit.com) – where he helps others make the same transformative changes as he did. (more on Kris at http://www.shapefit.com/success-stories-weight-loss-kris.html).

These are just three of the countless stories of people all over the world who have managed to achieve dramatic and lasting weight loss changes in their lives. Use stories like these to motivate and inspire you, because NONE of these people had anything that you don’t have. If anyone else on the planet has been faced with the situation you may be faced with and managed to turn things around, SO CAN YOU. Anything anyone else has been able to do, you are capable of doing too. Use stories like the ones above to remind yourself of this fact and motivate yourself anytime you find yourself doubting your ability to successfully lose weight.

For more inspirational weight loss stories and other resources to help maintain your motivation to lose weight, please subscribe below for the latest FREE updates:

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The reason most people fail with weight loss is they don’t know how to keep motivated to lose weight. The following techniques will help you avoid this.

Clarity Of Vision

Most people who don’t know how to stay motivated to lose weight don’t understand the critical importance of clarity. The clearer you are on exactly what it is that you want to achieve, and the more you focus on it, the more motivated you will become. This is because motivation is maintained by continually taking actions that move you towards something you want. Therefore in order to go about getting motivated to lose weight and keeping it that way you need a clearly defined objective to move towards. You can’t hit a target you can’t see. One of the first steps therefore is to decribe exactly what it is you want in regards to losing weight. What is you target weight? What will your body look like? What will you be doing on a day to day basis? How we you feel?

In the past I’d try to lose weight without clearly defining what exactly it was that I was trying to achieve, and I’d always go as a result of not really knowing what my outcome was. It was only when I took the time to really think and get clear on what I ultimately wanted that I was able to maintain my motivation to lose weight and keep taking action, because it gave me a laser like focus on what my outcome was. So take the time to create a clear vision of what you want to move towards, and then focusing on it and the actions you need to take is a critical part in keeping yourself motivated to lose weight.

Setting Incremental Goals

The more ambitious your above vision, is the more inspiring and motivating it will be. Few of us truly want to be average or mediocre – the ideal is to become fit, healthy, thin and energetic; we want to feel that we are the best we can be. However, if you are currently out of shape and overweight, and your ultimate target is to become thin, fit and athletic, this can seem like an overwhelming target – and a mistake I made in the past and that I see many other people make is setting unrealistic and over-ambitious goals in the start that are virtually impossible for them to achieve. Instead, start off with small and easy to achieve goals and build from there. For example, starting with the goal of eating one healthy meal and achieving it will strengthen your self-belief and increase your confidence – as opposed to trying to cut all unhealthy foods instantly and exercise 5 times a week. People that are able keep motivated to lose weight can do so because achieving small, realistic and believable goals – and building on them over time – continually strengthens and reinforces their motivation and self belief, and moves them towards what they ultimately want over the long term. It’s far easier to keep motivated when you actually believe you can do something, so start off with small goals that you can build upon over time.

Having Strong Reasons Beyond Just “Losing Weight”

Most people’s motivation for starting a diet or exercising is “losing weight”. In other words, most people start a diet or start exercising because they want to “lose weight”. However, what most people don’t realize is that dieting or exercising for the purpose of losing weight alone will NOT be enough to keep you motivated in the long term. This is because “losing weight” is an external motivation – it’s a purely physical objective that is measured either by the scale, or by the mirror, and so on. However, what I’ve learned from studying motivation – and from personal experience – is that external motivation alone is rarely enough to keep us motivated (if ever). It’s MEANING that truly motivates us. Losing weight because it will give you more energy to succeed at work, or to be a better parent, or because it will increase your self esteem and make you a stronger person – these are internal motivations that give losing weight meaning and go beyond the purely physical motivation of “losing weight”. “Losing weight” alone isn’t motivating in the long run because it doesn’t really mean anything – it’s simply a result. It’s what doing this means to you that counts. The key therefore is to find powerful reasons for losing weight that give it meaning for you in your life and create an emotional response in you. Think about how losing weight relates to your work, the quality of your life, your family, your happiness and self esteem, your partner and every other area of your life that is important to you. Meaning creates a sense of purpose – and purpose is what will keep you motivated.

Have Others Keep You Motivated To Lose Weight

One of the major mistakes we often make in life is trying to “go it alone” when attempting to accomplish something. This makes it very difficult to succeed, because no matter who you are we all have times when it’s tough to keep going. Being around other people who share your goals is therefore another crucial part of keeping motivated. Get around people who are committed to losing weight – or who have already lose weight and are committed to living a healthy lifestyle. Having other people around you will help you stay motivated, and you’ll be doing the same for them. Hiring a personal trainer is also a powerful way to ensure you stay motivated because it will give you someone to be accountable to.

Don’t try and go it completely alone. In addition to having clarity of vision, setting incremental goals, and having a strong sense of meaning and purpose, make use of the leverage other people can give you to keep motivated to lose weight. Keeping motivated is something you will need to work on – and there are many other strategies in addition to what I’ve share in this article. However, following these tips consistently will help you stay motivated and avoid the major reasons that cause most people to fail when trying to lose weight.

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It can be hard to find your motivation to lose weight – especially when you’re at the stage where you’ve got it all to do and you haven’t started yet, or when you’ve got off track and you’re going through a difficult period – and you’re struggling to stick to your path.

This article has been written to help you point your focus onto personal and wider reasons losing weight, and as a result help you find your motivation to lose weight. Take what connects with you personally in your situation and use it to motivate you to take and keep taking the actions that will result in your success.

Personal Reasons: Focusing On The Benefits Of Losing Weight

First, here are some personal benefits that can act as motivating reasons for you to lose weight:

You’ll Look Fantastic

When you lose weight you’ll look fantastic and as a result feel far more confident about yourself and around other people. You’ll no longer feel self-conscious or unhappy with your appearance, and you’ll feel a sense of pride in yourself and about your body

You’ll Feel Happier And Have High Levels Of Self Esteem

Losing weight will result in you gaining high levels of self esteem – not just from looking great, but from the sense of personal strength and accomplishment that will come from overcoming what may have been a major challenge for you in your life (until now!). As a result of deciding that you are no longer willing to settle for less in your life – deciding to lose weight and achieve the body you truly desire, and then making it happen, will give you a powerful inner strength that will make you feel fantastic about yourself and help you to succeed more in other important areas of your life.

You’ll Be More Productive And Energetic

At your ideal weight you’ll feel lighter, and this combined with the increased energy levels that you’ll gain from exercising and habitually eating healthy foods with make you more productive and vivrant in your life. You’ll be able to get more done – at work and in your personal life. As a result of this increased energy and productivity you’ll have more chance of being successful at work – which may well lead to pay rises or more attractive offers of work elsewhere. And in your personal life you’ll have more fun and excitement, because the increased energy will mean you’ll be able to do more on the weekends – whereas before you may have stayed in as a result of tiredness and exhaustion. You’ll open yourself up to more success and increased fun, excitement and variety in your day to day, week to week, and overall life as a result of successfully losing weight.

Bigger Reasons: Focusing On Reasons Beyond Yourself

The above are three powerful examples of the personal befits of losing weight and the reasons for doing it, which when you focus on them can act as powerful motivators. In addition to this, another powerful way to find motivation to lose weight is to focus on the reasons that go beyond yourself:

Being There And Being Able To Give The Most To Give To Your Family, Friends, Loved Ones

If you are a parent, your children can be a particularly powerful “reason beyond yourself” for losing weight. By feeling happier and having higher levels of self esteem, you’ll be a happier and better parent. With higher levels of energy, you’ll also be able to give more to them by having more energy to play with them and take them out on activities. As a result, both they and you will have more fun and happiness as a result of your successful weight loss. If you are not a parent, losing weight will also allow you to be there, feel happier, and give more to your partner or husband / wife, your family, and your friends in similar kinds of ways.

In addition to these things, we are more at risk of getting potentially fatal diseases like cancer and heart disease when we are overweight – so by losing weight you’ll also lower your risk and increase your long term chances of continuing to be here in the world for family, friends, children and all the other people that need, love and care about you in your life.

Making A Difference – Being An Inspiration, Role Model And Positive Example To Others

Often we don’t do the things we truly want to do because either we don’t believe we can, or because we fear failing. By successfully losing weight you’ll become an inspiration and role model to others; you’ll be an example of possibility and of success. By reaching your ideal weight and living a healthy, fit lifestyle you’ll be a demonstration to others of what they are capable of doing themselves. Therefore you’ll make a difference in the lives of others by helping to inspire them to improve their lives by losing successfully losing weight and living a happier, healthier lifestyle.

Achieving lasting motivation to lose weight is largely a result of identifying the benefits and reasons for losing weight – like the ones above – that move you and that are meaningful to you, and focusing on them on a regular basis so that they act as a driving force behind your actions. Find your motivation to lose weight by identifying the benefits and reasons for losing weight that move you on a personal and on a wider level, and then make a habit of using them continually to motivate yourself to achieve the weight loss success you truly desire.

Here at Motivation To Lose Weight we’re committed to helping you achieve lasting motivation to lose weight – the type of inner motivation that comes from the inside and that doesn’t go away.

Sometime’s however we need motivation from the outside – we need to read or hear things that pick us up and keep us on track. This article is designed to do just that – it’s for anyone that feels they’ve lost their motivation and need something to help them get it back. I’ll be helping you do exactly that by reminding you of some truths about yourself and about weight loss.

You Are Absolutely Capable Of Losing Weight

I would usually feel in need of motivation when I was down on myself and lost my self-belief. If you’ve tried to lose weight before and for whatever reason you failed, it can be hard to keep that out of your mind. You can doubt yourself and feel scared that you’ll fail again. As a result of this – past failures and worrying about failing again, it’s hard to feel motivated to take action.

This changed for me when I realized three things: First, that the past does not equal the future; second, that if other people can do it – so can I; and three, that there’s always a way if you’re committed.

1. The Past Does Not Equal The Future

You CAN lose weight, get thin and stay that way. Instead of focusing on past failures, learn from them – you needed those experiences to teach you things that will help you succeed this time. Take the positive lessons you can form the past and then let it go, and instead focus on what you do want and EXPECT yourself to succeed this time, because this time you know better.

I used to continually doubt myself because I’d always think about how things went wrong in the past. As a result, I’d keep failing – which kept reinforcing my doubts and my lack of self confidence and belief. Once I truly realized that the past does not equal the future, I was able to make a “fresh start”. I focused on what my outcomes were – what I wanted as opposed to what I didn’t want, and I started to achieve the goals that I’d been setting myself. As a result, this strengthened my self confidence and belief, which in turn lead me to succeed more. Ultimately, as a result of focusing on my desired outcome as opposed to the past, I have been able to lose weight and achieve the body I’ve always wanted. You can do the same, and you will.

The truth is that the past cannot effect your now – or your future – unless you allow it to. You will now succeed because you will now focus on succeeding; because focusing on succeeding and on what you want is what will maintain you motivation to lose weight, and result ultimately in your success. Leave worrying about what happened in the past to others, you don’t need it! The past does NOT equal the future for you.

2. If Others Can Do It So Can You

There are hundreds of thousands of people that have been in exactly the same situation as you that managed to lose weight, get thin and stay that way. In fact, you’ve probably heard of many people who were in a far WORSE situation than you. What do they have that you don’t? The answer is NOTHING.

I used to feel envious when I heard of people that had lost 100 pounds or more and kept it off. I used to think that they were ‘special’ in some way. Then I realized that these people are no different from you or me. They’re normal people, with the same problems, challenges, and life-situations as you, me and everyone else. And yet they’d managed to achieve remarkable success when losing weight.

I found that an incredibly empowering and motivating belief is this – if others can do it, so can I. If you can find one person who’s done something, that means you have the ability to do the same. The fact that so many people have been able to lose weight and keep it off means that you can I can too. These people have nothing that you don’t have. You are at least as capable – if not MORE capable of losing weight and keeping it off. You just need to focus on that fact an let it drive you from now on.

3. There’s Always A Way If You’re Committed

There’s a big difference between wanting to lose weight or “trying” to lose weight, and being COMITTED to losing weight. When you try or want to lose weight, there’s a big element of doubt and ambiguity involved. When you’re committed to losing weight you are completely cut off from any other possibility – you WILL lose weight, get thin and stay that way – and you will do whatever it takes to make it happen.

If you’re like I was, you may have “tried” lots of diets. You may also have read quite a lot about healthy eating, and about exercising. And you may have done a class here or a class there. However, despite all this nothing much changed in the end. You may have made some progress – perhaps even for a few weeks or months, but ultimately it didn’t last. You want to lose weight and you may know a lot about losing weight and about what you should do, but it doesn’t stick for you – whatever you try, and whatever results you get, fail to last.

I turbo charged my motivation to lose weight and successfully lost weight once I understood the HUGE difference between commitment and “wanting to” or “trying” to do something. When you are 100% committed, you MAKE things happen. There’s no doubt, there’s no “hope”, there’s only an absolute commitment – which translates into a sense of absolute certainty that you will succeed, and a rock solid dedication to making it happen. When you are committed, you will find a way to make it happen. The vast majority of diet and weight loss systems work – you just have to stick to them. Decide on one – commit to it, and cut off from any other possibility. Absolute iron clad commitment is what guarantee’s your success, and you don’t need anything to get it. Simple DECIDE. Commit to losing weight, getting thin and achieving your ultimate health and fitness goals – and then use that absolute commitment and make it happen.

I’ve intended for this article to help you get that shot of motivation you need when you feel like you’re not motivated  and need motivation to lose weight. However, the ideal is that you never find yourself in this situation again. Ideally you’ll develop a sense of motivation that is internal – that comes from inside and that lasts, without needing external motivation to “pick you up”. One way to do that is to use what you’ve learned in this article and strengthen yourself with it every day. Strengthen your belief in yourself and in your ability to succeed, remind yourself each day that the past does not equal the future, and each day get in that “zone” and strengthen your absolute commitment to losing weight – to taking action and to making it happen no matter what. As a result, you’ll develop supportive mental habits that will empower you and allow you to maintain an enhanced state of motivation to lose weight and – as a result, achieve the weight loss success you’ve always wanted.

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