How To Keep Motivated To Lose Weight

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.

Technorati Tags: How To Keep Motivated To Lose Weight