Many people experience being in a situation where they want to lose weight, but at the same time don’t have any motivation to do it. This can be a frustrating, especially when you don’t know why you’re not motivated – or what to do about it.

Problems with motivation are usually caused by the part of you that wants to stay the same being stronger then the part of you that would like to change. Here’s why this can happen, and what you can do about it.

Lack of Autonomy

In order to feel motivated, you must have reasons for losing weight that you are genuinely your own. This is especially so for people who put a high value on their independence and personal autonomy. Being told by your doctor, partner, friends or anyone else that you should lose weight can often be a major de-motivator. You must have your OWN reasons for losing weight – not what you’re being told by other people.

If you’re being or have been pressured or told to lose weight by others, then this may be a major reason for having no motivation to lose weight. That part of you that wants to stay the same is usually strengthened by being told by others to change – because many of us strongly object to be told what to do by other people. Being told what to do by others violate’s our independence and autonomy, and our response is usually to defiantly do the exact opposite of what others are trying to get us to do.

The decision to lose weight must be your own, and it must be for your own reasons. If you decide that you do want to lose weight – because YOU want to, and not because anyone else thinks you should, you can build and strengthen your motivation by thinking about why you want to do it. What are YOUR reasons for changing? For example, you may decide – regardless of what your doctor has told you, that you want to lose weight because you value your health, because you want lower your risk of disease, and because you want to feel better and have more energy. These reasons – if you identified them by and for yourself, would then motivate you because they’d be reasons that are genuinely and independently meaningful to you.

If having others pressure you to change has been a cause of lack of motivation for you, you can motivate yourself by taking some time to think whether or not losing weight really is important to you and – if you decide it is – identifying the specific reasons why you want to do it.

Past Failure And Low Self-Confidence

A second major cause of having no motivation to lose weight is the effect that past failures can have both on your confidence and on your belief in your ability to succeed. If you’ve tried to lose weight and failed repeatedly in the past, it can be very hard to motivate yourself to try again.

As a result of past experiences we can develop beliefs like “I can’t lose weight” or “I’ll never be able to lose weight”, which kill our motivation and stop us from trying again. If this is the case for you then the key to overcoming this problem is to realize that these beliefs and completely FALSE and invalid.

The way to do that is to realize that there are thousands – probably millions or people who have been in exactly the same position as you, who have successfully lost weight and keep it off. In fact, the likeliness is that there have been many people that were in a worse situation than you. So the fact that there are people who were in the same situation as you that have successfully lost weight and keep it off means that you can do it too.

An effective way of strengthening your confidence in your ability to succeed is to adopt and reinforce two core beliefs: “The Past Does Not Equal The Future” and “There’s Always A Way If I’m Committed”. You can also find or read about people were in the same situation as you and successfully lose weight, and use them as role models.

Looking Ahead

A useful motivational technique that you can use in addition to the suggestions above is the “looking ahead” technique. First, ask yourself, “What would it be like if I didn’t lose weight?” What would be happening in your life? What would be likely to happen next? How would you feel? Close your eyes and use visualization to do this. Next, project into the future again, this time envisioning what your life would be like if you obtained your weight loss goals. Imagine your feelings about yourself and the potential reactions of others.

Techniques like the one above only require a minute of two and can be very useful in motivating you towards action in times when you have feel like you have no motivation to lose weight. While lack of motivation can be caused by deeper underlying reasons, as I’ve discussed, it can also often be caused by a lack of focus. Visualizing future consequences of not losing weight, and the future benefits of losing weight is an effective way of focusing yourself in a way that creates motivation – and this can be a valuable technique to use at times when you feel like you don’t have any motivation to lose weight.

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What’s the one diet motivation tip that you should follow above all others? In answer to that question I’d say this – motivation isn’t something you “get”, it’s something you CREATE. Here’s what I mean by this….

If you see motivation as something that you yourself create, then you will always be the one in control. As a result, you’ll be in a position where you will be able to achieve lasting motivation to lose weight and stick to your diet.

So how do you create motivation for yourself? What can you do to motivate yourself? Here are two powerful techniques that you can practice to help create high levels of lasting motivation to lose weight.

1. Visualization

Visualization is a powerful psychological technique used by Olympians, top performing professional sports stars, highly successful business people and countless other people who have achieved success in various areas of life. Why? Because it creates high levels of motivation and produces high levels of performance.

Visualizing yourself as thin, attractive, fit, and healthy on a consistent basis sends a powerful message to your brain, directing it to go to work to move you towards making that vision a reality for you in your life. This is highly motivating it propels you to take action in the now and move towards the realization of your vision.

Put this diet motivation tip to use by setting aside 10 minutes or so each day to visualize yourself at your ideal weight, with your ideal body. See it as if it was already real, and really experience it emotionally. FEEL as if you would feel if you had your dream body – this is very important. Often visualization can feel strange at first and you may find yourself resisting or feeling uncomfortable the first few times you do this. Just persist – do it for 7 days, and you’ll quickly find both that you enjoy visualizing and experiencing that new and ‘better’ you. You’ll also quickly notice that you feel highly motivated and driven afterwards and throughout the day to follow your diet, lose weight and move towards that ideal image of yourself.

2. Purpose

Clarity of purpose is also key to motivation. You must have a strong “why” for losing weight, or else you won’t feel motivated. We all need reasons for getting out of bed in the morning, and if you want to feel highly motivated to lose weight you must have a powerful set of reasons for doing so.

Humans are most strongly motivated by pain or, in other words, by what they don’t want – so ask yourself what it will cost you if you don’t take action to lose weight. Most people focus on how difficult losing weight is going to be. To motivate yourself you should do the opposite. What will it cost you if you don’t take action right now to lose weight – physically, emotionally, socially, in terms of your self-esteem? What impact will it have in the major areas of your life, both short term and long term? Write your answers down.

Next, consider all the things you will gain if you do take action to lose weight. We’re motivated both by what we don’t want, AND by what we do want. By focusing on both, you’ll create high levels of motivation to take action to lose weight – because you’ll be using the forces that drive human behaviour in a way that supports you in losing weight and achieving your ideal weight loss vision. Ask yourself “What will I gain if I take action to lose weight right now”? What will you gain physically, in term of you appearance, in your self esteem? How will it positively impact your life both in the short term and in the long term? Write your answers down on the same piece of paper that you used above.

Create Lasting Motivation By Practicing Consistently

There are many ways to motivate yourself, but visualizing yourself as you want to be and having clear and powerful reasons for acting are two of the most powerful weight loss and dieting motivation techniques you can use. The key to making them work however is to practice consistently. Set aside time each day to visualize, and to review your purpose – your reasons for losing weight. By doing this consistently, you’ll create high levels of motivation to lose weight – and as a result, motivation will no longer be something that “comes and goes” for you in your life.

See motivation as something that you can create, take action to create it, and you’ll never have to worry about losing your motivation to lose weight again.

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Even the most motivated person in the world has days… or weeks when motivation escapes them. That is the nature of being human and having more going on in your life then just your weight loss goals. Just because it is a natural part of being human doesn’t mean you throw in the towel and give up. There are a number of simple little things you can do both to find the motivation and keep it going strong so that you can reach your weight loss goals.

One: Be Good to Yourself

You deserve a reward for doing a good job at losing weight. Decide on a reward that is not food based to treat yourself when you reach a mini goal (such as not missing a day of working out all week… or losing five pounds.) This can be a new CD or book or something as wonderful as a schlep day (a day in your pjs watching your favorite movies.)

Two: Keep Track

Three: Check Your Emotions

Four: Accept Yourself

Five: Positive Thinking

Six: Set Goals – Realistic Ones

Seven:  Realize That There are Good Days and Not So Good Days

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Making the decision to exercise and get fit can often the easiest part of losing weight. It is a few weeks down the road when the excitement is gone and the process has become grueling that it can become easy to forget the promise you made to yourself. Believe it or not this is a scientific fact, proven by research that shows 50% of people that start a new exercise regime give up within the first month and another 25% will quit within three months.

You don’t have to be part of that 75%, you can be in the elite 25%. There are a few simple things you can do to help you find the motivation to exercise, get in shape and achieve the body you have always wanted.

Tip One: Figure Out Why You Exercise

Tip Two: Get a Workout Buddy

Tip Three: Set an Exercise Time

Tip Four:  Set Goals

Tip Five: Eat Right

Tip Six:  Keep a Journal

Tip Seven: Reward Yourself!

Tip Eight: Take Pictures!

Tip Nine: Read!

Tip Ten:  Pick an Exercise You Like

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One of the keys to weight loss motivation is to realize that almost every diet and exercise plan works. Each and every one of them will help you lose weight, get in shape and get healthy. The key to them all is that you have to actually DO them for long enough to see real results, and then keep them up after. This means that the most important part of your diet or exercise plan is motivation.  Believe it or not this is the essential component to any weight loss plan. Everyone wants to lose weight, few are actually motivated enough to do it. You don’t need to be one of those people. You can be one of the few, the proud, the MOTIVATED!

Secret Two: Know How Losing Weight Will Improve Your Life

Secret Three: Support is Fundamental

Secret Four: Make it Fun

Secret Five: Take a Class

Secret Six: Commit to Consistency

Secret Seven: Visualize Your Goal

Secret Eight: Make it Public

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What is the secret to staying motivated to stick to your diet? Believe it or not it’s as simple as changing your overall approach to the way you think about dieting and losing weight. You are faced with temptation every day, everywhere you look. It’s tempting to give in – “Oh, just this once won’t do any harm,” or “Only one little bite”….

To help you overcome the obstacles that stand between you and diet success, here are 11 powerful dieting motivation tips for staying motivated to stick to your diet.

1. Clean House

Get rid of every unhealthy piece of food you have. You don’t have to throw it away, donate canned foods to local food shelters. Frozen foods can be given to friends and family members or the homeless shelters.

2. Start Small

Making too many changes at once can be overwhelming and often leave you feeling as though you are depriving yourself. Start small, if you are a soda drinker give up one soda a day and replace it with a bottle of water for a week and go on from there. Give up eating out one day a week.

3. Avoid Drastic Changes

Try not to follow a diet plan that requires you to severely restrict your intake of any one food group or multiple food groups. Sure, you’ll get dramatic results quickly with these plans but the success is short lived.

4. Pick Foods You Like

Honestly, how long are you going to stick with something you hate? If you don’t like eating fish then don’t pick a diet that focuses on fish. It isn’t enough to pick foods that are good for you, pick foods that are good for you and that you enjoy eating.

5. Brown Bag It

Avoid temptation at work or on outings by packing your own food. You can pack a lunch to take to work, you can pack a snack bag. Think about putting a goodie bag in the car loaded with water, fruit slices, granola bars, baby carrots and so on.

6. Eat a Small Snack before Leaving

You will be less inclined to indulge when going to a party or out to dinner if you eat a small meal at home before stepping out. Little things like this can make a big difference when it comes to dieting motivation, because you’ll be less likely to find yourself in a situation where you’re so hungry you want to grab any junk food you can find – and getting off track in the process.

7. Avoid Feeling Hungry

Ideally you should be eating something small every three hours. This will help keep your metabolism steady and you won’t feel hungry. When you wait to eat until you are feeling hungry you are more likely to eat more then you need and more then you should.

8. Indulge!

What! Indulge? Yes, there has to be some reward for what you are doing. Eating healthy doesn’t mean you forsake life’s little temptations dressed up in ooey gooey goodness. The key is to eat healthy 98.9% of the time.

9. Work it Off

Okay, the death by chocolate cake that you ate an entire piece of was worth every bit of guilt you are feeling. Instead of beating yourself up over it, work it off. Pick your favorite activity and do it until you break a sweat.

10. Make Water Your Best Friend

Did you know that those hunger pangs you feel can actually be your body telling you that you are dehydrated? Before eating anything, drink a glass of water.

11. Portion Control

You don’t need a steak the size of your head. Red meat portions should not be bigger than the palm of your hand. An excellent way to deal with portions is to eat on smaller plates. Instead of eating on a big dinner plate, use salad plates. It will trick your mind into “seeing” a full plate of food even though the portions will be much smaller, and you will find that you are able to eat less and still feel very satisfied.

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I really want to lose weight, I just wish I had the motivation to actually do it…

Does this sound a little familiar?

If you are someone that wishes he or she was in better shape but can’t seem to get into the mood to actually take action, then you are someone with motivation issues. But, don’t feel all that bad about your scenario. There are a lot of other people that are in the same boat as you are because many people struggle with their motivation to lose weight. The main difference is that you are looking for a solution. That alone will work wonders for helping you achieve results.

Look at it this way: if you want to be motivated, then you are already somewhat motivated to take action. So, let’s build on that momentum for success.

It Is Not A Chore

Putting the Fun in Weight Loss

You need to look at the joy of the process. Finding ways to make what you do fun can really skyrocket your motivation to lose weight. Exercise, for example, can be a blast if you pick the right active hobby to use as the basis for exercise. If you become an avid tennis player, you probably will not look at this type of exercise as a chore. More than likely, you will enjoy it so much that you would be motivated to keep doing it. There is also the possibility that you may make other changes in order to support your new found hobby. A high fat diet, for example, would undermine tennis performance. By making dietary changes to boost the success potential of your hobby, you will lose additional weight.

Looking at the Positive End Result

Try to avoid looking at your present situation. Look towards the end result of being someone that is in tremendous shape and improved cardiovascular health. When you have your mind set on your end result, you will often be more motivated to do what is necessary to achieve such a result. Again, you do not want to place yourself in any psychological position that does not promote positive mental outlooks on your end goal.

Don’t Beat Yourself Up

Do you find yourself depressed over your current weight? While this is an understandable and very human reaction to your plight, it also needs to be a mindset that you get yourself out of. There is no benefit to wallowing in a negative attitude. This will certainly not help you stay motivated to lose weight. Remember, attitude and mental outlook is everything. Never lose site of this fact. And most importantly – never give up on your goals.You definitely can drop the weight with the right outlook.

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    Richard Spackman here, creator of this website and of the weight loss motivation newsletter. In this article I’d like to introduce myself to you and share my own personal “story”

    In writing my story I’ve chosen to discuss some very personal details about difficult times that I’ve felt reluctant to share publically.

    However, I decided to share them with you as I strongly believe that the lessons I learned will be incredibly valuable to anyone trying to lose weight now.

What Set Me On My Way

My journey towards permanent weight loss and coaching began around seven years ago, during which time I suffered from near non-existent self-esteem and a crippling lack of self-confidence.

     I was painfully shy and introverted, and felt as though that I had nothing to offer anyone. I basically felt that everyone thought I was a useless joke. 

    To comfort myself, I would eat – pizza and chocolate were my favourites, and with the combined stress/pressure of work and my shyness I was also very inactive. Most of my free time alone was spent alone, sitting watching TV or surfing the internet, often snacking.

     As a result I became 30+ pounds overweight. Like most people, I bought diet books and went on exercise programs because I felt awful about my weight and wanted to lose it. However, I could never make anything stick and I’d always end up going back to the way I was before – which only made me feel worse about myself due to failing over and over again.

     For a long time I tried to hide my lack of confidence and negative feelings about myself and about my weight from others and not discuss or admit it, but the desperation got to the point that one night I remember sitting bent over my bed, breaking down and  feeling so terrible about myself that I barely had any strength to stand – I felt absolutely hopeless.

I Was Forced To Finally Admit That I Needed Help

    This was a difficult thing for me to admit, but thankfully I quickly found a local clinical hypnotherapist who I started seeing for treatment.

    The therapist helped me identify the causes of my low self-esteem and self-confidence and worked with me to overcome them through mental techniques, which put me in a relaxed state and provided positive suggestions for change.

    I rapidly started seeing significant changes in my self-confidence and in how I felt about myself. I noticed myself being able to do things quite naturally that I’d never felt confident enough to do before.

The Changes Lead To A HUGE Realization That Changed My Life

    The positive changes I was noticing in my self-confidence were INCREDIBLY exciting for me, and as I thought about them, I came to a realization that literally changed my life.

    I realized that all the therapist had done to help me feel more confident was to change my MINDSET.  

     I’d always thought that my negative feelings were just “happening to me”, like I was being attacked by them and couldn’t do anything about it. NOW I realized that the feeling I had were coming from the thoughts I was having in my mind, and that by changing my thoughts I could change how I felt.

    I can’t say that I now never suffer from feelings of self doubt. It’s something I have to remain aware of and work on, but the realization I made and the knowledge I’ve gained has helped me to transform my life for the better ever since.

How I Finally Lost Weight and Kept It Off For Good

     After my big “ah ha” realization, I felt newly empowered to lose weight, get in shape, fit and healthy.

     This time I was armed with fresh insights and knowledge and went at losing weight in completely different way.

     I figured that I already knew HOW to lose weight (eat less and exercise), it was DOING what I knew I needed to do and keep it up that was the problem.

     So I went to work on my motivation and mind; I went to work on the causes of my cravings and the reasons I had felt I needed to comfort eat, on the negative beliefs and associations I had to healthy food and exercise, and on my attitudes and habits.

    It was only as a result of focusing on learning how to change the thoughts, attitudes and beliefs in my mind – and therefore my outer habits, that I was able to finally lose weight and keep it off.

    I lost the 30 lbs, and I’ve kept them off ever since – and it was without a doubt one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life.

How I Became a Weight Loss Motivation Coach (and WHY)

    I didn’t decide I was going to become a weight loss motivation coach, it just kind of “happened”.

     Friends and family saw what great shape I was in and how happy it made me, and asked me how I did it. So I started helping them, by teaching them techniques for motivating themselves and eliminating the inner causes of self sabotage, comfort eating, and cravings.

    As a result, they successfully lost weight as I did. They told others about me, and the word spread.

    As more and more people came to me I started charging, and my “career” as a weight loss motivation coach was born.

    Incredibly, so far 100% of my clients have lost the weight they wanted to lose and achieved their goal. In the long term follow ups I’ve conducted (approximately 1 year later), I’ve found that over 83% of my clients kept off the weight they’d lost.

    When you consider that studies have shown that as much as 95% of people who lose weight end up gaining it back again, often becoming heavier than they were before, then the results my clients have achieved are truly outstanding.

    I don’t believe my clients have become so successful because there’s anything particularly special about me. I believe the reason for their success is because what I teach are the missing critical elements to success.

    When it boils down to it we all know what to do to lose weight. We all know that we need to eat healthy and eat less, and we all know we need to exercise regularly. But if it was that simple we’d all be thin. We never get taught how to motivate ourselves. We never get taught how to deal with and overcome inner issues like comfort eating and cravings, or how to overcome negative and unhealthy habits that we’ve had most of our lives.

    This is stuff we don’t get taught, but this is what anyone who wants to lose weight and make it last NEEDS TO KNOW and MUST KNOW. Without these tools, the chances of long term success are very small indeed, and the 95% of people who fail to lose weight and keep it off prove it.

    I’ve created this website and more importantly the motivation to lose weight newsletter to help share these techniques with as many people as I can, because I believe there’s a truly massive need for it.

    That’s what drives me, it’s my “mission” you could say – to help people achieve lasting weight loss and awesome lifelong health and fitness by teaching the motivational and psychological techniques needed to overcome the mental and emotional barriers and negative habits that hold them back.

    ANYHOW, enough about me. Now that you know my story I’d really appreciate it if you would take a few minutes and let me know about you and fill out the short 3 question survey below. The reason I’m asking you to do this is so that I can improve the motivation to lose weight newsletter by find out about the things you most want to know and need help with. So if you don’t mind please take a minute or two to click the link below and fill out and submit the survey. I read every response personally and REALLY appreciate your help and feedback.

CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE MOTIVATION TO LOSE WEIGHT SURVEY

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