Why do you want to lose weight? Do you want to really rock an outfit at an upcoming soirée? Do you want to be healthier and more energetic? Or do you just want to stop feeling down every time you see yourself in the mirror?
Of course, having a clear reason or goal to help you lose weight is important. But there’s a downside. Most of the goals we choose for weight loss are far off in the future.
Losing weight healthily and lastingly doesn’t happen overnight. You start off on the journey to a whole new you full of excitement and anticipation. But it’s a long road and it’s full of ups and downs. One day, despite how hard you’ve been working, the weigh scale goes up instead of down. Every day brings different temptations and the same hunger pangs. And there’s still lots of weight between you and your goal.
It happens to the best of us. It happens to most of us. If we all could lose weight, everyone would be a size 10.
You Need the Right Motivation to Successfully Lose Weight
We’re not saying that your goal of fitting into your old jeans, or healthier living or improving your self-image aren’t great reasons to lose weight. But considering they are the end goal, it’s difficult for them to motivate you through the many difficult ups and downs of weight loss.
Think about it this way. When you start a new job, you may have goals of being a manager or vice president one day. But you know that’s not going to happen on a ‘30-day plan’. Getting from your starting position to a more senior one takes time. It means working on each of the tasks in your job description, learning from the mistakes you make, choosing your opportunities and even finding ways to work with people even when they are not easy to work with. Do all of these and your chances of promotion are much higher.
Ways of Finding Your Weight-Loss Motivation
These are some of the ways to find motivation every day towards successfully losing weight.
1. Make a Step-by-Step Plan & Write it Down
Losing 30 pounds is a great goal, but it’s not a plan for achieving it. Instead, research a plan that you feel will work for you and put it on paper. If you want to get more active, maybe the very first step in your plan is to talk to your doctor about doing so safely.
Then make that a goal. Suddenly, you’re really stoked just because you visited the doctor and reached one of your goals- and you’re motivated by her recommendations for increasing your calorie burn, raising your metabolism, and even improving your diet.
2. Don’t Go Solo.
The motivation that comes from others can help you get through those times that it seems hard to find motivation within yourself. Whether it’s a workout buddy, a personal trainer or a nutritional consultant, don’t be afraid to find a supportive group of people to keep you on the right track.
3. Be the Motivator to Yourself that You Would be to Others
What would you say to your BFF if she asked you to help her lose weight? You’d probably be really positive, reassuring and help her see all the great changes she’s making, even if the weight loss isn’t happening according to plan. But how are you at doing the same for yourself? Be your own BFF.
4. Celebrate Every Step in the Right Direction, Even if it Wasn’t as Big as You Hoped
Want to be able to walk 5 km every day, but so far you’ve only managed 2.4? What will your reaction be? It should be something like: “woohoo!!! I walked 2.4 kilometers. I wasn’t walking any a month ago. How cool is that?!”
5. Enjoy the Moment
That might sound funny considering you are making changes and sacrifices that are not easy. But there will be moments that you can enjoy, even marvel at. And they might happen when you least expect them. One night, as you sit down to relax with a book or TV program, you might find yourself craving carrots and hummus instead of chips and dip. You could be miles from your ultimate goal, but what a great feeling it is when you realize that real change is happening.
The nutritional consultants at Herbal One are not only ready to help you along the road to successfully losing weight, they can develop a customized plan for healthy eating and nutrition too.