HOW TO STAY MOTIVATED TO LOSE WEIGHT? 11 FABULOUS TIPS

How to stay motivated to lose weight? 11 Fabulous tips

If you’re reading this, then the chances are that you’ve been at this point before. You’ve cleaned out all the cupboards, you’ve thrown away all the pizza delivery menus and you’ve worked out your new fitness regime. As a matter of fact, you’ve become quite an expert at preparing yourself for losing weight; it’s the next bit that always seems to go wrong. So let’s make it work this time. This time you are going to stick with it! Read our 11 tips how to keep that motivation, that you feel today going, all the way and this time you will reach your target:

1. Write down all the reasons why you want to lose weight

To start with your weight loss journey, write down all the reasons why you want to lose weight. Describe on paper all the benefits of being slimmer, make your list as long as you can; you can mention such things as ‘I will feel more attractive and confident’, ‘I will be able to wear clothes that I want’, ‘I will feel more energetic’, etc…this little exercise will boost your motivation and if you find strong enough reasons why you want to get slimmer, it will help you persevere and not to fall into temptation.

2. Set yourself realistic targets

The second step is to set a realistic monthly weight loss target. Ignore all the weight loss advertisements that tell you about loosing weight overnight, they are trying to get you to buy something, not motivate you and they will always tell you how someone slimed down to super model proportions in a matter of weeks. Not only is this not realistic for most people, it’s also unhealthy. Your weight loss targets are personal to you, but as a rough guide, losing anything above 1.5 pounds a week is not a good idea.

3. Monitor your progress

Keep a journal and monitor your progress. Remember though that the monthly goal that you set is just that – a goal. A few near misses won’t hurt and even one or two nowhere-nears are not the end of the world, it’s the overall trend that matters. Remember also that nearly everyone on a weight loss program will hit a point where suddenly, their weight increases again, but, don’t be dissuaded, it’s only temporary and it happens to most people, keep on persevering and you will attain your goals!

4. Start off slow

People who lose weight quickly invariably put the weight back on again, so a slow and steady weight reduction is the best. You could start off by cutting back on as little, as 200 calories a day. It’s a start and you will barely notice it. If you try and starve yourself, you will only become irritable and eventually that ‘I can’t do this’ moment will arrive…

5. Keep a food diary

Write down in your journal everything that you eat and drink. People who do this are more successful at losing weight. It helps you to focus on exactly what you are eating and will make you ask, do I really need this? Keep the journal up though, even when things are going well, or you may start to slip again…and no cheating!

6. Think slim all day long

Keep your weight loss targets in the back of your mind all day long and in everything that you do. You don’t have to be in a gym to lose a little weight, just try and do everything a little bit faster, than you would normally and it will help. Run up the stairs, rather than walk or try and do the household chores in half the time, any bit of extra exertion will give your body a mini-workout. And yes, if you have an opportunity, subscribe to the gym; you’ll find yourself surrounded with likeminded people who are motivated to exercise and this, in turn, will boost your own motivation for loosing weight.

7. Give yourself rewards for your weight loss

Don’t forget to pat yourself on the back when you have done well. For motivational purposes, the best thing to do is set rewards for specific milestones in your weight loss plan. For example, when you have lost a set number of pounds, you will buy yourself that new outfit you saw, but make sure that your reward is not a big chunk of cake ;).

8. Go public

Going it alone will just make it easier to quit, so tell friends and family what you are doing and you will be surprised at the amount of support that you will receive. Build up your own support network and perhaps lose weight with a friend, a bit of healthy completion will keep you both motivated.

9. Lose weight for charity

Losing weight for a good cause is a great way to motivate yourself to reach your goals. There are many websites now, where you can publicize your sponsored weight loss and people can make pledges to sponsor you online. Get together with a group of friends and make it a team effort. Your weight loss will be helping someone else, as well as you.

10. Visualize your weight loss

Start each day by imagining what is that you want to change. Close your eyes and picture what you want to look like and imagine all the things that you will be able to do then, that you can’t do now. Keeping in mind why we are trying to lose weight will help to keep you on track during the day.

11. Think long term and create new eating habits (it’s better to write them down!)

Think of weight loss as a long term objective. It’s not just about fitting into that bikini this summer; it’s about a healthier way of living. Fitting into a bikini would be great, but it’s hardly life changing and it’s an objective that is easily dismissed. The longer term objective, such as living longer, being more active and enjoying life more will give you a far better motivation. We, human beings are creatures of habits, every area of our lives is made of little building blocks called habits, so if you will find a way to incorporate new, beneficial for you habits into your every day life, you will be able to effortlessly change it for better. So, take a sheet of paper and write down all the healthy eating habits that the new slimmer you will have, and start following this plan every day. This habits can include: reducing the size of your portions (but remember to make small steps at a time), drinking plenty of water every day, not eating at least 3 hours before going to bed, etc…Your new healthy eating habits are not a diet, this is a new lifestyle!

How to stay motivated to lose weight? If you have some other tips, please, feel free to share them in the comment section below.

Stay happy, healthy and love yourself!

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