Weight Loss: Motivate Yourself When No One else will

Home » Featured

17 March 2010 4 Comments

Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.

Powered by WP Greet Box WordPress Plugin

Motivate Yourself to Lose Weight

It can be a daunting task to make the decision to lose weight and get in shape. I know that you NEED to do it, but who really WANTS to do it? Then throw in the fact that there seems to be no one around to help you. That makes the goal seem even farther away and much less attainable. But don’t fret, I am revealing strategies that will help you get motivated to really do it this time.

Decide on the Right Reason

There are over 1000 reasons why you should lose weight, however, only one of them applies to you and your situation. You have to choose the right reason for YOU. It has to be something that moves you and makes you want to tackle this journey. It has to be so close to your heart and deep in your spirit that if you don’t achieve your goal, it will affect you. The “Why?” is so important because it’s what will keep you going each and every time you want to quit. Deciding on the why can be difficult, but not impossible, so search within yourself to find your specific reason.

Put First Things First

If you’ve read any of my precious posts about how to lose weight, you know that it takes much more than the decision to do it. There are processes that you must put in place in order to be successful.

Set Yourself Up for Success

The final strategy for you to put in place involves your mind. Your mind is extremely powerful. Your thoughts and resulting actions can cause great things to happen, or not. Program your thoughts for success and your actions will follow:

Start your day with one of these affirmations:

1. I choose to make positive healthy choices for myself

2. When I believe in myself, so do others

3. I love and care for my body and it cares for me.

Keep the affirmation focused in your head and repeat it over and over again throughout the day. Soon, you’ll start to believe what you are programming your mind to experience. When that happens, your actions will naturally lead you to success.

Prepare for Setbacks

If everything went smoothly all the time, there would be no need for this article. But setbacks will happen. You’re already doing this on your own, so there will be times when you simply don’t want to do it. Then there are the outside forces such as equipment failures, missed appointments and the ever present forgetfulness. Don’t worry, it happens to us all and you can’t avoid setbacks, but you can prepare for them by having some “Plan B’s” already in place. Whatever setback you encounter, it’s not the end of the world, nor the end of your journey. Look at it as an opportunity to do it another way.

I hope these strategies will help you as you proceed on your weight loss journey. Remember, you can do this, whether you have a support system or not. Because it’s all about YOU!

Find this article useful? Followed along on some workouts? Learned something new? Buy me coffee!

4 Comments »

Kay Lorraine said:

Getting motivated can be a VERY daunting task. I look in the mirror and I have no idea who that person staring back at me is. I’m pretty sure that it’s my Aunt Loeda, a “sturdy” German farm woman coming in from a hard day in the fields and ready to EAT! (“Sturdy” sounds so much better than “fat,” don’t you think?)

I am at my highest weight ever. In these post-Olympic days we like to think of it as a “personal best” in the heavyweight division.

My husband once lost 118 pounds and managed to keep it off for nearly 15 years. He now says that he’s gained 50 of it back. He’s kidding himself. But then, aren’t we all….

So anxious was I to get my husband and I back on track, I signed us up for a family membership at a very nice health club three years back. We’ve never been inside the place. I hear that it’s really nice. It must be — because they’ve recently increased the monthly dues….. again.

So I guess this means I have to go back and read some of your earlier posts and find a reason to motivate myself. ‘Cause I don’t seem to be doing it on my own, do I?

It’s a journey!

Warmest aloha,

Kay Lorraine
Nonprofit Executive
Honolulu, Hawaii
Kay Lorraine´s last blog ..All Dressed Up and No Place to Go

# 18 March 2010 at 10:19 am

cdunlop (author) said:

Kay,
You are too funny! I hope that you have a book in the works, I would love to read it. You are true and honest. And yes, read some more, but more importantly, put what you are reading into action. You will feel so much better.

# 26 March 2010 at 10:18 pm

Jon@ Best Bodyweight Exercises said:

Good tips there. Motivation is a real problem for many people because for so long they have lived in denial of their weight problem. I think that the key is to constantly remind yourself why you want to lose weight. For some people this can work really well:

Take a photo of yourself in shorts / underwear and print it out and place where you can see it all the time (although not at work unless you are really brave!). On fridge, next to the sofa are good places! Next to the photo have your fitness workout schedule for each day of the week plus a reminder of healthy eating tips. Also write a list of reasons why you want to lose weight. My personal list is:

I do not want to be the fat dad
I want to see my children grow up
I want to look fit and healthy again

These are vital reminders. Most people want to lose weight for a reason other than “the doctor told me to”.

Sometimes you have to be hard with yourself.
Jon@ Best Bodyweight Exercises´s last blog ..Full Body Weight Training Workout Split Over 3 Sessions

# 18 August 2010 at 6:14 pm

cdunlop (author) said:

Hi John,
Great advice, you have hit the nail on the head. You have to determine the one, real reason to lose weight that will push you past the “I don’t want to’s” and the “I have to do…” Sometimes it can be difficult, but whoever said getting what you really want is easy.

# 20 August 2010 at 11:54 am