When people talk about weight loss often it is accompanied by the word motivation. They say things like:
- I need to get motivated to lose weight and eat healthy.
- I just don’t have the motivation to exercise.
- I have lost all my motivation to lose weight.
- I’ll be more motivated to lose weight once the New Year/new month/new week starts.
- I can’t find the motivation to eat right and move my body.
So what is motivation? Webster’s dictionary gives this definition:
- The act or process of motivating; the condition of being motivated
- A motivating force, stimulus or influence
It’s a bit funny that most of us speak about motivation like it is some sort of commodity. Like something we can go to the store and purchase or something that we might stumble upon out in the wild.
The truth is that motivation comes from our actions and processes. It comes from the things we do. It’s not something that randomly drops into your brain or happens when you wake up on a certain side of the bed. So if you are searching for your motivation, relax. It’s been with you the whole time.
Here are three simple steps to find your weight loss motivation:
1. Start doing the damn things
Yep, you heard me. Whatever it is that you think you don’t have the motivation to do (exercise, eat right, get to bed on-time, eat less), just do it. You don’t have to make a commitment to doing ALL of it ALL the time. But for the next five minutes, could you move your body? For this one meal, could you add more fruits and vegetables? For this one snack, could you throw the last two bites away? Just for tonight, could you get in bed 15 minutes earlier?
Stop listening to your excuses about why it’s hard or why you can’t. Just commit and get it done. When you are taking the action that aligns with your goals and desires, you feel like you are “doing things right” and it encourages you to continue to take that positive action.
Likewise when we continue to resist taking that action, we only reinforce the bad habits we want to change. Reinforcing those habits makes it more difficult to change in the future. Remind yourself when you want to wait to get started that “this very moment is the easiest it will be for me to start making the changes I desire.”
2. Focus on the benefits and results
Most of us get it wrong when we embark on our weight loss journeys. We start with how much weight we want to lose, the date we want to lose it by and then create a detailed list of the exercises to do, foods we shouldn’t eat and calculate the perfect amount of calories to consume. Basically a giant to-do list of restriction and undesirable tasks. Total motivation suck.
Instead focus on the reasons WHY you want to lose weight. Come up with a list of reasons why each action you want to take to lose the weight is so beneficial. Focus on the endorphins you feel after working out. Remind yourself of how much better your joints will feel once the excess weight is off your body. Picture yourself looking sexy and slim in a summer dress. Dream about doing activities that you weight is currently sidelining you from. Really dive into what makes going through this process worth it and focus on that.
On my journey to losing 100 pounds, I created a list of 100 reasons why I wanted to lose those 100 pounds. Some were physical, others mental health related, a good amount were vanity driven and all of them were things I desired to have in my life. Creating desirability for the results of your weight loss keeps your motivated to take action towards that goal and makes the effort worth it.
3. Celebrate everything
Losing motivation generally happens because we stopped doing the things that result in weight loss. Then we beat ourselves up for falling off the wagon, feel ashamed and then we just want to crawl into bed with some Ben and Jerry’s. Just as much as not going the things demotivates us, doing the things will motivate us (see #1 above). If you want to supercharge your motivation, you must celebrate EVERY action and result that prove you are headed in the right direction.
Did you leave a couple bites behind at breakfast? Tell yourself how amazing you are for listening to your satiation cues and not finishing your plate. Did you go for a ten minute walk even though your day super busy? Way to not let time be an excuse to skip moving your body today. Have you been going to bed early and nailing your sleep goal? You’re amazing for prioritizing what your body needs most!
Along with celebrating your actions, celebrate your results as well. Typically, people losing weight use the scale as the one and only measure of success. Don’t do this! Relying only on the scale to tell you if you are doing well or not is a major mistake. Instead, be sure to use non-scale measurements to track your progress too. Some great non-scale measurements are habit trackers, progress pictures, body measurements and mood journals. And don’t forget your other measurements like blood pressure, resting heart rate, cholesterol and blood sugar levels, which show an increase in physical health.
If any of those non-scale measurements change for the better, celebrate yourself! Every additional check mark on your habit tracker should be applauded. Each inch lost on your waist marveled at. Tell yourself how proud you are that you are making changes to lose weight and have a healthier life. Remind yourself that your hard work is paying off and you ARE seeing results.
*** Bonus Tip***
Keep in mind that motivation is the act of motivating or a motivating stimulus. You are the one to perform that act or to provide that stimulus. What you think creates that feeling of motivation in you. Reflect on a time when you felt really motivated, what are the thoughts you were thinking? Often times when we are motivated to lose weight, those thoughts are something like “this will definitely work” or “it’s working!” Just remember you are in charge of the thoughts you think and how you feel. Come up with a list of motivating thoughts and have them ready for when you feel the motivation wearing off.
Now, go take action.
Your Coach,
Andrea