I believe this article will show you that you have all the tools you need to stay, get to your goals and maintain the. Now is won't work because you read it, you need to put it into practice. Motivation - how to get it and how to keep it
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The single biggest impediment to reaching and maintaining your weight loss goals is lack of strong motivation. Motivation is a mysterious commodity. A small percentage of people seem to have motivation so strong and enduring, they never have to think about how to get it or how to keep it. But, for the majority of people, sustained motivation is elusive.
"The more clear you are on what you want, the more power you will have." --Source unknown
Motivation – how to get it
Motivation is a personal need, drive, or desire. No one can provide it – you need to search deep within to really understand what is important to you. Without strong motivators, food will win the battle. Your taste buds, the psychological, physiological, and social/cultural satisfaction of eating, all unite to keep you from your goals. Without strong motivation, losing weight and keeping it off may remain out of reach.
To start, think about..
What is important?
Why is it important?
What are you willing to do to achieve your heart's desire.
What do I want?People want to lose weight for a variety of reasons. Listed here are the general categories.
Health
Appearance
Self-esteem
Self-confidence
Energy
Self-control
Ability to engage in more physical activities
Social acceptance
Special occasions
Take a few minutes to think about what is really important to you in each of these areas. Some internal dialogue will be necessary. Write it down. Seeing it makes it more tangible.
Why do I want to _______?It's not enough to say, "I want to be a size 10." You need to understand why. You need to get to the emotion behind the desire. How do you feel when you are fat? Thin? Somewhere in-between? What does it really mean to you? What are the specific benefits or rewards? What are the consequences of not changing? What will be different? What will you be able to do that you can't do now?
Close you eyes. Imagine looking in the mirror when you reach your goal weight. What do you see? How do you feel? What are your wearing? How is life different?
This may seem like a lot of work, but can you risk not doing it?
What am I willing to do?It's important to know what you will or will not do to succeed. Are you willing to eat smaller portions, eat healthier foods, reduce high fat or sugary foods, or increase your activity levels consistently?
No one can answer these questions but you. If you are not willing to do what it takes, you won't achieve your heart's desires.
Motivation – How to keep it
You've got motivation now but will it remain constant? The answer is NO! Sustaining motivation takes some work.
Recognize and prepare for different phases of motivation
Phase 1: Enthusiasm and a strong vision. This gets you started but needs constant reinforcement.
Phase 2: Trial and error. Different avenues need to be tested, to see what works and what doesn't. During this phase you will experience success and failure. Acknowledge the successes and learn from the "failures." Bouncing back from perceived failure is crucial here.
Phase 3: Motivation ebbs. When it's high, you can overcome huge obstacles. When its low, everything may seem too difficult and not worth the struggle. This is a high-risk time. The symptoms of this stage can be anything from slipping back to old habits, finding excuses for not exercising, or doing and saying things to sabotage your success. When you feel motivation slipping, don't delay, enlist the aid of family or friends.
Reinforce the pros and challenge the cons.
Draw up a table similar to the one below.
www.weightwatchers.com
The single biggest impediment to reaching and maintaining your weight loss goals is lack of strong motivation. Motivation is a mysterious commodity. A small percentage of people seem to have motivation so strong and enduring, they never have to think about how to get it or how to keep it. But, for the majority of people, sustained motivation is elusive.
"The more clear you are on what you want, the more power you will have." --Source unknown
Motivation – how to get it
Motivation is a personal need, drive, or desire. No one can provide it – you need to search deep within to really understand what is important to you. Without strong motivators, food will win the battle. Your taste buds, the psychological, physiological, and social/cultural satisfaction of eating, all unite to keep you from your goals. Without strong motivation, losing weight and keeping it off may remain out of reach.
To start, think about..
What is important?
Why is it important?
What are you willing to do to achieve your heart's desire.
What do I want?People want to lose weight for a variety of reasons. Listed here are the general categories.
Health
Appearance
Self-esteem
Self-confidence
Energy
Self-control
Ability to engage in more physical activities
Social acceptance
Special occasions
Take a few minutes to think about what is really important to you in each of these areas. Some internal dialogue will be necessary. Write it down. Seeing it makes it more tangible.
Why do I want to _______?It's not enough to say, "I want to be a size 10." You need to understand why. You need to get to the emotion behind the desire. How do you feel when you are fat? Thin? Somewhere in-between? What does it really mean to you? What are the specific benefits or rewards? What are the consequences of not changing? What will be different? What will you be able to do that you can't do now?
Close you eyes. Imagine looking in the mirror when you reach your goal weight. What do you see? How do you feel? What are your wearing? How is life different?
This may seem like a lot of work, but can you risk not doing it?
What am I willing to do?It's important to know what you will or will not do to succeed. Are you willing to eat smaller portions, eat healthier foods, reduce high fat or sugary foods, or increase your activity levels consistently?
No one can answer these questions but you. If you are not willing to do what it takes, you won't achieve your heart's desires.
Motivation – How to keep it
You've got motivation now but will it remain constant? The answer is NO! Sustaining motivation takes some work.
Recognize and prepare for different phases of motivation
Phase 1: Enthusiasm and a strong vision. This gets you started but needs constant reinforcement.
Phase 2: Trial and error. Different avenues need to be tested, to see what works and what doesn't. During this phase you will experience success and failure. Acknowledge the successes and learn from the "failures." Bouncing back from perceived failure is crucial here.
Phase 3: Motivation ebbs. When it's high, you can overcome huge obstacles. When its low, everything may seem too difficult and not worth the struggle. This is a high-risk time. The symptoms of this stage can be anything from slipping back to old habits, finding excuses for not exercising, or doing and saying things to sabotage your success. When you feel motivation slipping, don't delay, enlist the aid of family or friends.
Reinforce the pros and challenge the cons.
Draw up a table similar to the one below.
Pros Cons
I feel more confident when I'm thinner. Diets are so boring.
Controlling food raises my self-esteem. I won't be able to eat out and I'll be hungry all the time.
I never succeeded before.
The pros need constant reinforcement. Think about them, write them down, and imagine them occurring.
The cons need to be challenged. They float around in your unconscious, sabotaging your efforts.
Let's work through a couple of examples:
"Diets have never worked for me before, so why should one work now?" That may be true, but why didn't they work? Maybe the timing wasn't right, the diet was too restrictive or you had lifestyle issues that took precedence.
Give yourself a break and think like Thomas Edison. He didn't see past attempts at inventing the light bulb as failures – he saw them as a 2,000-step process, leading to a successful invention.
"Diets are boring, I'll be hungry, I won't be able to eat out and I'll miss my favorite foods."
While it's true, you can't eat exactly the way you eat now, there is a wide variety of good tasting lower fat and lower calorie options at home and at restaurants. You just have to find ones that satisfy you. This con, like most cons are just excuses in disguise.
Plan your meals and activitiesPlanning meals and scheduling the day, time and duration of any exercise, will dramatically increase your success quotient. Success sustains motivation.
Mini-motivatorsSet reasonable, specific and measurable milestone goals. Each one achieved is a mini-motivator, supporting and sustaining you along the path to your final goal.
e.g. Goal: By January 21st, I will be eating 40 grams of fat per day.
Record and reward each success along the way, no matter how small you think it is. If you eat 90 grams of fat per day now and by January 21st you are eating 60 grams, acknowledge your progress. Don't beat yourself up because you didn't hit 40 grams. Perhaps the goal was not really reasonable. Set smaller incremental goals.
Acknowledge and revel in all achievements. The more successful you feel, the more successful you will be, the greater your motivation to continue.
Review and revise your goals. If, despite all your best intentions, you can't achieve some of your goals, set slightly lower, more reasonable ones. Motivation increases as tangible results are attained.
Share your goals, get supportEnlist the aid and support of family and friends. Share your goals with the positive and supportive people are in your life. Talk to them about your goals and obstacles. Share your successes. The more committed you are to yourself and others, the more likely your perseverance. Avoid telling anyone who is likely to dismiss or deride your efforts.
Find a role modelFind people who overcame the odds. Find out what they did to achieve success. Have the attitude, "If they can do it, so can I."
Positive reinforcement worksKeep track of your progress. Rate yourself weekly, on a scale of one to ten. Set a goal to increase your ratings each week.
Set up a schedule for earned non-food rewards. Think of these as bonuses, prizes or incentives for a job well done. The key here is that the goals have to be meaningful and not something you give yourself on a regular basis. The only way to obtain these incentives is to achieve a goal. This sets up an inner drive, motivating you to succeed. These rewards do not have to be material. It can be something as simple as giving yourself an afternoon off from shopping or cooking. Non-material rewards may be more effective in conditioning a behavior, as material rewards seem to lack impact over time.
I never succeeded before.
The pros need constant reinforcement. Think about them, write them down, and imagine them occurring.
The cons need to be challenged. They float around in your unconscious, sabotaging your efforts.
Let's work through a couple of examples:
"Diets have never worked for me before, so why should one work now?" That may be true, but why didn't they work? Maybe the timing wasn't right, the diet was too restrictive or you had lifestyle issues that took precedence.
Give yourself a break and think like Thomas Edison. He didn't see past attempts at inventing the light bulb as failures – he saw them as a 2,000-step process, leading to a successful invention.
"Diets are boring, I'll be hungry, I won't be able to eat out and I'll miss my favorite foods."
While it's true, you can't eat exactly the way you eat now, there is a wide variety of good tasting lower fat and lower calorie options at home and at restaurants. You just have to find ones that satisfy you. This con, like most cons are just excuses in disguise.
Plan your meals and activitiesPlanning meals and scheduling the day, time and duration of any exercise, will dramatically increase your success quotient. Success sustains motivation.
Mini-motivatorsSet reasonable, specific and measurable milestone goals. Each one achieved is a mini-motivator, supporting and sustaining you along the path to your final goal.
e.g. Goal: By January 21st, I will be eating 40 grams of fat per day.
Record and reward each success along the way, no matter how small you think it is. If you eat 90 grams of fat per day now and by January 21st you are eating 60 grams, acknowledge your progress. Don't beat yourself up because you didn't hit 40 grams. Perhaps the goal was not really reasonable. Set smaller incremental goals.
Acknowledge and revel in all achievements. The more successful you feel, the more successful you will be, the greater your motivation to continue.
Review and revise your goals. If, despite all your best intentions, you can't achieve some of your goals, set slightly lower, more reasonable ones. Motivation increases as tangible results are attained.
Share your goals, get supportEnlist the aid and support of family and friends. Share your goals with the positive and supportive people are in your life. Talk to them about your goals and obstacles. Share your successes. The more committed you are to yourself and others, the more likely your perseverance. Avoid telling anyone who is likely to dismiss or deride your efforts.
Find a role modelFind people who overcame the odds. Find out what they did to achieve success. Have the attitude, "If they can do it, so can I."
Positive reinforcement worksKeep track of your progress. Rate yourself weekly, on a scale of one to ten. Set a goal to increase your ratings each week.
Set up a schedule for earned non-food rewards. Think of these as bonuses, prizes or incentives for a job well done. The key here is that the goals have to be meaningful and not something you give yourself on a regular basis. The only way to obtain these incentives is to achieve a goal. This sets up an inner drive, motivating you to succeed. These rewards do not have to be material. It can be something as simple as giving yourself an afternoon off from shopping or cooking. Non-material rewards may be more effective in conditioning a behavior, as material rewards seem to lack impact over time.
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