Weight Loss Motivation

weight loss motivation

A lack of adequate motivation to lose weight is probably the most common problem people face when trying to lose weight. Most people set out to lose weight without any thought at all as to how they are going to keep themselves on track on their diet and exercise programs.  Without mental preparation, weight loss motivation will often fade very quickly, and result in repeated failed attempts to lose weight for an individual.

Motivation to stick to your weight loss program can come from a variety of approaches.  For some people, positive reinforcement will work best.  Rewards for reaching small goals can keep you feeling positive and focused on your overall weight loss goal.  It is important to be careful about what you choose as your reward system though.  Many people actually impair their weight loss by rewarding themselves with unhealthy foods that they’ve been avoiding on their diet plans.  High-carbohydrate foods, especially sweets, are particularly bad to use as rewards because they dramatically shift blood sugar.  Rapid changes in blood sugar can spark intense cravings and the associated insulin release can block fat burning for up to two days.  Non-food rewards typically work much better.  Getting a massage, buying yourself a present, getting a spa treatment, or whatever appeals to you can be an excellent reward to keep your motivation for weight loss going without setting you back with your weight loss program.

While the positive reinforcement approach works well for many people, others may do better with negative reinforcement, also known as punishment.  Using a set of punishments for “being bad” on your weight loss program may help keep you more focused on following your diet and exercise regimens.  Here again, it is important to choose your punishments carefully.  In some cases, people “beat themselves up” emotionally, and if they are prone to eating more to quell unpleasant feelings, punishing themselves for diet or exercise transgressions may be the worst thing they can do to help themselves lose weight.

Instead of punishment, motivation to lose weight can often be better enhanced by using accountability - to yourself and/or to others.  The key to accountability is to keep a written record of what you are eating and what your exercise activities are.  Using a diet and exercise log will allow you to monitor what yourself so you can see how well you are following your weight loss program.  Then will keep you accountable to yourself and help you decide if you have done something worthy of reward or punishment.

Even better than being accountable to just yourself, it often helps considerably to be accountable to a family member or friend who is willing to track your weight loss progress with you.  Someone who can give you support when you may be feeling weak and can share your happiness when things are going well can be one of the best forms of weight loss motivation there is.  Having someone else to help administer rewards and/or punishments can make things easier too.  For example, if you set a goal and reach it, your weight loss assistant might agree to give you a foot massage.  On the other hand, if you cheat on your diet more than once in a given week, perhaps you have to wash your weight loss assistant’s car.  You and your assistant can get creative and make the process fun - at least a lot more fun than you struggling through on your own.

Finally, there are many methods out there to recondition the mind to strengthen the motivation for weight loss.  Techniques such as those of Anthony Robbins, The Sedona Method, Emotional Freedom Technique, and self-hypnosis can not only strengthen your motivation in general, they can help you resist specific challenges to your ability to stay motivated.  For example, if you have a craving for a particular diet-sabotaging food, there are ways to handle that.  If there’s a particular person who seems to “push your buttons” and trigger behavior that sabotages your weight loss, there are ways to handle that as well.  Different things work to varying degrees for different people, so investigate the options to find techniques that appeal to you and give them a try.

With a little effort, you can develop very strong motivation to lose weight and use it to achieve your weight loss goals.  Now that you recognize the importance of the mental aspect of weight loss you can take the steps to prepare yourself properly to keep your mind working with you rather than against you so you can lose the weight and keep it off for good.

To learn about the most effective techniques for weight loss motivation from the best mental conditioning programs available, and to receive a free weight loss program, visit Dr. Best’s TrainYourBrain4WeightLoss.com website.

Tags: motivation to diet, motivation to lose weight, weight loss motivation

This entry was posted on Friday, June 12th, 2009 at 8:38 pm and is filed under Weight Loss. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.