Weight Loss Motivation
As a dietitian, I often have people asking me how they can get motivated to lose weight. The simple answer is, it’s not something that can be packaged up and handed to you on a silver platter. Everyone has different motivations when it comes to weight, health, fitness and nutrition.
The best thing you can do is figure out for yourself what your weight-loss motivations and goals are. Write down your goal, and if you haven’t done so already, check out our blog here for helpful tips on how to do this.
Firstly, work out your why when it comes to weight loss- not just the what.
Saying you want to lose weight is very easy, but articulating why will take a little more digging. This is where your motivation truly lies. Perhaps you want to lose weight because you want to fit back into your favourite clothes or you know you can run a little faster when you’re lighter? Write these reasons down for yourself to frame why you want to lose weight. If you can’t write anything down, then maybe this isn’t what you really want.
Motivation comes and goes. Discipline sticks around and wins every time.
Once you work out your weight loss motivations (the reasons why), then it’s important to link this to your actions. This is where discipline comes in! You probably won’t feel motivated to get out of bed for a jog at 5am, but if you have discipline, you’ll get up and do it anyway. One of best ways to be disciplined in your approach to your goals is to set a routine for yourself. Wake up at the same time each day, exercise at the same time and in no time it’ll feel like second nature to be taking these steps towards your health.
Identify some of the barriers that interrupt your momentum.
These are things that regularly throw you off track when you’re trying to achieve a health and fitness goal. Perhaps it’s late nights, leading to sleep ins and missing the gym. If this is the case, then set an alarm on your phone for bedtime (reminding you turn off the Netflix!) to make sure you get your full 8 hours. Maybe it’s social events where you feel like the glass of bubbles and the less-healthy food choices offset your good work for the week. If this is the case, then perhaps you need to plan to avoid the fried foods and opt for a sparkling water instead of an alcoholic beverage. Maybe you have the best intentions but don’t know where to start. If this sounds like you, then I would recommend to check out all of our helpful blogs for health management tips and explore the dietitian-designed meal plans on our website that are freely available to you here along with shopping lists to take some of the hard work out of it.
In the end this all comes down to you, the culmination of all of your little habits will add up to see great results. Rome wasn’t built in a day… don’t throw in the towel if your motivation waves, just have a contingency plan to keep you on track!
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Domino Puttick
Accredited Practising Dietitian
