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Staying Motivated for Weight
Loss
So you’ve decided that it is time to
lose weight. You’ve started your
exercise routine and you are choosing
healthful foods. Everything is going
great for the first week. The second week
rolls around and you ditched your
exercise routine a couple days and find
yourself not paying too much attention to
what you are ordering at the restaurant
with your friends. By week 3 you are back
to your old habits and your weight loss
goals are not being met. This is an all
too common scenario when the comfort of
our old habits takes hold and our new
habits disappear. What happened to that
motivation during the first week?
It is possible to get your motivation
back so you can meet all your life’s
goals. Practicing these 5 steps can help
you stay motivated for the long haul.
1. Create a vision.
Have you ever written a business plan
before? Writing a vision is crucial for
the success of your business and it is
crucial for your weight loss plan. Your
vision is what you are working towards
and how you envision your life. Why do
you want to lose weight? You must go
beyond “I want to lose 15
pounds” or “I want to fit into
a size 8”. Go a bit deeper. What
will weight loss bring you? For most
people it will bring increased energy and
better health. It may even allow you to
participate in something you have been
longing to do like run a marathon or go
on a back packing trip. These are
heart-felt reasons to lose weight that
will keep you motivated in the long run.
When you start to slide back into your
old habits, just ask yourself, is this
choice bringing me closer to my vision?
2. Set goals each week.
One thing that can keep you on track is
to set specific goals each week. Sit down
at the beginning of each week and map out
some simple goals that you can set for
yourself. These don’t have to be
huge goals, just simple ones like: I will
limit my ice-cream to 1 time this week.
Goals help you to stay focused while
changing habits. Post your goals all over
as reminders.
3. Schedule your exercise
When embarking on a new fitness program,
many people go at it whenever the time
permits. This is a sure-fire way to slip
out of the habit. It becomes too easy to
let other things in your life become the
priority. Try to schedule your exercise
routine the same time each week. For
example scheduling your weekly walk
Monday – Thursday at 5:30pm helps
you to create a habit which will get
easier and easier to stick with. Keep
your appointment with yourself just like
you would a doctor’s appointment. It
is just as important!
4. Build your support system
Support comes in all different forms.
This may be a walking buddy, group
meetings, or professional services. No
matter what road you take it is crucial
to have your support system in place.
This not only keeps you motivated but
also helps to keep you accountable.
Professional services such as a
Registered Dietitian, Personal Trainer,
or Life Coach can all help to provide
sound advice and strategies to help you
reach your goals. There are many
wonderful resources out there to provide
these kinds of services. Build your
support system around each topic:
nutrition, fitness, and self-discovery.
Even signing up for some free
e-newsletters or joining a weight loss
message board helps towards building your
support system.
5. When all else fails: the 3-step backup
promise
Ok. You’ve tried all of the above
and your old habits are just too strong
of a deterrent. This is when you break
out the 3-step backup promise. Make
yourself a list of 3 minimum steps you
promise to take daily. These steps will
differ for each person. The key is they
have to be completely easy and doable for
you and still work towards your weight
loss goals. It could be having a fruit or
vegetable with each meal, going for a 10
minute walk, lifting hand weights for 10
minutes, etc. Then, when things start to
derail you can agree to do the minimum
After all you did promise yourself! Make
up your 3-step back-up promise so when
things aren’t going well you can at
least stay somewhat on track with 3
doable steps.
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substitute for independent professional
advice. Information and interactions
contained in this Web site are for
information purposes only and are not
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