It is often said the most successful weight loss programs are the ones where you ‘finish the way you start’ but doing this can be quite a challenge. We always start new health programs on a ‘high’ with great intentions and plenty of enthusiasm but as we continue our goals for weight loss week in week out can seem more difficult to achieve and the effort this requires, more demanding. We know however that despite this predictable drop in commitment and drive, there are reliable ways to keep focused and continue to reach our goals.
Locate a picture that reveals your true body shape when you were way too heavy and attach it to the door of your refrigerator. Make sure that it shows you at your very unhealthiest and is placed strategically near the door handle so that you will see it every time you are tempted to go hunt for a slice of cheesecake. Whenever you see your picture, remind yourself that you are changing and will soon have nothing in common with this photo except perhaps the attractive eyes!
Build in incentives for your weight loss progress and record the achievements you strive for as well as the dates on which you reach them. Make your objectives and rewards specific like ‘As soon as I lose 10 pounds I will buy the slinky black dress that’s on sale at the store’ or ‘When I drop a size in jeans I will splurge on the matching jacket on display with them’ or even ‘When I lose 20 pounds I am going to Hawaii for a week’.
Work towards your goals! Keep track of your progress and reward yourself well when you accomplish a goal that you have set for yourself. Setting goals and rewarding yourself is a powerful way to stay motivated to diet because you will start to see the positive results of all of your hard work.
Share your journey to a healthier, cuter looking body with others who may benefit from your weight loss week by week through creating a blog. You would be surprised at how effective this can be to keep your motivation high and for drawing the attention and support of many others in the same situation as you. They generally log in at least weekly and can be the source of encouraging comments and advice.
We live in world where the visual image is a powerful motivator, so find some photos or pictures of what you want to look like and will look like when you reach your target weight. Display them at home, in your office, even on your screen saver so that these positive images will begin to imprint at a deep level and motivate your weight loss week in week out. In the end you may even look better than your healthy body motivating image!
Read by going online or read books that detail the stories and successes of other people who have lost weight successfully. Reading about the success of others will help inspire you to keep going. After all, someday someone might be reading about your struggle with weight loss as a way to stay motivated and to stay on their diet!
Step outside your life of food plans and exercise programs. Adding variety to your exercise by joining a basketball team, taking a dance class or even doing some cross country skiing on the weekend. Regardless of the time of the year you can always find activities that will be fun in the first place as well as a good way to continue your weight loss week by week.
Surround yourself with friends and family who are genuinely committed to your weight loss and are prepared to do all they can to assist you with this. This does not include those whose subversive ways will encourage you to give up exercise or stop a healthy diet, for any reason and who prevent the progress which is possible for you. There is no place for in your life for these people because you are in control of your weight loss week by week and you will have no one stop you from reaching your goal.