Motivation
We all know that if you follow a healthy eating and exercise that it will work – for improving your healthy life and weight loss. If you eat less and move more you will lose weight – end of story. But sometimes, just knowing that information isn’t enough.
To lose weight, you need to be in the right place mentally. If you’re not ready to launch a new lifestyle, chances are you won’t see much improvement in your weight loss.
However, once you are ready and everything clicks into place you will begin to see the weight drop off.
Motivation to start living healthily is the elusive piece of the puzzle. We all want motivation and few of us have it. You need motivation to get started, to stick with your diet, to get to goal and to maintain your weight loss.
Many people can kick-start a weight loss regime with relative ease, but having the motivation to stick to the regime may prove more difficult.
Tips to keep motivation
One of the simplest ways to stay motivated on your weight loss journey is to set small and manageable goals, as well as a larger, long-term goal, so that you can break your weight loss, lifestyle and fitness goals down into chunks.
- Each time you reach a new goal, reward yourself with something non-food related as this will help to disassociate food from reward. It will also help to keep you motivated as you work towards your next goal and reward.
- Some small goals could include weight loss in half stone chunks, working towards the next 4kg down, working towards inches lost or your next dress size down.
- It’s probably a good idea to work out these goals before you start losing weight so that you know what you are working towards and also when you can first reward yourself.
- But your goals don’t just have to be weight or inch loss related. You could work towards gradually increasing your vegetable and fruit intake, making sure you do a certain amount of exercise per day, cooking from scratch at least once a day, eating breakfast etc.
- If you have small goals that you work towards every day, you’ll be able to see that you can do this – you’ve achieved your goals for today, so you can achieve them tomorrow, and you can achieve them the next day and the next day.
- Motivation to lose weight can be boosted simply by making healthy foods and snacks more available to you. Equally, if you have exercise equipment close on hand, you are also more likely to exercise. So clear your cupboards of things likely to tempt you off the diet and keep plenty of healthy snacks on hand, such as crackers, nuts, baked snacks, fruit, vegetables and hummus.
- If you can afford it, buy a piece of exercise equipment in your home so that you will be motivated to exercise – something like an exercise bike or skipping rope may entice you to get exercising. Keep your equipment in plain sight – if you put it away in a cupboard, it won’t get used, so keep it out in your living room where you’ll be more likely to actually use it.
- Sticking to a routine is also an excellent way to keep motivated. If you stick to a routine, it becomes second nature, so what you are doing doesn’t feel like work – it’s just normal, everyday life. If you exercise, try to make it at a similar time each day so that it becomes second nature to do it at this time. Eating healthy food will also become second nature and it will soon no longer feel like hard work, but just the way your life is.
- Taking a break every now and then is also a good way to keep motivated. If you think to yourself that you can never have a takeaway meal every again, you’re likely to feel despondent and actually more likely to stray from your diet. However, if you make a deal with yourself to have a break from the diet once every two weeks or every three weeks where you eat a takeaway and a chocolate bar, you are more likely to stick with your diet.
- It’s also important to remember that eating these types of food are a part of real life – people go to restaurants to celebrate, or they go to bars to have fun with their friends, and if you deprive yourself of taking part in these real life situations you are unlikely to stick with the diet.
- If someone can diet with you, you are always more likely to stick to the regime. If you’re doing it on your own, without going to a slimming class or without doing it with a friend, it can be difficult to have the motivation to stick to the diet as no-one else will know exactly what you are going through or how you are coping. Try to get a friend or family involved and you may see a great improvement in your weight loss.
And if you need a structured plan to follow take a look at our 28 Day Diet & Exercise plan to give you daily guidance and structure to keep you motivated and on track.
If you are ready to lose weight then The Healthy Mummy plans offer a healthy and safe exercise and diet routine that are safe if you are breastfeeding.
And don’t forget to check out our current promotions and discounts page to see what specials we have on this week on our Healthy Mummy product range
