10 Secrets for Weight Loss Motivation

Whatever your weight loss motivation might be, we all know that it's not easy. Various traditional and fad diets are everywhere, with new ones showing up all the time. Do they work? Not if you don't follow these tips for maintaining your motivation.

It's a typical story. You're overweight and begin a diet feeling motivated. Maybe you've tried one or two diets in the past that didn't work. This time, it's going to be different. You're going to lose that weight no matter what!

So you come out of the gate with high hopes and ready to sacrifice. You lose a little weight, maybe even a fair amount of weight, and then it happens. You quit. Either you can't keep up the diet, or you can't lose any more weight. Worse yet, you gain! Maybe you can't keep up the exercise routine. You do have an exercise routine, right? Pretty soon, you gain it all back, and then some.

I know how it goes. I was too fat for way too many years. I've lost about 60 or so pounds from my heaviest weight, down to a respectable 185 fully clothed, and I've kept it off for over 3 years. So, when it comes to weight loss motivation, I have some personal experience.

Other than my diet and exercise routine, of course, there were certain key elements that allowed me to succeed. These elements have allowed me to reduce my body weight by 25 percent, and keep the weight off. I'm going to give you here the exact key elements involved.

Here are my personal 10 secrets for weight loss motivation.

1. Ready - Ready yourself for what is about to come. Readiness is one of the keys to change. When we are not ready, we cannot fully commit, and we will not adapt and adjust properly. If you're not ready, then you risk failure from the start. I would never have lost all that weight if I had not been ready. Get yourself mentally ready for the challenge.
2. Prepare - Be prepared on all fronts. Be prepared to change. Be prepared to look better and feel better than you ever have. Be prepared to give up some things, and be prepared to get back a whole lot more. Be prepared to set goals and reach them. Goal setting is extremely important to your success.
3. Commit - Be certain you can commit. Commit to setting a realistic goal and losing the weight. Commit to a promise to yourself to follow through. Commit to the process of losing weight, even when you have set-backs and things don't seem to be working.
4. Plan - Plan out the amount of weight you want to lose, and how you will do it. Use a calendar and put dates to your progress. Set your goals and work your plan. If you don't plan, you probably won't succeed.
5. Support - Get your friends and family involved by telling them your goals for weight loss. If you tell others what you're trying to do, it makes it more real to your brain. Support for weight loss motivation not only involves people to help you, but an environment that supports your weight loss. Is your kitchen filled with foods that are in conflict with your diet? Get rid of them! Make things easier by changing your environment to support your goals.
6. Monitor - Collect the data you need to mark your milestones, as well to analyze your progress. Decide up front how often you'll weigh yourself, and what you'll do with that data. Monitor your progress so that you can analyze what is working and what is not.
7. Analyze - Inspect your results and interpret the data you're collecting from monitoring. Is what you're doing working? No? Why not? Go back and look at your plan. Are your goals realistic? Have you really followed the plan? You can't cheat on your diet or skip exercising and expect the same results as a professional athlete on a strict regimen. That binge eating during a weekend away does count against you! On the other hand, don't go overboard with this. Expect set-backs.
8. Adjust - If what you're doing isn't working, re-evaluate and adjust as needed to get better results. A word of caution here is in order. Don't over adjust or over-analyze! This is a fatal mistake. During your weight loss period, you may experience what you will consider to be some set-backs. From your point of view, losing 8 pounds in one week may be a set-back, because you wanted to lose 10. From someone else's, it may be a miracle to lose 8 pounds. You have to know when to trust in the process and when to alter your plan. Just keep it real and be honest with yourself.
9. Adapt - Make the transition from current eating and exercise habits to new ones, while fitting it all into your lifestyle. You shouldn't have to become a completely different person or totally change your life in order to lose weight. This is one of the fears that many people have about making change in their lives. No matter how much we don't like being overweight, we are afraid that we will have to become something we don't like in order to make the change. This is an inspiration killer! The good news is, it doesn't have to be this way!
10. Reward - Reward yourself for following your plan. Reward yourself at pre-set milestones. Rewards are incentives to keep the motivation going. Rewards make you feel good about what you've done so far, and what you're about to accomplish. Rewards can be a slight break from the diet and exercise routine, or a gift for yourself when you reach a goal. Just don't get too caught up in rewarding yourself at the expense of your weight loss plan.

The good news as well is, that these techniques work not only for weight loss motivation, but other areas of life change too.

There are many obstacles to losing weight. Old habits, inertia, and just plain old every day life can get in the way. The bottom line is that your motivation to lose weight must overcome all those obstacles.

Whatever your reasons, and whatever your goals for slimming down, these tips can help get you through. Follow them to improve your chances of success. It worked for me, and it can work for you. When it comes down to it, weight loss motivation is your ticket to both looking and feeling better for a long time to come.

Topics Related to Weight Loss Motivation

More motivation information and resources

Using motivational posters as a tool

Motivational quotes to get you going

Daily motivation in 10 minutes a day

Motivation defined

Stop killing your fitness motivation with old thinking and outdated methods