One of the biggest obstacles that most people face when trying to achieve their weight loss goals is a loss of motivation. While everything may have seemed exciting and fun in the planning stages or when they were making their New Year’s Day resolution to transform their body – when they actually get down to it, the journey is tedious, dull and tiring.
The initial excitement has waned and is replaced with a sense of dread. Their mind conjures up excuses to cheat at a meal or skip workouts. Their food cravings become stronger while their will power weakens.
If you find yourself in this situation, do not despair. It is the norm and most people feel the same way too. They may not say it out loud, but deep down they feel it.
The problem arises when one feels like a ‘loser’ for not being determined all the way. Successful weight loss is not a linear journey. There will be many times when one slips up, loses their way, backslides a little and so on. This is normal.
Just Keep Going
The key to success and reaching your weight loss goal is to keep going. You’ll want to have more successful days than slip ups. Your compliance to your dieting should be around 80 to 90%.
If you can do that, your weight loss will progress slowly and steadily – and that’s the best way to go about it. If you “cheat” on your diet or skip a work out in a week, but you stick with the other days of the week, you’re doing great.
If you’ve been at a caloric deficit for 6 days but indulged in some ice-cream on the seventh day, you’re still doing fantastic. Aiming for perfection is only going to leave you feeling like a failure. Slipping up every now and then is inevitable.
Maintaining the ‘Excitement’
When you’re starting on any goal, there is always a sense of excitement and positive energy. You know that you’re making a change for the better and the idea of attaining your goal energizes you. The same applies when you decide to lose weight.
You can already see your lean, lithe body. You can see yourself turning heads and fitting into clothes that would normally burst at the seams if you tried them on. You can see the changes in your mind even if they’ve not manifested into reality yet.
The best way to stay motivated is to always try and maintain that initial excitement. This can pose a huge challenge because weight loss doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a journey that will take months depending on how many excess pounds you’re carrying.
When one day blends into another and all you feel like you’re doing is exercising and struggling with your diet, but results are slow to come – it’s very easy to lose the excitement.
To overcome this problem, always revisit in your mind what you’re aiming for. Why do you want to lose the weight? To look better? To have a sense of pride?
Whenever you think of stopping and quitting, always remember WHY you started. Watch motivational fitness videos or body transformation videos on YouTube. You’ll get inspired by seeing what others have done and it’ll spur you into believing that you can do it too – and you can.
Always keep your eye on the end goal and move forward. You can. You will.
Rich Farina, M.S. is a Metabolic Health and Conditioning Specialist with over 30 years of experience helping thousands of individuals lose weight, rebuild their metabolisms, and improve their health in his Metabolic Testing & Weight Loss Centers.
He holds both Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Exercise Physiology and Public Health respectively and is a passionate advocate of using proven, scientific principles in his approach to exercise and nutrition.
He is a contributing author, professional speaker, and advisor on topics that include weight loss, human performance, and medical fitness.
He continues his deep-seated passion to help people improve their health and longevity through his own line of premium, all-natural nutritional supplements called Truthentics™. The Truthentics™ brand of nutritional supplements is specifically designed to help people compensate for nutritional deficiencies and bring their bodies back into balance.
