Many people are looking for ways to lose weight, which usually includes “closing your mouth and working out” accompanied by discipline and willpower. This type of motivation to lose weight sometimes hinders more than helps, as it reduces everything to a matter of “focus, strength, and faith.”
Losing weight or achieving a healthy weight includes several factors that go beyond what we eat. It also concerns how we eat, hormonal, metabolic, physiological, psychological problems, sleep quality, etc.
Likewise, motivation is not static so that we can feel more or less motivated. It changes under the influence of internal and external factors that stimulate our decisions and attitudes. Are we going to understand it better?
What is motivation?
Motivation is an element that drives people to act in a certain way, that is, to work to achieve their goals.
It’s a personal feeling. This means that part of each one of us. I can’t motivate you, I can only encourage your motives. However, you can find motivation, according to the awareness you present to change and the moment in your life.
How to keep the motivation to lose weight? 5 Tips
Accept and respect your body
Don’t be so critical of your body. Please do not make derogatory or harmful judgments or comments about yourself. Appreciate the parts of your body that you like the most instead of highlighting what bothers you the most.
Perceive it as something essential that allows you to carry out so many activities in your day-to-day: getting around, working, having fun, exercising, chatting, etc. This is my first tip for anyone looking for motivation to lose weight.
Take the focus off the weight
Excess weight can be associated with health problems, and there is no harm in wanting to lose weight, as long as it is healthy, without miracle or restrictive diets.
It is essential to perceive weight loss as a consequence of behavioral changes and not your process’s focus. Health does not depend on a certain ideal weight but on a set of healthy behaviors.
It would help if you also remembered that there are healthy people of all sizes and bodies.
Have patience in the processes
Pursuing a healthy life and being at peace with food is more interesting than seeking to lose weight fast. Generally, this loss is closely linked to a diet that is impossible to follow in the long term.
Therefore, it is best to make progressive changes and understand that it takes time to realize our health changes.
Set realistic goals
Setting goals can help change behavior. And consequently, in the motivation to lose weight. With the help of a healthcare provider, you can set goals and determine steps to reach them. That way, you focus on gradual changes and not on unrealistic and immediate goals like “losing 10kg in 1 week”.
Recognize the positive
Focus on what you managed to change and don’t be discouraged by goals that haven’t been achieved yet. This is essential in order not to lose motivation to lose weight.
Change is a gradual and dynamic process. This is because we are human beings and not machines who repeat everything in the same way.
In the change process, we encounter several obstacles that should not be discouraging but considered in understanding our difficulties.