Do you believe you have the motivation to carry you through your weight loss journey? Sometimes, people start their weight loss journey with a plan in place, but they give up when they run into trouble. It might be due to external pressure; it could be stress or just a complete loss of motivation. Regardless of the cause, we all find this part of dieting difficult.
Set Your Goals & Track Your Progress
You can write your goals out in a notebook, create a fancy spreadsheet, just do whatever will work best for you. Use this to track your measurements, weight, or your BMI. It’s up to you to track the aspects of this that you value the most. When you have a written record of your journey you can look back on what you have achieved.
You’re a lot less likely to slip back into old habits when you can look to this record of your progress. There is another benefit to keeping a record. It will allow you to notice patterns in your slip-ups. This can help you avoid unchecked problems that spiral out of control.
Another important aspect of keeping a record is your portion sizes. This is one of our biggest issues – often, we choose healthy foods, but we may simply eat too much. Depending on the particular diet, long-term weight loss and maintenance may hinge on portion sizes. Your food diary is an excellent way to track your progress and ensure success.
Rewards Boost Motivation
Rewards are important; they are an excellent tool for boosting motivation. However, it’s so vitally important that you do not use food as a reward. Don’t get into that habit; it will be detrimental to your weight loss journey and creates an unhealthy relationship with food.
Your reward could be a new book, an afternoon at the golf course, a trip to the movies (or just a movie marathon in bed). It should be something you enjoy, that makes you happy, and doesn’t involve food. This will be your reward as you reach a small goal.
The Best Defense is Offense
There are always going to be people in your life who encourage you to misbehave. “Go on; treat yourself!” It’s not a problem if it’s just one time, but it is when it occurs repeatedly. If there’s one person who always causes you to deviate from your plan, then you need to avoid them or speak to them about it. It doesn’t matter how old you are, peer pressure will always exist.
You have to stand up to it, and the best defense is offense. When you are planning social events, try to avoid plans that revolve around meal times. Non-food activities are the way forward when you know you struggle with resisting temptation.
Dealing With Food
Always have healthy snacks handy. You should keep them in the car, in your bag, in your desk, and obviously in your home. It’s easier to make the right decisions when you set yourself up to succeed. For foods that you find tempting, don’t keep them in your home. If it’s tempting to you, why keep them somewhere you can too easily get them? Now, if you share a home and it belongs to someone else, then you should keep them in a high cabinet so they’re out of sight.
Address Emotional Issues
A lot of us have emotional eating issues, and it’s important to deal with those because those can impact your motivation. What emotions drive your unhealthy eating? Is it sadness, anger, stress, or frustration? Know what emotional issues drive your unhealthy habits and find a way to deal with them head-on. When you fall prey to your emotions, be sure to note that in your journal. This is something you can use to find patterns in your behavior, allowing you to address them and make changes.