Getting and Staying Motivated to Lose Weight
Are you having trouble getting motivated to lose weight? Or, is it pretty easy for you to get motivated, but then you quit because you struggle with staying motivated to lose weight? If so, whether you’re new to working out or you’ve been doing this for years (and years), there is a lot of valuable information in this post for you. There IS hope.
First, some insight into motivation…
You may not want to hear this (and you probably already know this), but it’s an undeniable truth—no one can motivate you. As your personal coaches, we CAN inspire you, we CAN help you, we CAN hold you accountable, we CAN reward you, but we cannot motivate you. The key to motivation is YOU.
People typically look at this reality one of two ways—1) they are empowered by the knowledge that their fate is in their own hands OR 2) they’re discouraged because they realize that they are going to have to make a significant change.
For most people, change is scary—but, it doesn’t have to be. That’s just an old, unproductive mindset that we’d like to help you shift.
One of the ways we help the people we coach is by giving them proven strategies—in this post, I’m passing along seven that will help you get AND stay motivated to lose weight.
Let’s get started…
7 Tips For Getting & Staying Motivated to Lose Weight
Here are seven strategies for getting AND staying motivated to lose weight:
MOTIVATION TIP #1—Find your reason WHY. This is the most important strategy of all. Knowing the REAL reason behind your initial motivation is a BIG deal. Note that you really have to put some thought into this—it’s easy to think you know the reason when really it’s an outdated reason why or even someone else’s reason why.
The logic behind this motivation strategy is that you will be much more likely to sustain your motivation when you have a solid reward to go after—like a better lifestyle, being a better example or being around longer for your kids, or just a more joyful life. The problem that often arises with a short-term or more surface goal, like losing weight simply to look good in front of your family and friends, is that the satisfaction wears off. Why not go further than this? Why not live your best life despite what everyone thinks of you?
Find a deeper reason for losing weight and remind yourself of it often so it pushes you into staying motivated to lose weight.
MOTIVATION TIP #2—Find your inspiration. Having people who you look up to is so important. We’ve established that getting healthy and losing weight should predominantly be more than just about aesthetics, so find role models who inspire you to strive for deeper changes.
As I mentioned above, Tony is one of my early role models to lose weight and get fit—and, because he pushes people to change from the inside, I permanently changed from the inside and have gone on to find ongoing motivation in many others.
MOTIVATION TIP #3—Keep company with like minded people. The cliché is a cliché because it’s true—you are the company you keep. An important strategy for getting and staying motivated to lose weight is to surround yourself with people who make you want to be better and will hold you accountable.
You’re most likely to become like the people you’re hanging out with, so find some with similar interests—people who are pumped about living their best life and who will encourage you on your journey.
Getting into an accountability group—like our Insane Ward and Fix Family private groups—is another great idea and an easy way to add a bunch more healthy and enthusiastic individuals all at once.
MOTIVATION TIP #4—Just do it. Sometimes doing it isn’t easy. You might have had the longest and hardest day at work, you might have had a terrible night’s sleep, or you might just be feeling super low for a variety of reasons, but you can’t let that turn into an excuse to say NO. Even when you feel like flaking out, just do it and see what happens. (There is only two exceptions to the “Just do it” protocol and that is when you are sick or seriously injured.)
MOTIVATION TIP #5—Set reasonable goals. I’ve seen it again and again—people set way too lofty goals and then fizzle out of discouragement. It’s important to make reasonable long-term goals and then set up reasonable short-term ones that will get you there.
Ask yourself where you want to be 1, 5, 10, and 20 years from now. Exercising is a lifestyle that betters the quality of your every day and adds years to your life, so don’t be hesitant to dream big—just don’t dream impossible!
MOTIVATION TIP #6—Reward your progress. After you reach each short-term goal, reward yourself with something you really want. Buy that new dress, new pair of shoes, or fancy new toy…go on that vacation or throw a party. It doesn’t matter what it is—just reward yourself because you’ve earned it!
MOTIVATION TIP #7—Find something active that you love to do. Fun is a BIG motivator. When you find something active that you absolutely love to do, it’s way easier to do things that make you do better at it. Usually that means doing things that give you more stamina or better coordination. As your stamina and coordination improve, you find that you start thinking about being able to do it longer—as in for a lifetime.
Here’s my follow up video to Tony’s where I talk about his six strategies and explain my seventh:
Use Pain and Pleasure as Motivation
Several years ago, I studied how the human brain works and how our “associations” impact our behaviors. Tony Robbins really sums it up with this great quote:
The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure, instead of having pain and pleasure control you.
I took some time to film a video describing how you can use pain and pleasure to motivate yourself. Check it out:
This mental “re-association” isn’t automatic. It takes time. What I can tell you is that if you can shuffle these pieces of the puzzle around, you can write an entirely different story of your life.
Get Help Staying Motivated to Lose Weight
Beachbody products helped us do to get and stay motivated to lose weight over a decade ago—and we passionately pay it forward out of gratitude for everything the company has done for us.
In the past 10 years, the number and sophistication of the fitness and nutritional products, and they way they are delivered to customers, has improved exponentially. That’s because there are hundreds of thousands of people who have found them to be the ideal solution to getting healthy and losing weight.
We want you to achieve your weight loss goals. We want you to be your best you and live your best life. One of the BEST things about our affiliation with Beachbody is our ability to offer FREE coaching to our customers. It’s a priceless benefit of their awesome products. If you’re not already working with a Beachbody coach, click below to learn more about our free coaching program:
