We’ve had a lot of new subscribers here at LoseFree and I want to thank all of you who have visited the site and taken the time to download and read the Lose Free Diet eBook. Because of this, I thought it would be good to write a post on weight loss motivation. I know that there are some people who have read the book and are doing everything to be healthier and more fit and are seeing results. Then I imagine there are also a few people who have read it and forgot about it and it goes in the pile of diets that didn’t work because the motivation wasn’t there to take the time to try it!

Finding the motivation to lose weight is probably the hardest thing to do. We are creatures of habit – we get used to our routines and our bad eating habits and it’s very difficult to break these habits. Losing weight is not about swallowing some magic diet pill or eating “super food”…it’s about changing your lifestyle. You’re not just dieting to lose weight for a couple of weeks – you’re doing this I hope because you want to be healthy and feeling good about yourself for life. Changing is difficult for all of us – and for many of us fighting to change can be a lifelong struggle without the right support and resources.

If you’re just starting to think about losing weight or maybe you tried losing weight for a little while and gave up, these 5 things you need for weight loss motivation might be helpful to get you off to a good start. It is never too late to start – even if you’ve stopped or fallen down a few times.

1. A Reason Why: There’s countless reasons why your doctor or the news and medical journals will say you should lose weight. I could list probably 10-15 reasons right off the top of my head. But none of the reasons matter unless it’s the reason why YOU want to lose weight. It’s not enough to just want to be skinnier or healthier. You need to be specific and be able to visualize that reason. Do you want to be able to fit into a certain size clothes? Do you want to be able to walk up a flight of stairs without losing your breath? Do you have kids or grand kids you want to be healthy for and be able to chase around? Your own personal reasons are going to be the biggest motivator that makes the difference between saying “Aw, I’ll workout tomorrow” or “I am going to drag myself out to exercise for 30 minutes today even if I am exhausted from working all day.” Your reasons why will make the difference between eating apple slices with no sugar added peanut butter and a huge slice of ooey-gooey-double chocolate fudge cake for a snack.

2. A Schedule: Let’s face it: Most of us have pretty busy lives. Whether you’ve got kids or a job or really anything else, it’s pretty easy to procrastinate or push off working out or eating healthy. If you’re one of those people who say “I don’t have time for breakfast” or “There’s no time to workout” or “I’m lucky if I have time to take a shower!” then you need a schedule. Take some time and make a plan of what time you will eat, what times you will exercise, etc. Not only will this help you change your routine, but it will also make a difference in how organized your life is and reduce stress as well. Treat eating right and exercising as important as any other appointment or meeting scheduled in your planner – it is.

3. Support: It’s not easy to do anything alone. Someone once said to me “You’re not the only one – you just think you are.” It’s a good saying to remember, because any time you feel hopeless or like you can’t do something or that nobody understands – it’s usually not the case. You can hopefully find support through family and friends, but if not there are great sites like meetup.org that can help you meet some like minded people near you or you can always join a group fitness class or other activities near you. Having someone who can cheer you on and help you reach your goals together with makes a huge difference.

4. Confidence: When you are overweight, it’s easy to feel a lack of confidence in yourself and your abilities. Maybe others have mistreated you or judged you because of your weight – maybe you have failed at diet after diet that you think you are the failure, not the diet. Whatever the reason is, you have to get that confidence back. Being able to say “I can do this” to yourself over and over again will make it much easier to stay motivated and on task than saying “I can’t do this.” Start off slow – you don’t need to run a marathon. Start off just by moving the different parts of your body. Raise your arms up in the air. Kick your legs. Walk for 5 minutes. Then the next day do just a little bit more. You want to keep pushing yourself – and each time you succeed at the small stuff you will start feeling more and more confident to continue making progress.

5. Progress Tracking: Making progress isn’t going to be evident in the first day or even the first few weeks. But if you keep working at it you will see progress and you will be amazed at how much you’ve accomplished. Our free printable exercise log will help you keep track of the progress you’ve made and gives some tips on using it to help you stay motivated. Rewarding yourself for every accomplishment is important – even if it is a small accomplishment. Maybe you went one entire day going sugar free – you could reward yourself with a relaxing bubble bath. The rewards or the accomplishments don’t have to be big – but by seeing the little changes you’ve made will help you stay focused on making the bigger ones.

If you want to lose weight, and you have all of the things listed above in combination with eating right and exercising, you WILL see results. Remember that nobody is perfect, and of course you will likely slip up a few times here and there. But don’t let that be what it takes to stop you – keep moving forward and before you know it you will look back at where you were and how far you’ve come along.

How are you doing with losing weight? Do you struggle with motivation? Need some help? Feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this post or email me and let me know how it’s going for you!