Weight Loss | Motivation techniques

Have you tried to lose weight in the past ?  Did you set yourself a goal or a target weight loss? Did you start your diet well and then begin to flounder?

One of the reasons for this is the way in which we set our weight loss goals and the reason for setting them in the first place.  Our motivation.  I’m going to talk about setting the goals in another article but for now let’s start with studying a little about motivation.  ...

Why did you decide to lose weight in the first place?  Was it because the weight had piled on over a period of time and you kept telling yourself you really must do something about it and then one day “That’s It!  I’ve had enough.  I can’t stand it any longer” and all your determination came flooding in and you just knew that you would lose all the weight you wanted because you felt absolutely ready to do so.

When that happens your motivation is what is called “away from” motivation.  You just have to get away from the situation as it is.  You are sick of it.  You are thoroughly motivated and dieting not only becomes a MUST but, in that moment, you feel it is possible and inevitable.

Away-from  motivation is very powerful.  It works in other areas of our lives.  Sometimes a relationship has to get really diabolical before one or other party will have the courage to move away from it.  A job has to become intolerable before you’ll leave, especially if there is a decent financial reward that you may not accomplish elsewhere.  Think about times you had to wait for that powerful push before you left a difficult situation.

When it comes to losing weight, away from motivation is helpful to start with but doesn’t last long.  Why?  Because once you’ve lost a few pounds you feel a little less heavy; your waistband is not so tight.  You might lose a few more pounds and you’re beginning to notice a pleasing difference but what’s happening to your motivation?  Well, in truth, you are moving away from that powerful force that catapulted you into action in the first place and therefore your motivation is weakening.  Imagine a graph where the horizontal line at the bottom is your “I can’t stand it any more” high-weight high-motivation line and the vertical is your actual weight : highest where it meets the horizontal.

As you draw a line away from highest weight towards the lower weight, you will see you are moving away from the very thing that motivated you in the first place.  Get it now?

The further you move, the harder it is to maintain motivation.  What do you do?  Well, what you do is begin to set all sorts of “toward” motivational goals for yourself.  Not just weight goals but other, even more powerful motivators … and that’s the subject of another article which will be published soon.

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Warmest wishes
Bee