Lack of Motivation Could Stand Between You and Your Ideal Body
We all encounter moments, if not fleeting, where we contemplate weight loss. These moments may strike when an individual with “the perfect” body stalks by and we feel a pang of jealousy.
For some of us, the desire to rid the fat is a thought we have been harboring for several years. You might be surprised to hear that simply having, maintaining and harnessing that motivation to lose weight is becoming one of the most critical aspects of successful and long term weight loss.
What makes you motivated?
We can break this motivation down into two categories: intrinsic and extrinsic.
Intrinsic is the motivation derived from inside ourselves and extrinsic is the motivation we gain from outside factors. For instance, if you want to lose the weight because you are afraid of falling victim to Type 2 Diabetes it is intrinsic, whereas if the desire comes from wanting to look slimmer for a loved one it is extrinsic, or for the benefit of another. We all have our own factors, but it is important to give yourself several motivating reasons to keep up the fight.
Today’s society is obsessed with being efficient with our time – most especially our limited free time. Having the discipline of setting aside a block of time to exercise is likely one of the top reasons we fail to stay motivated to exercise. Routines that can offer us results in a small amount of time remain the most popular – this is where cross training, circuit training and work out machines with the ability to engage several muscle groups lead the way.
A Whole Body Vibration machine, for instance, can employ a full range of muscles and complete workouts average just 10 minutes. Studies continue to show that users are more likely to stick with a routine that can offer the most results within the shortest time frame. And with our hectic lives, who can blame us?
Creative ideas to stay motivated
Long-term motivation is essentially what will write your success story. It is critical to keep up the good work to maintain your results. One neat idea to keep you on track is to create a ‘motivational’ board – do this by posting images and pictures that keep you inspired you to lose the weight. Place the board where you are sure to pass by often!
Another great idea is to download any number of the great new mobile apps out there that efficiently track and organize your weight loss goals. If you are strict on yourself by keeping your logs up to date, these apps will certainly help keep you honest and on track.
Many people are enlisting the visual tools such as a weight loss “jar”.
This DIY project is simple and can be created by using two jars – one filled with as many beads or stones needed to represent the number of kilos you want to lose, and the other jar begins empty but is filled by placing a bead or stone that is representative of a kilo lost. You can be proud of the progression of “kilos to lose” from “kilos lost” and having this reminder will surely keep you motivated.
Without motivation, we simply lack the drive to put forth the effort needed to lose the weight. That is why it is so imperative to find what works for you. Some of us need the push of visual cues, some of us find the incentive from within, but most of us need to employ several types of inspiration to create, maintain and control our ultimate weight loss goal.
Never give up – we know you can do it! And we’d surely like to hear your tips if you have other strategies to stay motivated, so please feel free to share your suggestions below, or on our Facebook page!
