Motivation to lose weight: 11 essential tips

If you are reading this article, it is likely that you have been trying to lose weight for a long time but have not obtained results.

When you try hard and you don't get results, the most common thing is to get demotivated. After this demotivation, your performance decreases, which leads to worse results and in the end you end up giving up, returning to your previous habits and giving up the effort you made before, either with diet or exercise.

Effort + few results = Demotivation.

Consistent effort usually pays off, so don't give up. If you have been in for a few months and have not seen results, the most advisable thing is that you are missing something and have to visit a specialist. However, the two keys to losing weight are eating and exercising constantly.

Tips to create motivation to lose weight

• Visualize the benefits

It is very important that you are able to see the reason for your effort to lose weight. That is, you have to be aware that losing weight will help you to be healthy and look more attractive. In turn, this will allow you to feel better about yourself or even like more people of the opposite sex.

When you wake up in the morning and think that you have to diet and exercise, think about the consequences of that as well. Visualize the condition you want to be in. That will motivate you and find a reason for the effort you will make.

For example: visualize that you are walking and you feel good, you look attractive because you are in shape.

If you stay in the effort you have to do and do not visualize the benefits, you will be demotivated because your brain will only experience effort and not the pleasant sensations associated with your visualization; have an attractive physique, feel good, be in shape ...

• Make a commitment

One of the best ways to increase motivation and stick with your goals is to commit.

You can do it with yourself, writing a letter or a simple phrase like:

"I promise to lose 10 kilos in the next 6 months."

You can also do it with your partner, children, parents or anyone close to you. The latter can work very well; If you tell someone what you want to achieve, you may feel "committed" to doing what you have said.

• Do not compare yourself

Comparing yourself will only demotivate you. You are totally different from other people. Some will be more attractive and thinner, some will not. In any case, all people are valuable.

Focus on yourself and your results and avoid comparing yourself to other people.

• Rest well

To lose weight there are two fundamental points: diet and physical exercise. In both you can take a break from time to time.

With food, once a week you can indulge yourself, such as eating pizza or chocolate (in moderation). Regarding physical exercise, it is an hour approximately 4-5 times a week. It is not advisable to exhaust yourself by going to the gym every day.

Rest is essential to remain motivated to lose weight. On these days off, give yourself rewards if you are really trying to lose weight, like going to the movies, seeing a friend you like, doing your favorite hobby...

• Set goals

If you set goals, you will know what to do and if you know what to do you will not waste time.

Goals are a way of focusing the brain on the actions that are necessary to achieve something. On the other hand, the objectives you set for yourself cannot be too complicated (because you will be demotivated if you don't achieve them), nor too simple (because you will not be taking advantage of your full potential).

In addition to knowing what you have to do, I recommend that you make another list of all the things you do not have to do to lose weight. Put it in a visible place and do not forget about it.

• Reward yourself

Like any other accomplishment, losing weight may require perseverance and you will have to push yourself. However, you can also enjoy the process. Your goal is to lose weight, although on the way to it you can also enjoy.

When you make small achievements; like losing a kilo, give yourself a treat. This will reinforce your behavior, the effort you are making to lose weight, and repeat itself in the future.

What to reward yourself with? Of course, not with something that makes you gain weight. It must be something you like; watch a movie, go for a walk, buy clothes, go out with your friends ...

• Punish yourself (moderately)

If you skip the diet or do not exercise, you will also need to give yourself a "small punishment." That will make it less likely that you will do that negative behavior that does not lead you to meet your goals.

If, for example, you haven't been to the gym for a week, punish yourself without doing something that you usually do and that is pleasant for you; go to the movies, go out with your friends...

On the other hand, it is important that you keep in mind that punishment does not work as well as reinforcement (giving yourself a reward). Therefore, use the rewards more when you do something that leads you to lose weight.

• Don't be a perfectionist

Perfectionism will only waste time and take no action. If you want to do everything perfectly, all the conditions will have to be in place to do a certain action and in the end nothing is done. Always try to improve, but do not seek to be perfect.

If, for example, you perceive eating a small candy as a big failure, you are more likely to give up and destroy your self-esteem. If you see it as a small mistake that you have to learn and not make again, you will continue to persevere in your goal of losing weight.

• Take care of your self esteem

Above all, take care of the internal critical voice that transmits negative and destructive thoughts about yourself. Try to be aware of those thoughts, eliminate them and replace them with positive thoughts.

The critical voice is the one that throws you thoughts like: “you will never lose weight”, “so much effort is useless”.

Those thoughts destroy your self-esteem. Become aware of them and change them for more constructive ones: "I am losing weight little by little and in the end I will see results", "the effort is worth it".

• Evaluate your progress but without obsessing over

It is necessary to evaluate progress, that way you can know what you are doing right, what you are doing wrong and what you need to change.

You can do it simply by weighing yourself on the scale in your gym or at home and writing down those results that you will see from time to time. When you see them, you will be motivated because you will see that your effort is having its rewards and positive results.

But don't be obsessed; If, for example, you look in the mirror continuously to see if you are losing weight, you will not see the changes because these changes occur very little by little and in the short term they are almost imperceptible.

However, if you evaluate the results every week and have made an effort, you will see these changes clearly and therefore your motivation will increase.

• Expect some weight gain

If you're losing weight by going to the gym, you may experience some weight gain at first.

This is simply because you will be gaining muscle and the same volume of protein (muscles) weighs more than the same volume of fat. After a few days, the weight will drop again because you will be losing that excess fat that you had.

• Habituation occurs little by little

Habits are simply forms of behavior that we have adopted, but what we call bad habits (smoking, drinking) are just as easy to adopt as good habits.

Yes, bad habits are also adopted little by little, and at first, they are not pleasant: did you like it the first time you smoked? As a child, did you like beer or alcohol in general?

Therefore, to adopt the good habit of exercising and taking care of your diet, you will have to go little by little and with effort. After a period of adaptation to your new way of life, your body will have gotten used to it and it will be difficult to get rid of these new healthy habits.

If for example, you want to start eating better, do not try to do everything. Slowly introduce healthy foods into your diet.

If you want to start running to lose weight, start small each day. For example, with 10-15 minutes a day. Then you can go up little by little.