If you want to drop the pounds and lose weight you have to have a pumped-up attitude. Because motivation as we know is everything and today we’re going to talk about motivation. How do you get motivated? How do you stay motivated when you’re trying to lose weight? These are great questions you all must have thought about if you are on the same page. So let’s dive right in!
Motivation is just a feeling!
Here’s the thing we have to remember- that motivation is just a feeling. And no feeling just magically happens to us. Feelings don’t just drop out of the sky. All of the feelings that we experience are generated by what we think. Our thoughts create our feelings. So if you are trying to generate the feeling of motivation to lose weight you first have to start by investigating. What are you thinking?
Start by Creating a Plan
Whenever we need to take on any type of change we have to create some type of plan for ourselves. Some type of intention, somewhere to direct our attention in a way that is different from what we’ve been doing in the past. And for a lot of people creating a plan can be really motivating at the beginning. The reason that plan is motivating is because we’re believing in it. And we’re excited about it and we believe it’s going to help us get our results. So we feel motivated.
You Don’t See Change Right Away
And most people can generate motivation for a couple of days. But what starts to happen is that after two three four days when we’re not seeing the results that we want to see. We don’t start to see a change right away, we start to lose motivation. Side note weight loss doesn’t work that way. Weight loss takes time, it’s not fast and it’s not linear right? But a lot of times when we set a weight loss goal and the reason that we’re losing motivation is because we’re no longer excited about it.
And we stop believing in the plan that we’ve set up for ourselves. Sometimes when that plan starts to get really hard that we’re like forget this right this doesn’t work anyway. And that absolutely creates the opposite effect of motivation.
So What Really Motivates Us to Lose Weight?
So point one you really have to remember that motivation is a feeling. And the way we are thinking is either going to motivate us or demotivate us. Now to take it one step further. Something that I personally have found to be very true around motivation and weight loss is nothing really creates motivation and momentum like results right? Once you really start to see the results of the work that you’ve put in you start to get motivated.
The reason behind that motivation is you’re believing really hard in what you’re doing right? Because you’re like this is working- oh my gosh this is so exciting- I’m going to keep doing this maybe I’ll tweak it like this- maybe I’ll tweak it like that right. Those thoughts, that excitement and that belief in yourself builds more motivation. And then as that motivation is rooted with more energy and excitement, more momentum builds.
How does our brain work around motivation?
So I think what we have to remember for ourselves is that at the beginning it’s very normal for anything new, anything different that we’re doing to feel uncomfortable, to feel challenging. Because you have to remember our brains love easy and efficient. They don’t want to use a lot of energy. They love doing what they did yesterday. So whenever we’re creating a new habit it requires more energy. And more attention, more awareness and more consciousness on our part. And that is uncomfortable. It’s harder. It’s harder than not doing it for sure right?
Not only that, when you come into a situation where you want something that you normally would do. And now you’re trying to do something different that also is uncomfortable right? Anytime you’re trying to change a habit it can feel uncomfortable at the beginning.
Stay Committed to Your Goal!
So I think it’s important that you really build motivation. And create some type of game plan for yourself, some type of intention. And then making a commitment to work towards that goal, that game plan and that intention. Knowing that it will feel bumpy at the beginning. I almost want to invite you not to expect motivation at the beginning. You don’t necessarily require motivation as a means to get you into action.
You have to be willing to take action when you’re not motivated. Because honestly if we all sit around waiting to be motivated it’s very unlikely that we’re going to make a lot of progress. Because again it’s hard to maintain that motivation when we’re doing something new and different with just the power of our mind.
How You Think is All That Matters
And real motivation starts to generate from results. Important to note that again the motivation is not actually coming from the result. It is coming from what we think about the results. So if you can generate that belief system without the results I mean that’s the real magic. But either way you can get there either by the way you’re thinking. Or by just creating a plan, committing and then getting motivated by your results. Those are your two pathways to creating more motivation for yourself.
So I hope that was a little bit insightful. And I hope it helps you get a better idea about your personal thoughts, questions and or experiences. Well now you know where you stand with your motivation and with your weight loss goals and successes. So just hang in there, stay motivated and lose that extra weight!