Your weight loss journey is extremely personal. No matter your initial intentions, whether it is to become healthier, gain self-assurance, or show yourself that you can achieve it, the desire to keep going will come from within. It can seem difficult to access the incentive to keep shedding pounds at times, particularly during tense times in your life.
To figure out how to encourage yourself to shed pounds, you’ll want to analyze the source of your motivation. When you understand how to take advantage of both your internal and external motivation, you can feel sure and in charge of your weight reduction process.
What Are the Different Types of Motivation?
Motivation is divided into two categories: internal and external. Internal motivation (or intrinsic), comes from within. Things that bring you true joy energize you to take initiative. An illustration of internal motivation is when you decide to lose weight to gain self-assurance or reduce the possibility of developing an illness. These incentives encourage you as they give you a sense of pride in yourself.
Outside factors drive your external (or extrinsic) motivation. You are driven to be successful due to the hope of being rewarded by an outside source. If I shed some pounds, then I will have the option to purchase new attire. If I don’t shed the pounds, my wardrobe will remain full of outdated garments. If you don’t take a chance, you won’t be able to have the gratification of buying new clothing, which is a motivating factor. And that creates external motivation to lose weight.
Beginning a regimen for weight loss can be spurred on by incentives from within or external sources, but only one of these will result in sustained success.
Get Motivated to Lose Weight with Internal Motivation
The action you take gives you a sense of fulfillment, which encourages you to keep going internally. This is motivated by a need to gain knowledge, expand, and realize one’s capabilities. Due to this connection, usually, your long-term goals are driven by inner motivation.
Accessing your own enthusiasm can provide the impetus needed to start a healthier way of life or to keep on in your present journey. As you reach important points in your travels, your energies within will create opportunities for you to feel proud, energized, and concentrated on the next step.
Research demonstrates that when you work on something for the thrill of doing it, your creativity increases. When you explore different options to shed pounds, create an individualized diet routine, look into enjoyable meals, or experiment with fresh techniques to expand your intermittent fasting, you are being inventive. As you strive to reach your big-picture objectives, you should rely on motivation coming from within to discover new and entertaining methods to encourage yourself to be slim down.
How to Use External Motivation to Keep Losing Weight
External motivation is more beneficial for reaching objectives that are to be realized quickly, as opposed to internal motivation, which is more suitable for long-term objectives. External incentives may seem beneficial on the surface but offer nothing in terms of lasting gain or success. You seek them out for a quick payoff, not for your ultimate well-being. Although it might not be the most crucial factor, having motivation from outside sources can be advantageous when trying to lose weight. Different types of external rewards can be experienced – from having something tangible like a scrumptious snack to studying a new ability or technique.
Imagine if you went through a difficult period in your fitness regime. You can use an external reward as an encouragement to finish a 30-minute workout – for example, when you’re finished, you can treat yourself to a bit of dessert for dinner. If you are growing tired of the same old cardio exercise at the gym, why not try a more vivacious, interactive workout like Zumba?
Certain incentives from outside sources can spark interest in activities that you have not been particularly keen on at the start. For example, if you learn a new cardiovascular exercise based on Zumba and find that you enjoy it, something that was once a reward from outside of yourself can change and become something that comes from within. In other words, what began as an external reward for increasing one’s knowledge can become an internal spur to engage in something you genuinely enjoy.
Life Hacks to Tap Into Your Internal Motivation
If you’re finding it difficult to stay enthusiastic about losing weight, now is the time to look for the inner drive which can enable you to reach your long-term objectives and make sure you’re having a good time with it. If you’re searching for a source of inspiration, begin by precisely identifying all your motivations for wanting to shed weight.
Take a moment to write all your reasons down. Write down what you plan to do; it will help you meet this goal and give you a clearer view of the incentives you value. Then, consider the following life hacks to focus your internal motivation:
1. Do Your Research
Your inner drive is elicited when something captures your attention and encourages you to discover more. That desire to learn more is called cognitive curiosity. Investigate the area of weight loss prior to beginning your quest to get your enthusiasm stimulated.
If you take it upon yourself to learn the different types of intermittent fasting or become better informed about how certain aspects of your body may be benefited by nutrition and physical activity, such as cellular autophagy, it will spark your intellectual interest. Introducing your brain to novel information can activate excitement, enhancing your inner drive.
2. Set Achievable and SMART Goals
Aim to set goals for yourself that are attainable. Accomplishing something is possible. However, it won’t just happen without effort and commitment. So, aim for goals that are doable but not something that will come easily in order to accomplish your objectives; divide up large goals into smaller, more attainable steps.
Set accessible milestones by using SMART goals:
Each purpose should be clear and precise, indicating exactly how it will be achieved.
You can measure the success of each goal, such as the amount of weight loss or the length of fasting.
Reachable – Every goal is difficult but achievable with what you have access to.
The objectives linked to your weight loss journey or current assignment should be pertinent.
Goals must have an established timeline to measure the progress being made.
Investigations indicate that you are more encouraged to strive towards objectives that are significant to you on a personal level. Make sure that you determine objectives that reflect your values and connect to the motivations you had for wanting to shed pounds.
3. Document Your Weight Loss Journey
If you feel like you can’t make any more progress, think of everything you’ve accomplished so far. That could be the encouragement you are looking for. Create a record of your progress in shedding pounds by taking pictures before and after your journey or writing down the details in a diary to commemorate your accomplishments. You can use Simple’s “Meal Tracker” tool to maintain a log of the food you eat. When you don’t feel like you have much drive, focus on the littlest achievements or successes, and it can give you an internal incentive to go on.
4. Give Yourself a Break
If you’re not feeling as motivated about losing weight, give yourself some time off from your diet and exercise routine for 1-3 days. The harder one attempts to capture it, the more evasive it becomes. If you just let it take its course while simultaneously utilizing a set of formative behaviors (such as meal prepping for the week ahead), you can remain on course and keep your motivational levels regulated.
5. Clean Out Your Closet
If you are having difficulty keeping your drive to lose weight, try being honest and reliable in other parts of your life. Clear out your wardrobe, settle what you owe, and fulfill your assurances to associates, family members, or colleagues. Stay true to your word in other aspects of your life so you can start to build the belief in yourself that you can meet the aim of slimming down.
6. Steer Clear of Comparisons
Having pictures of thin models pinned to your wall or posted on social media may appear as a good way to inspire yourself to slim down, but numerous studies have shown that it will likely impede any progress you make. Researchers in the Netherlands took females who had objectives of slimming down and split them up into two sections: the first group was handed a food log with pictures of slim models on the cover and within, whereas the second group was provided with a log with a regular logo image on the front. The people in the neutral group saw a decrease in their weight, while the individuals presented with journals full of pictures of supermodels saw an increment in their body weight.
The researchers stated that the photos of models made the women feel bad due to the fact that they were unable to live up to the impossible standards they had set. Glancing at pictures of skinnier women while writing down their food consumption may have made them feel that they would never be able to achieve the same physique, and thus they quit making an effort. Instead of comparing yourself to people who do not accurately portray what a healthy body looks like, keep motivated by posting pictures of yourself when you are at the peak of your physical condition as motivation for your weight loss journey.
7. Focus On a Feeling
Too often, we become disheartened when trying to meet the demands of a certain figure on the weighing scale or even a certain task to reach our goals (for example, going to the gym), and that alone can easily take away all our enthusiasm.
Focus on how you feel after eating healthily or after an enjoyable exercise session – it isn’t necessary for you to be full of inspiration prior to being active to lose weight. Pay attention to how great you feel while you exercise, and you’ll not only get the benefit of burning calories but also the emotional boost of remembering how good it felt. That can help encourage you to do more.
8. Plant a Carrot Halfway
Rewarding yourself for the objectives you have achieved is a wise decision, but since some tasks may take long periods of time, such as months or even years, to complete, you put yourself at risk of becoming unenthusiastic and disheartened before even near completion. In place of postponing your reward for weight loss until you reach your ultimate goal, arrange something extraordinary once you hit the midway point (perhaps like a journey to the spa in the Bahamas). Concentrate on how you can remain healthy throughout the trip. It is unlikely that you’ll give up when things become difficult near that midpoint.
Rewards reinforce positive behavior, but only if they’re meaningful. When you have achieved an objective in your weight-loss or exercise routine, reward yourself with something that honors the particular target you attained and facilitates additional progress.
If you don’t want to wait until the break in order to give yourself praise for sticking to your diet goals, begin by making small changes. Logging an extra mile a week on the treadmill? Acquire a high-end pair of running shoes after one month. Once you have achieved an important goal in terms of your weight, reward yourself with a new pair of leggings.
9. Act “As If”
Don’t put off that vacation, catching up with an old friend, or taking a dance class until you reach your desired weight; start doing those things now and relish each step of the journey. Imagine you are already at your goal weight. How do you feel? What would you eat? What would you drink? How would your day look? What are you delaying doing until you achieve that objective? Set up an appointment now and reframe your perspective from seeing it as something negative that you have to endure to something positive and invigorating, which will spur you on to reach your weight-loss goals.
10. Hang Your Motivation By the Mirror
Hanging up a special item from your closet can be a great motivator to help in the journey to slim down. Choose something that you anticipate wearing and put it close to your reflection. I imagine myself in the clothing and consider how great I will feel. Since it is a possession that you have already attained or intend to sport, it is much less likely to be an unachievable ambition and will aid in boosting your determination to shed weight to continue attending the gym.
11. Give Yourself Some Tough Love
Visualizing what could happen if one does not achieve a desired goal concerning body weight can oftentimes be more powerful and motivating than envisaging the eventual result.
12. Get Competitive
When attempting to shed pounds, a little bit of competition can be highly beneficial. The study published in the journal Obesity determined that participating in a group-based weight-loss competition can help one drop 20 percent or more of their original weight, compared to trying to lose weight on their own. The fascinating thing is that team captains lost more weight than other team members, probably because of their special status within the group and their involvement in the collective challenge. If you’re seeking motivation to lose weight, try forming a group with friends or colleagues and strive towards success together!
13. Cultivate Compassion
If you notice that you are in a period of low motivation or you are being harshly critical of your body, attempt to shift your thoughts to being appreciative of yourself, advises Scotto. As opposed to being hard on yourself for not shedding a pound in seven days, appreciate how your body functions and everything it does for you (it got you through your whole week’s exercises, correct?). Direct your concentration away from your physical appearance and onto your efficiency- giving thanks for your senses, arms, legs, and spare time activities such as dancing, strolling, and running. Writing down things you are thankful for in a journal may help you to maintain motivation for weight loss.
