What to Do if You Lose Your Motivation for Weight Loss
Virtually any weight loss plan you start will go smoothly at the beginning because you are fired up and eager to do what it takes to reach your goal weight. But over time, it's very common to start losing that inner spark. Before long, you may start feeling annoyed about having to prepare special foods for yourself, or just wishing you didn't have to work so hard at maintaining a healthy weight.
When this happens, you have reached a crossroads. You can either continue down the path of "this sucks and I don't want to do it any more" - or you can do a few things to rekindle your motivation so losing weight becomes exciting and fun.
How to Get Motivated Again
First things first - reconnect with the reasons why you initially wanted to lose weight. Why was that goal so important to you? What did you stand to gain from losing weight and getting fit? Spend some time really thinking about these reasons and ask yourself if they are still important to you.
Assess Your Plan
Now, take a moment to consider the weight loss plan you are following. Is your dissatisfaction stemming from the fact that you don't like the plan itself? Is it not working well for you? Is it very strict? Does it require a lot of time and energy to follow?
Remember that you don't have to be married to any particular plan! If you are no longer feeling the love for your current plan, you can easily explore others or come up with your own. You can even take components from several different plans and combine them into your own unique plan. Simply consider the areas you most need to change, and you'll be able to create a plan that helps you do that.
Create Coping Tools
No matter which plan you follow, you may need to think about ways to keep yourself feeling motivated and inspired as you go along. Create a "toolbox" filled with things that help you do that.
You can store a few pictures of yourself at a lighter weight to inspire you (or even magazine cut-outs of models with the type of shape you are trying to create for yourself), a blank journal in which to work through your feelings, a few bags of your favorite tea, a book of jokes - anything that would help boost your mood and rekindle your commitment to losing weight, add it to this toolbox.
Start Fresh
Now the only thing to do is start fresh again! Take it one day at a time and don't get overwhelmed. Remind yourself daily why you are taking these action steps, and keep your eye on the prize (your goal weight).
Zig Ziglar once said that motivation never lasts - that's why you need to do it every day, like bathing. That insight in itself is motivating because now you know how to motivate yourself, and you need only work at it a little bit each day to keep that inner fire burning.
