Staying motivated on a diet is crucial. If you can’t stay motivated, all is lost. You will end up going off the diet, and you might not even want to give it another try. So many people end up giving up on their diet. They throw up their hands in frustration and exclaim, “I can’t do this!” But the fact is, you CAN do it. You just have to know many different ways to keep yourself motivated.
There are so many ways to stay motivated on a diet. Different people will be more motivated by one factor than another, so it’s important to know a number of different motivational methods. You need to find the ones that work for you and stick to them.
We’re going to go over some of the most powerful ways to stay motivated. You may find others that work better for you, and if so, that’s great! Stick to whatever works for you!
For now, we’re just going to discuss those that seem to work for a lot of people. You can use these to start, and add your own later as you find them.
“Thinspiration”
“Thinspiration” is a term that a lot of dieters use to describe finding photos of people who have bodies they would like to have, and using those photos to inspire them to stick to their diet.
You should look for bodies that are somewhat similar to your body type. If you are a woman with a classic pear shape, don’t expect to be able to look like a waif model. If you are a guy who is only 5’3”, you might never look like Brad Pitt.
While it’s nice to shoot for the stars and dream big, you also need to be realistic. You may never look like those celebrities, or even close. If you are extremely obese, you may be shocked when you’ve lost most of your weight to see sagging skin, stretch marks, and cellulite everywhere.
I’m not saying this to discourage you. In fact, it’s just the opposite! I’m trying to get you to be realistic. You may never have a perfect body. But you CAN choose people you would like to look SIMILAR to. Just don’t expect miracles!
Cut out various photos and put them all around. Put them on your desk, tape them to the refrigerator door, tuck them into books… keep them around you all the time. This can be a very powerful motivator, especially if you are more interested in losing weight to look better
Mirror Therapy
I like to keep a large, full-length mirror near where I eat. When I was dieting, I kept a full-length mirror near my seat in the dining room, one near my home office desk, and another in the living room near the sofa. They would be a constant reminder of what I looked like as I ate, so I would have a major incentive to eat less!
You could also scatter mirrors throughout your house so you see yourself constantly. I know I had stopped putting mirrors in the house years before I reached my highest weight, because I couldn’t stand looking at myself. But eventually I realized that it was actually very motivating to see myself!
Diet Buddies and Clubs
One of the biggest motivators of all is another person, or a crowd of people! When other people are watching your progress, you have a lot more incentive to stick to a goal. You don’t want to fail in front of someone else, or a group of others!
You should try to find a diet buddy, or join a diet support group. Most areas have a branch of overeater’s anonymous. If there isn’t a local chapter of one of these support groups, start one!
You can also team up with friends, family members, or coworkers. You can get together in pairs, or in small groups. You can have meetings, and call each other whenever you experience problems. Use a system that is somewhat like alcoholics anonymous.
If you don’t know anyone else who is trying to lose weight, and you can’t join or start a support group, you should look for support from family members or a professional. Seek help from a doctor, nutritionist, personal trainer, or other professional. Everyone needs support!
Fear Death
Perhaps the biggest motivator is to constantly remind yourself that being overweight can be deadly. The more overweight you are, the more likely it is that it will cause you serious health problems, but even being 20 pounds overweight can be a health risk.
Find articles that discuss the medical risks of obesity and put them around you. Read them daily. Sometimes scaring yourself is the best motivator of all!
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Getting exercise is very important to increase your metabolism and help you burn fat. You don’t have to bench press 250 pounds or run the Boston Marathon to get exercise. There are some very simple, easy, and fun ways to get exercise!
And don’t tell me you don’t have enough time to exercise! There are opportunities to get exercise all around you. All you have to do is take them!
We’re going to look at some ways you can work exercise into your day, no matter how busy you are. Let’s face it, almost everyone is busy. We all have things like school, work, and children to deal with. Most of us don’t have nearly as much time as we’d like to complete our daily tasks, must less to exercise and get any entertainment! But there are ways to work exercise into your normal day
In additional to pursuing activities you may really enjoy such as bowling, tennis, swimming, hiking, and other physical activities that might be enjoyable, you can use these tips to make sure you get more exercise every day.
Walk More
Most people don’t enjoy walking. I’ve seen people wait for 45 minutes for a broken elevator rather than walk up three flights of stairs. I’ve seen people circle a packed parking lot for 20 minutes just to get a parking spot that is 5 spaces closer to the doors, when they could have already been inside and had half of their shopping done! It’s madness!
I purposely park further away from the doors. The only times I purposely park close to the doors are when it’s after 9 PM, when the weather is bad, and when I’m in a real hurry because I have a prior engagement or an emergency to attend to.
You should park beside the furthest cart rack in a parking lot. Not only will you be able to return your cart easily instead of abandoning it haphazardly in the middle of the lot (one of my pet peeves), but you will get some exercise without spending a lot of extra time. It only takes about two minutes to walk across a large parking lot, but the exercise you get is very beneficial.
Take the stairs whenever you can. Elevators are helpful if you have many flights to ascend, or if you’re carrying packages, or if you have small children with you, or if you’re already extremely exhausted or injured. But you should take the stairs whenever it is feasible.
Don’t go looking for excuses to make the elevator “feasible”, either. If you aren’t sick, exhausted, injured, or overburdened, taking two to four flights of stairs isn’t likely to kill you!
You can also get more walking in during your day in other ways. Instead of taking your car down to the end of the driveway to get your mail, just walk. Don’t drive your kid three blocks down the street to play with a friend, walk them there.
Start looking for ways to get more walking into your day. It has been said that it takes at least 20-30 minutes of aerobic exercise at a time to have a benefit, but recent studies have shown that may not be true. One study showed that people who exercised a total of 20-30 minutes each day in increments of just a few minutes at a time still experienced the same cardiac benefit as those who exercised for 20-30 minutes at one time.
Plus, it doesn’t make a difference to how many calories are burned whether you break it up or do it all at once. You will also benefit from increased muscle, and muscle tissue burns a lot more energy than fat tissue!
Television Workouts
Most people watch a lot of television. The average American watches 28 hours of television per week, about 4 hours every day! That’s a lot of time wasted in front of the tube!
You can put that time to good use by exercising while you are watching television. There are plenty of exercises you can do in front of the TV.
Walking on a treadmill
Riding an exercise bike
Sit-ups and crunches
Lifting weights
Toe touches
Pushups
Leg lifts
Walking in place
Bouncing on a rebounder (mini trampoline)
Using a stair stepper
These are all fun, healthy, and not very disruptive of your television watching. You can do many of these exercises while reading a book or magazine, catching up on the local news in the newspaper, or listening to music, too.
Office Workouts
There are plenty of things you can do at your desk while you’re at work or school, too. Students and office workers often find that they don’t get enough exercise, because they spend most of their day sitting down. They may have to walk from class to class or run errands, but for the most part, they are very sedentary all day.
This is where it comes in handy to perform exercises that can be done while sitting at a desk. While it won’t exactly be aerobic exercise, it will help you tone your muscles. Not only will you look better, but remember, muscle burns more calories than fat!
Stomach crunches will help you get your stomach muscles toned. Simply suck in and hold your stomach muscles tight and taught for several seconds, then release. Perform this action continually throughout the day whenever you think about it.
You can also walk around doing this during the day. You’ll be toning and building your abdominal muscles while also sucking in and making your belly look flatter!
You can pull your toes upwards and stretch your calf muscles. Just point your toes up toward your knees as far as you can without it becoming painful, hold for a few seconds, and release. Repeat this several times. This can also help prevent blood clots, which are more common in sedentary individuals.
Your bottom may also be somewhat flabby. If so, you can clench your gluteus maximus muscles tightly while sitting in your desk. Hold briefly, and then release. This will help build and tighten your buttocks.
These types of exercises will also work for other parts of your body, including your back, biceps, triceps, forearms, and thighs. Just clench your muscles, hold briefly, and release.
Remember to be careful not to injure yourself. Too much of a good thing is not good. Don’t stretch your muscles until they are painful. A slight discomfort is completely normal, but pain is not. Never work out until you feel pain!
I hope you can see how easy it is to get exercise. You can find time here and there, whenever and wherever you can. Any exercise is better than no exercise at all!
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