Most of us start a plan like this because we've reached 'rock bottom'. Usually it's something, something relatively minor in the overall scheme of things, but MAJOR to us, that causes us to finally take NOTICE and realize that we HAVE to DO SOMETHING to get the weight off.
Everyone has their own story.....a lot of the ones I read have to do with people being in amusement parks with their kids, and being unable to fit into the seats on the rides...(how embarrassing!).....or flying somewhere and they couldn't get the airline seatbelts all the way around them (mortifying!).
That kind of thing.
For me? I had wound up in the Emergency Room thinking I was having a heart attack....it turned out to be simple angina, thank heavens....but it really shook me up...and in the process a Nurse took one look at me, and said, "Hmmm, I may have to get out the BIG SCALE for YOU".
My mouth dropped open. Obviously this wasn't a very nice thing to say (and the way she said it wasn't nice, either), but it made me finally stop and THINK.
The next day I decided I was either going to find a way to get this weight off myself, or I was going to go for gastric bypass surgery, because I had HAD it with my weight.
That motivated me to join Medifast....and the rest is history, of course....
BUT....!!!!
Once I got to goal, and the compliments stopped, and I got 'used' to being slim, I also started to creep up in my calories...a little here, a little there....and pretty soon I was gaining again.
After all, if you are prone to gaining weight, if you have metabolic syndrome or are getting older (and aren't we all?) or are female or a yo-yo chronic dieter....chances are those little fat cells just can't WAIT to explode again. (which, by the way, I read that we never get rid of them completely! They just shrink! Isn't that awful? UGH).
Which means, I overindulge in that piece of cherry cheesecake? You'd better believe that a couple thousand fat cells are busy hoarding the calories and getting BIG again.
Doesn't take much....and I'm gaining again. Not good!
So....the problem then becomes, HOW to get back on the program again? How to RE-motivate myself?
After all, it's not as bad as it was when I weighed nearly 300 lbs....or even 230 lbs., which is what I was when I finally 'gave up' regular dieting and joined Medifast.
It's more like 10, 15 lbs. That's HARD to motivate yourself to lose because it's not a huge change. There aren't huge non-scale victories to look forward to.
So how do you stay motivated?
Well, I read a great article on Calorieking.com (a great website to 'join', by the way, not just use for its superb food database for food logging, but also because it's got an entire weight-loss Community, with blogs, forums, groups, lots of communication among other people trying to lose the weight) about motivation and I would like to share it with you because it really helped me!
HOW TO GET - AND STAY - MOTIVATED!
If you're going to lose weight, and keep it off, you need motivation and lots of it, and you need it to last more than a couple of weeks.
Getting and staying motivated is one of the biggest challenges in weight control.
This topic looks at:
- Understanding motivation
- Your motivators and barriers for weight loss
- Ways to boost motivation levels
Remember what you want and why you want it.
The key to motivation ...
Is to remember what you want, why you want it, and what you have to do to get
it.
The key is to stay forward-looking and think about what you want or don't want in the future, because the decision you make today will partly determine that future.
Motivation is also something you have to put into practice every day, in all the small decisions you make, and the habits you practice, so that you stay motivated over time, not just for the day or week you feel inspired.
There are many ways to make motivation work for you, and they can be quite personal. If you know of an example in your own life where you have stayed motivated to do something for a long period of time, think about what worked for you - why did your motivation stay alive? How can you make motivation work for you in relation to weight control?
What are your motivators?
Knowing what you want and why you want it is key to staying motivated. So do you know what you want and why? What are your motivators for losing weight? Think carefully about this question, because the answers will help you stay motivated in the future.Some examples might be:
- To live to see my grandchildren
- To be able to enjoy walking
- So I can climb stairs and do other everyday activities with ease
- To stay healthy and independent in older age
- So I don't suffer the health problems that my parents do/did
- To be more confident
- Because it will help my career
- To lower my risk of heart disease and diabetes
- A better social life
- Increased energy levels
- A better overall quality of life
- To fit into my favorite clothes again
- To feel good about myself
- To improve a relationship
Note them down for use with the Motivators and Barriers tool, which we'll get to later on
What are your barriers?
As well as reasons motivating you to lose weight, there will be barriers preventing you from doing so. Your success with weight loss will often come down to a battle in your mind, and in reality, between your motivators and barriers. It's very important to identify the barriers you encounter or are likely to encounter, and then think of ways in which you can overcome them. This will be key to winning the battle between motivators and barriers, and to your success at weight loss.Common barriers to weight loss include:
- Impulsive eating
- TV snacking
- Being too tired to exercise or eat healthily
- Family's food preferences
- Fast food
- Emotional eating (eating when stressed or upset or in celebration mode)
- Party lifestyle
- Working irregular hours or overtime
- Self-doubt
- Feeling selfish for spending time exercising and cooking when the family wants attention
- Worry that friends won't like the changes
- Ill health
The Motivators and Barriers tool
In order to succeed with weight loss your motivators have to be stronger, overall, than your barriers. The Motivators and Barriers tool can help you monitor your motivators and barriers and provide an excellent space to reflect on your progress with calorie control, changing habits and weight loss.To use this tool, first list your motivators and barriers and rate their strength from one (weak) to seven (strong). Are your barriers stronger than your motivators overall? If so, consider what you can do to reduce the strength of your barriers and increase the strength of your motivators, so that success with weight loss is more likely.
Once a week you should review your motivators and barriers and consider if the strength of any of your motivators or barriers has changed. You should also consider if any new barriers or motivators have come up. By reviewing your motivators and barriers each week, you can quickly identify when barriers are winning the battle, and then immediately focus on reducing the strength of your problem barriers so that you get back on track for success.
Look at the Motivators and Barriers tool covered below. Use the notes you made on the previous page to fill in your motivators and barriers, and then rate their strengths.
Regular reflection on your progress, your success, your failures, and of course your motivators and barriers for weight loss is one of the keys to losing weight and keeping it off.
Use your weekly weigh-in as a chance to sit back and think about how your week has gone in terms of weight-loss, and what you might do differently in the coming week. This will help you discover the habits that work best for you.
Keeping motivated
There are a few tips and tricks to keeping motivated. One of our favorites is to mix things up a bit - try some new foods, give your meal plans a makeover, check out a new form of exercise, or set yourself a new challenge. This approach is often all it takes.Finally - as soon as you start to feel unmotivated, remember that you want to lose weight and for lots of very good reasons. If you can remember what you want and why you want it, you can stay motivated to get it!
The motivators and barriers 'tool'
(make up a page like this for yourself, or print out this blog and save this page).Use a numbering system....labeling each item based on how weak or strong it is.
1). List 5 motivators and rate them from weakest (1) to strongest (7):
___________________________________ RATE: ____
___________________________________ RATE: ____
___________________________________ RATE: ____
___________________________________ RATE: ____
___________________________________ RATE: ____
What can you do to strengthen your weakest motivators right now?
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
2). List 5 barriers to your success and rate them from weakest (1) to strongest (7).
___________________________________ RATE: ____
___________________________________ RATE: ____
___________________________________ RATE: ____
___________________________________ RATE: ____
___________________________________ RATE: ____
What can you do to weaken your strongest barriers right now?
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
Once a week you should review your motivators and barriers and consider if the strength of any of your motivators or barriers has changed. You should also consider if any new barriers or motivators have come up. By reviewing your motivators and barriers each week, you can quickly identify and stop those barriers that might prevent you from losing weight.
Staying motivated isn't easy; but if you continually review your goals and your progress, you CAN stay motivated. Look at the big picture. See how far you've come....you don't want to fall backwards now, do you? No, of course not! You want to get better and better!
Here's another hint -- this worked for me:
Hang something up on the outside of your closet....something just a 'little' too tight. Not ridiculously tight, but tight nonetheless....something that if you lost say, 5 lbs? You would feel better in and maybe even be able to wear it LOL...that kind of thing can really help!
I bought myself a beautiful pink chemise when I hit goal. And when I gained a bit and I put it on and I could see my tummy jutting out, I KNEW it was time to get serious again.
WHATEVER WORKS!
Keep on keepin' on!
Linda Leiby alias 'Catlover77'
Certified Take Shape for Life Health Coach
http://www.Catlover77.tsfl.com
angiecat6@comcast.net
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please send me your comments!
I will review and post if relevant...(with your initials only).