Starting and sticking to a weight loss plan is challenging for many people. You may feel super motivated in the beginning, but after a few weeks, your motivation starts to fizzle.
But if you’re wondering how to stay motivated to lose weight, you’re in the right place.
If you’re feeling a lack of motivation right now, you can quickly get your weight loss momentum back with a few key habits. Read on to learn how to get motivated to lose weight and stay inspired throughout your journey.
Weight Loss Inspiration – Why is it So Hard?
Motivation is one of the biggest obstacles to long-term weight loss. Losing weight and keeping it off requires a commitment and lifelong lifestyle changes. This is challenging at times, as it’s easy to revert back to old habits.
It’s important to remember that a lack of motivation is entirely normal and is to be expected. It also doesn’t mean it’s time to throw in the towel.
Motivation comes from within us and is internal. Many things will try to get in your way to zap your motivation – work, family, volunteer responsibilities, or certain friends that don’t support your goals. In addition, if you’re not seeing weight loss results as fast as you’d hoped, this can make you feel like your efforts are futile.
Becoming aware of the possible barriers, whether perceived or real, is the first step to overcoming them. This can then enhance your motivation and tip the scale in the right direction again.
How to Stay Motivated in Weight Loss – 11 Easy Steps
1. Determine your “why”
Remember how we said that motivation is internal? Well, this is because you have to first determine your reason(s) for wanting to lose weight, a.k.a. your “why”.
Here are a few examples that can catapult your initial motivation:
- You want to be able to keep up with your kids
- You’re getting married
- You want to improve your digestion
- You want to run a half marathon
- You want to feel confident in a bathing suit
Whatever your reason is, it should be personal to you. Once you determine it, write it down. You can keep going back to it whenever you need to bring yourself back to your goal. The mere act of visualizing your “why” can motivate you by picturing you as your best self.
2. Set realistic goals
Many people set lofty goals that are not achievable. Usually, this leads to frustration and a lot of internal pressure if you don’t meet the goal. If you’re setting goals often and not meeting them, take a minute to ask yourself if this goal is realistic for you in the time frame that you’ve set.
If the bar is too high, you’re setting yourself up for failure. If you don’t meet your goals, this may be time to re-evaluate and modify them to fit your lifestyle. This will lead to more consistent results and a bigger sense of accomplishment.
3. Start small
Are you trying to change your habits all at once? This is so tempting to do to try to speed up the process. But the reality is if you try to make too many changes simultaneously, you’ll probably only stick to each habit partially. Instead, it’s more effective to take it one step at a time.
Try starting with one new habit every few weeks, such as replacing a carb with a vegetable at every meal. Once you do this consistently for at least 2 weeks, then you can add a new goal or change. This keeps you more motivated and preserves your energy way more than doing a complete diet overhaul overnight.
4. Tailor your plan to your lifestyle
We all lead different lives and have various time commitments. It’s important to fully evaluate your lifestyle needs first so that your weight loss plan matches your needs. If you’re finding recipes that take an hour to cook every day but you only have 15 minutes, you’ll lose motivation more quickly because the process feels too daunting.
Instead, be realistic with yourself and the time that you have. You’re entirely capable of meeting your weight loss goals when you have limited time, so create your plan for yourself and your needs only.
5. Track your progress
Measuring your progress can help keep you motivated. As humans, we tend to focus on the negative and miss some of the good that happens along the way.
Here are a few specific ways you can track your progress:
- Take pictures of yourself every month – While not everyone likes before and after pictures, taking them can help you notice physical changes you didn’t realize were happening. When you see the changes happening regularly, it reminds you of how far you’ve come.
- Track your body composition stats monthly – Monitoring your muscle and fat mass percentages each month provides a glimpse into how effective your plan is. Sometimes you may not see the number change on the scale, but you gained muscle and lost fat. This can increase motivation when you see these stats going in the right direction, as this can make a difference in your health and how your clothes fit.
- Weigh yourself weekly – Weighing yourself once a week holds you accountable for what you’re working towards. It also boosts motivation when you see the scale dipping in the right direction. This motivates you to keep going and ensures that what you’re doing is working.
- Take pictures of your meals – Doing this helps hold you accountable and makes you more aware of your habits. Research shows this type of accountability to yourself can improve your weight loss results and your motivation.
- Track your exercise progress – This may include how fast you walk or run or how heavy you lift at the gym. This can bolster your motivation when you see how your speed or strength has improved with time, and you can see those real-time results firsthand.
6. Celebrate your wins
Instead of beating yourself up for overeating yesterday, focus on the wins you’re seeing. A few examples of wins could be you met your exercise goal of 4 times per week or you didn’t mindlessly eat at night for a week.
Celebrate your wins regularly to keep yourself motivated. If you met a certain goal, buy yourself a new shirt or plan a fun night out with your friends to enjoy your success.
7. Enlist a buddy
Accountability is incredibly powerful in your weight loss journey. Having a supportive friend or family member makes such a difference in keeping you motivated to lose weight. Having a like-minded person by your side keeps you focused and accountable for the goals you set for yourself.
Just the mere act of telling someone what you’re working towards can be motivating, as you’re forced to follow up with them and share your outcomes. Enlist a friend, spouse, or family member to be your weight loss accountability partner.
8. Keep things simple
Are you trying to cook a ton of Pinterest-worthy recipes and going to the gym for an hour every day? If so, you may be making the process harder than it has to be.
There are tons of healthy recipes out there that are easy and don’t require multiple ingredients. Choosing simplicity will save you time and energy, which will help keep your motivation up. If your recipes are too complicated or require too many ingredients, they will be harder to stick to.
Also, keep things simple in terms of exercise. Choose your top 3 favorite exercises, stick with them, and build up your intensity or duration over time.
9. Curb your appetite
Finding ways to curb your appetite will make the weight loss process much easier. And when things feel easier, you’ll feel more motivated instead of feeling like you’re dodging hurdles every other day.
One effortless and effective way to curb your appetite is by adding fiber. Fiber provides bulk and keeps you full for longer, making it easier to eat less to support weight loss. You can find fiber in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, but many of us don’t get enough of these foods.
If those cases, a specific fiber called glucomannan may also kick your cravings. It is a highly viscous fiber that expands in the belly when consumed, which has been shown to enhance fullness and reduce cravings. This can make it easier to eat less and stay within a calorie deficit to lose weight.
Leanbean® contains glucomannan in a clinically proven dose of 3 grams.
10. Make your workouts fun
If you’re dreading your workouts, chances are you won’t stick with them for very long. Here are 2 key ways to make your workouts more fun so you stay motivated:
- Switch your mindset – The first thing to change when it comes to your workouts is your mindset around exercise. Instead of saying “I have to exercise,” say “I get to exercise.” When you say you have to do something, it feels like a chore and it takes the fun out of it. But when you get to exercise, it is something that should be appreciated.
- Choose workouts you enjoy – Are you choosing workouts just because they burn more calories? Working out just for the sake of a calorie burn will likely not be sustainable. Instead, pick exercises that you enjoy and look forward to, so that you stay consistent with them. Consistency will bring more results and more motivation!
11. Hire a professional
Hiring a professional such as a registered dietitian and/or personal trainer can keep you motivated. When you have a supportive coach by your side, they can help remind you of your goals, push you harder on the days you are struggling, and provide the accountability you need to keep going. Many people are more accountable to others than they are to themselves, so if this sounds like you, hiring a professional can make all the difference.
How to Stay Motivated in Weight Loss – You Can Do This
Nobody is motivated all the time, and this is human nature. If you want to learn how to stay motivated to lose weight, there are things you can do to keep yourself on track. Keep your eyes on the prize, enjoy the journey, and hire professional help if you need it.
Finding ways to eat less will make the weight loss process even easier. Learn more about Leanbean, how it works, and how it can make it easier to stay within your calorie goals for weight loss.
Disclaimer: The information on the Leanbean blog does not constitute medical advice and should not be used as such. If you would like to learn more about your dietary requirements and related aspects of your health, speak with a registered medical professional.
