Find your motivation to lose weight!

So why do you want to lose weight?  What are the reasons that motivate you to go on a diet? Is there a class reunion coming up or are you doing it for your partner?  Reasons can motivate you for a while, but they won’t sustain you for a lifetime. 



During a 16-week study done by the University of Kentucky and the University of North Carolina, they found that people who were able to drop at least 5% of their weight and maintain that loss, identify personal reasons for wanting to lose weight. 



Some wanted to be physically active to play with their children or grandchildren, others simply wanted to live life to the fullest by eating healthy and maintaining a positive mindset.



Those that didn’t make the grade named external motivators for wanting to lose weight like pressure from family and friends, feeling guilty or not feeling good enough.



You may need to dig a little deeper to find your inner motivation. Here are three things you can do, to get started.



1. Write down your goals and review them once a month. Before you do anything, take the time to write down the goals that you are committed to make and review them each month. Research has found that people who remain focused and motivated past weeks four and eight, which is when motivation tends to wane, benefit from taking the time to set goals and review them often. Doing this helps them to remain motivated and focused on the end result.



2. Keep a journal.  A great way to see your achievements, big or small is by keeping a daily journal of your successes.  A success can be that you’ve managed to drink 6 glasses of water that day or you walked for an extra 15 minutes.  Keeping track of what you’ve eaten and portion sizes is also important. Studies have shown that people who keep a food journal lose twice as much weight as those that don’t!



3. Celebrate your life!  If you find that you can almost fit into your skinny jeans or that you have much more energy than you’ve had in months, take a picture of yourself doing your happy dance and put it on the fridge. Write a weight loss affirmation that resonates with you and put it in your car, in your office and on your bathroom mirror.  Read inspirational and motivational quotes and books that keep will keep you in a positive mindset. Celebrate your life everyday in some way.  Begin writing a gratitude list of even the smallest things your grateful for.  Find ways to nurture yourself. List one thing daily that you like about yourself, and stop finding your faults and appreciate the good things about yourself!



Incorporate all of these suggestions, as they work! It’s important to come up with several reasons why losing weight is important to you, so that you can be reminded of them when you’re having a difficult day. Setting mini-goals along the way is very helpful too, especially if you want to lose a lot of weight. And don't forget to reward yourself (without food of course) for all of your accomplishments along the way.

If you are looking for some daily motivational and inspirational tips you can find the ones we post daily on Facebook at http://facebook.com/mindbodyfx.