A weight loss journey is filled with obstacles and difficulties and mental motivation is the only thing that will help you stay on the track without giving up. Starting a diet and a new workout regime is easy but sticking through it for a long time without sidetracking can be very challenging. Before you make physical changes to your routines, you need to train your brain to help break your old habits. When you’re mentally focused, your goals become much easier to achieve because a poor determination will only hinder your performance. Here are a few tips that will help you prepare yourself mentally for a totally new lifestyle.
1) Think about why you want to do this
Take a journal and jot down the all the reasons that come to your mind when you ask yourself ‘Why do I want to lose weight?’ You can print these reasons and stick them at places you’ll tend to see it often. When you read these reasons every day, you’ll be constantly reminded why this is important for you and thus prevent you from straying from your weight loss plans. Your reasons don’t always have to be serious, you can also include things like ‘I want to lose x kgs so that I can fit into the pant my friend gifted me’.
2) Set realistic goals
Nobody gets their desired body overnight, there’s a lot of hard work behind it. The key is to set very realistic and possible goals. If you set difficult-to-achieve goals then you’re just going to end up being dejected and demotivated, so it’s better you start with small and easy ones. Also, remember to focus on one goal at a time. This will help you commit yourself to just one thing and increase your chances of successfully accomplishing it.
3) Make commitments
When you commit yourself to something that involves money then the thought of your money going to waste is always the best kind of motivational tool. Go to a nearby gym, Zumba class or yoga class and enroll yourself in them. Try to acquaint yourself with people who come there so that you can have a workout partner who will not only make the workout sessions more fun but also push you to finish your reps.
4) Love yourself
According to a survey, people who hate their bodies are even less likely to lose weight. Loving yourself is very important because if you tend to become a big ball of insecurities then it becomes hard to involve yourself in anything. You need to first learn to love your body no matter how it looks and accept yourself with all your imperfections and flaws. Nobody is flawless and people who seem perfect are just experts at hiding their insecurities. If instagram or any other social media instigates your self-doubts then take a time off from these platforms or just avoid browsing through the feeds of skinny models and bloggers. Never compare yourself with someone else because once you start doing that, the negativity builds up and overpowers your motivation to do anything.
5) Don’t be scale obsessive
If you weigh yourself more than once in week then you need to stop immediately. A weighing scale is good for tracking your progress but weighing yourself often just results in an obsessive behavior. A lot of people are still under the impression that the scale defines a person but that’s not true. You don’t have to weigh less to be healthy; sometimes people who gain weight look much better when compared to before. Your aim should be to focus on losing fat and toning your body and not just losing kilos.
6) Reward yourself
Appreciating yourself after every goal you achieve no matter how small it is, will motivate you to set bigger goals. You can reward yourself with a small treat if the goal was very small. If you’ve achieved a weekly goal then reward yourself with a cheat meal. If you’ve completed a monthly goal then you can gift yourself with a shopping spree/spa session/ fancy dinner etc. the rewards will also give you something to look forward to and will hold you back from cheating yourself.
