Three Ways to Keep Yourself Motivated While Losing Weight

Losing weight can be tough, especially if you’re following strict diet and exercise plans to do so. While changing your habits and losing weight seems like it should be simple, it can sometimes feel like you aren’t making progress at all, or even going backward. Staying motivated to lose weight takes a lot of willpower, but luckily there are some tricks that can help you stay on track with your goals! Here are three ways to keep yourself motivated while losing weight.

1) Stay positive

As an added benefit, feeling positive can help reduce stress, which is one of your biggest enemies when you’re trying to lose weight. When you feel stressed out or worried about how things are going with your diet, it’s harder to stick with a healthy routine. Try using coping mechanisms such as deep breathing or positive self-talk (e.g., I have a great life and I am capable of meeting my goals) when you start feeling overwhelmed or stressed. This will help avoid emotional eating, which tends to be less about hunger and more about emotions like boredom or sadness. It’s also important to remember that if you slip up, it doesn’t mean you need to throw in the towel. Get back on track as soon as possible instead of letting it derail your progress for too long.

2) Break Big Goals into Smaller Ones

When your end goal is a long way off, it can be tough to keep going. Take weight loss: Your ultimate goal might be losing 50 pounds, but there’s no way you’re going to be able to get there if you don’t first set smaller goals—like getting up earlier on exercise days and cutting out junk food. Instead of thinking about how much more weight you have left to lose, think about how far you’ve come already and give yourself credit for that success. These milestones will help keep you motivated when times get rough. (See also: How Long Does It Take You To Lose A Pound?) Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help: Having someone who understands what you’re going through can make all the difference in reaching your goals. Whether it’s a friend or family member, or even a fellow weight-loss buddy at work, sometimes having someone who just gets it without trying to change anything is enough motivation to stick with it. If asking others for support doesn’t feel right for you, find another source of inspiration by reading books about weight loss or fitness or attending events like seminars and classes in your area. The support from others has helped many people stay focused on their health goals.

3) Create Your Own Positive Self-Talk

We all have different ways of motivating ourselves. For some, it’s a conversation with a friend or loved one, for others it’s seeing their workout or weight loss progress in print (or onscreen), and for some, it’s positive self-talk. Whichever method works best for you, make sure you practice saying these things out loud daily. Write them down and read them every morning before your first meal, when you feel like giving up, or any time your motivation is waning. The more often you repeat these mantras to yourself, the more they will sink into your subconscious mind as truths—and eventually, they will become truths! Start by writing down five phrases that motivate you—things like I am strong or I can do anything I set my mind to. Then read each one aloud five times a day until they become engrained in your psyche as true statements about who you are and what you can accomplish. To really ingrain them, start using them in everyday conversations: I love running instead of I hate running, or Lifting weights makes me feel strong instead of I’m weak. These small changes will help shift your mindset from negative to positive, which helps you stick with your fitness goals long term. Remember: Just because it’s not easy doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing.