Thin Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Motivation’

Getting motivated to lose weight has never been a problem for me. The problem has always been the lack of ability to sustain that motivation for the time period needed to lose the weight.

All too often I would see the television show “The Biggest Loser” and resolve to lose the weight and eat better. Somewhere along the journey of the season of “The Biggest Loser” I would slack off and soon it would be the season finale. I would be watching the formally obese contestants flaunt all of their weight loss and say to myself that “I need to go back on that diet”. Somewhere along the way I would waiver from the diet plan and be settled into being over weight again.

It was during the shows most recent finale that I decided enough is enough and it was time to get serious about my own personal weight loss. I had read many books and watched infomercials and I have always come up short. It was this time that I realized that what I was missing was self determination to lose 100 pounds. I decided that my past failures were because I have come up short on sustained motivation because of my lack of self discipline.

Sustained motivation because of a lack of self discipline has always been the overwhelming reason behind my failure to lead a healthier lifestyle. This may seem like a simple statement but it is true. All too often our desire is not rooted deep enough in the decision we make to lose the weight. We launch ourselves headlong into the weight loss quest and limit our ability to maintain our motivation because of the lack of knowledge we possess. The one issue I see present in many weight loss “wannabes” is they do not know what needs to be known to make correct food and exercise choices. One of my early questions was what kind of “diet” plan are you going to start? I have learned that if it is not a plan you can live with for ten years then chances are you will ultimately fail.

The entire weight loss journey is similar to putting a jigsaw puzzle together while horseback riding. In your life you are required to keep moving and make your “diet” plan work for you in the real world. Sure you could lose weight skipping carbs, but could you forgo carbs for 10 years?

You need to wrap your mind around your quest to lose weight. By that I mean you need to obtain basic knowledge and then by applying that knowledge into your daily decisions you will increase your motivation through small achievements. As those achievements come to life you begin to groom the growth of your self confidence which will feed your motivation that will help you to be able to sustain your motivation.

Knowledge is power and that statement holds ever so true in weight loss. With this discovery I have been able to lose 20 pounds to date!

I have watched the television show The Biggest Loser for many seasons and I must admit I really enjoy the show. I have sat and watched strangers lose weight and then I would get motivated and decide to lose the weight. I would get all fired up and then I would exercise for a few days in my attempt to lose 100 pounds. I would start to eat better and do well for a while but somewhere along the journey I would start to wander off the path of fitness and weight loss and stop going to the gym and start eating poor food choices again. Before I knew what had happened I would again be sitting in front of the television watching the season finale of The Biggest Loser and all of those on the screen would look slim and fit and be smiling from ear to ear. I would still be sitting in the same chair and weigh the same as I did at the start of the season, or maybe even gained a few pounds. There I would sit wondering what happened to my weight loss goals and wondering where my motivation had gone. Once again the season ended and I felt like I would be fat for the rest of my life. That was until the end of the latest season of The Biggest Loser. That was until I discovered the need for sustained motivation.

Something clicked in my weight loss mentality at the last episode of The Biggest Loser. When I saw the smile on the faces of all the contestants I knew that I had to make a positive change in my life or I was going to spend my life being overweight and always upset with myself because of my failed attempts at weight loss. When I saw all of the confetti fall down and the winner looking so much healthier I turned off the television and went to my room and packed a gym bag for the next morning.

When the next morning arrived I stained all of my mental weaknesses to the maximum. I pulled my way to the scale and weighed myself and the number that was displayed was the motivator for me to keep moving. I had gained 25 pounds since my last diet attempt. I have had a gym membership and never used it much but today I wandered into the building and everything about that morning was a struggle. I got winded on the machines easily and I struggled to keep myself even there. The binding force that kept my legs moving was the smile on the face of the newly crowned Biggest Loser. I kept thinking about all of my failed attempts and new that id I did not make a fundamental change I was sealing my future to include diabetes, heart disease and a whole host of other ailments that arrive merely because of the fact that I was overweight. I kept the cardio machine moving and the sweat was pouring off me and actually I felt pretty lousy about the whole event. I knew I was doing what was right and good for me but my mind was screaming for me to leave and go get a egg and cheese bagel and just give up.

Despite my urge to run away the smile of the first female Biggest Loser kept flashing into my mind and I stuck it out for one hour that day. I had done it and I was glad I had done it but I was even happier that it was over. I then quickly showered and headed off to start my workday. It had begun; I had started my journey to lose the weight. I had set my sights on the goal to lose 100 pounds in one year and today was the first day and I had done it. I had made it to the gym and although I was tired and my mind was racing I had a small glimpse of success in my mind’s eye. I had begun my weight loss journey and I was hoping to never look back. I had begun!  I had started the exercise but now I had to control the eating!

Losing weight is all about never giving up.  The person that is a success at weight loss will know that in order to truly achieve weight loss success, the “diet” is never really over.  The person who is only trying to lose weight by dieting is doomed to a life of either obesity or a life of yo-yo dieting.  It may take a few diet attempts for a person to learn that diets basically do not work in the long haul.  What we want you to think about is what your life will be like after your “diet” and you lose your 50 pounds?  When you lose the 50 pounds does a bell ring and you will always be able to fit into that nice dress?  Chances are you truly will not be able to lose weight for the long haul until you realize that in order to actually be a weight loss success you will have to not only lose the weight but also be able to keep that weight off for the rest of your life.  Now that you know true weight loss success is for the long haul think about how that ”diet” you are planning stacks up in a year or two?

Are you contemplating a new “diet” plan in the not too distant future?  Is New Years bringing another weight loss resolution that you already know you will not keep?  One thing we want you to be aware of as you go from failed diet to failed diet is that in order to be a success in the weight loss arena there is no magic pill or weight loss gizmo that you can strap onto your body to make it slimmer.  If you want to lose the weight you need to stop looking for some magic cure or expect the weight to just fall off your body because you walked a mile last month.  As you make this journey through life you may have gathered a few extra pounds here and there and in order to get rid of them you will need to make a concentrated effort to get rid of the weight.  You will need to eat better food choices and also you need to get out and do some form of exercise.  This does not mean that you have to train for the marathon; it just means you need to get up and get moving.  Walk further to the door at the store.  Take the stairs every now and then.  Eat better and most of all get an education in what is good and what is bad for your body.  Knowledge is power and your education can be free.

We can all come up with excuses as to why we can’t lose the weight……I work too long, I have to watch the kids……I have to take care of……..and on and on we go.  The world still spins and you just keep getting more and more over weight.  You know you want to lose weight and yet here you sit and once again you are debating on what needs to be done.  This is the time that you need to start gathering the facts of weight loss and health.  This is where you need to stop making excuses and start to educate yourself in the field of weight loss.  You do not have to be a genius and you do not have to be wealthy, you just have to want.

Wanting to lose weight is the start and now you need to channel that motivation into education.  Start gathering knowledge about what health is all about.  Start by learning all the benefits of not being obese.  Learn what it takes to lead a healthy and normal life.  Learn about all of the different diets you have tried and failed.  Realize why they failed and learn from that experience.  We want you to know that the diets were the failure and not you.  We want you to realize that you and you alone hold the power within you to lose the weight you desire.  The grand concept needs to be that you have to want it so bad you can taste it!  (No pun intended) 

The thing now is how will you break away from being overweight?  How will you permit yourself to allow yourself to do the things needed to make your weight loss a reality?  It all comes down to the choices we make and the big question you need to answer is what do you choose for yourself?  Do you choose sustained motivation that will attain long term weight loss or do you just try another flash in the pan fad diet? 

You know you need knowledge about how to lose weight.  A good place to start is a support group and from there you can establish a base of knowledge that will propel your self confidence into allowing yourself to succeed and let that thin person inside you free.

Good Luck!!