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3 Ways to Be Mindful About Motivation

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Being inspired to stick to personal goals has never been a strength of mine, and motivation has been a big part of it. When I make the choice to work toward a goal, I always tell myself that it’ll be worth the trouble. But somehow, no matter how strong my initial resolve, I convince myself to quit. Because of this, I found myself searching how to stay on track for weight loss and fitness by keeping willpower strong.

Staying Motivated

Since I’ve lost 40 pounds now and I’m well on my way to reaching my personal goals in health and fitness, I’d like to share what I’ve learned with you about motivation. Motivation is like a muscle; you have to keep exercising it or it’ll get weaker.

So how can we preserve motivation, the driving force of this vehicle to success? Here are 3 guidelines for staying motivated that I’ve found the most helpful in my weight loss journey.

Identify Your “Why” for Motivation

It’s hard enough to keep yourself motivated under normal circumstances. But when you’re also battling food and binge eating addiction, it’s important to remind yourself what you’re fighting for and to keep an eye out for non-scale victories. With this in mind, you’ll be better off than hoping you’ll always have willpower.

Writing down a list of the many reasons to follow your plan is a great start. You’ll be laser-focused in the beginning, and soon, it will serve as a reminder of why you made the plan initially. It’s a great tool to use when your motivation dips, so check back on it from time to time.

Listing my reasons, however, was not enough for me. I’ve found that I need an inspiration boost every day. Watching an uplifting video or listening to a health podcast raises morale. I recommend tuning into one every morning, and keeping lists of them so you can quickly jump onto the internet and throw one on.

If you’re looking for weight loss and fitness inspiration suggestions, here are a few of my favorites:

Are You Restricting Too Much?

If your goals are too ambitious, that’s when they’ll become overwhelming. This makes it easier to convince yourself to give up. The more restrictions and preparation you take on, the more exhausting each day becomes. Also, you could be hurting your mental health.

Last week I wrote about perfectionism, and as I did, I was worried that I may not take my own advice. I used to stress about going out with friends due to the inconvenience of being offered food or the awkwardness of sitting myself out during meals. It was simply easier to stay home and be alone with my irrational eating.

Since writing my last post, I decided to stick to eating my typical healthy food plan but allowed myself to eat small amounts of food which I would usually consider “forbidden.” I don’t allow myself to feel like I’ve “ruined my diet”, because I’ve decided that my diet includes everything. Instead, I choose to eat well most of the time. Since then, this change in mindset has been powerful.

Are Your Goals Too Far Apart?

Making smaller goals will give you more to look forward to in the process of making it to your final objective. For me, thinking about how far I have to go to make it to 120 pounds is daunting. Thinking about making it to my next 10-pound milestone – something I see just out of reach – is a thrill to think about.

Are you finding it difficult to reach your goal in the time you set for yourself? Perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate. In fact, you may be doing something to hinder your progress or setting your goals too high. This is the time to take a step back and review your goal setting. Keep SMART goals in mind (SpecificMeasurableAttainableRelevant, and Time-Bound).

“Sometimes the smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life. Tiptoe if you must, but take a step.” – Naeem Callaway Click To Tweet

A Little Extra Help:

Lastly, I’d like to take the chance to help anyone who has trouble with their eating habits by making a recommendation. Brain over Binge is a book that helps people with binge eating and overeating by teaching them how to combat their problems from the inside out. The author, Kathryn Hansen, describes her personal battle with food and how she overcame it in the end.

The book offers a simple and permanent solution. Also, if you would like more information, I wrote an in-depth and honest review here.

Click below for quick links to the book on Amazon!

Keeping Motivation to Reach Personal Goals

Even when you’re feeling down and out about your progress, there’s no need to quit. Staying motivated is possible. You need to learn to keep pushing to succeed. In reality, giving up is the only real way to fail at something.

As a matter of fact, you got this! Just remember to keep your goals small, look for inspiration, and leave restrictions behind. These steps will boost your motivation and keep you going strong!

That’s it for now everyone. If you’ve found some value in this post, please share it to inspire others too! Thanks!

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