Are you feeling demotivated and yet want to lose weight? The hardest step is the FIRST STEP which is just getting started. And many of my clients have been saying that they’ve gone off track over the summer and now finding it hard to resume with their regular routine.
Today, I want to share with you a few things to do when you feel this way.
Firstly, don’t be hard on yourself and put yourself down for overindulging over the summer. We all do it and what’s important is being aware of it and doing something about it. Self-kindness and compassion are essential on your weight loss journey.
We can be motivated by others and also self-motivate ourselves too and am sharing three ways to do this.
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1) Have a phrase or quote
A motivational phrase or quote that resonates with you can be effective in helping you on the days you don’t feel like doing much. Pick something that fires you up and fills you with motivation to reach your goal. It can be helpful to use your motivational quote or phrase as an affirmation that you can say every morning, make the quote your wallpaper on your phone or write it on a piece of paper and stick it somewhere you’ll always be able to see like your bedroom wall or on your fridge.
A few phrases that motivate me are:
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step” Lao Tzu
“It’s not about having time, it’s about MAKING time”
“Just believe in yourself. Even if you don’t just pretend that you do and, at some point, you will.” Venus Williams
"Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen." Michael Jordan
2) Set smaller daily goals
Setting yourself small goals to accomplish daily is the best way to make sustainable changes to your lifestyle and lose weight. Setting huge goals to achieve in a short space of time or trying to do too much at once can lead you to feeling overwhelmed and drained, especially when you are doing something new for the first time.
Instead of aiming to run for an hour per day, try to walk for 20 minutes a day and build it up over time or rather than suddenly changing your diet, swap out the food you are eating for healthier alternatives such as brown rice or brown pasta instead of white rice or white pasta and start to add vegetables to your meals. These changes will compound over a period to help you achieve your goals.
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3) Have an accountability partner
Having an accountability partner is sometimes just what we need to stay consistent. It can be difficult to hold yourself accountable to goals that you want to achieve by yourself and it’s easy to make excuses without anyone to face or challenge you apart from yourself. This is why it’s important to have an accountability partner that will check in with you to see you’re staying consistent and doing what's needed to get you to reach your goals. Also, your health journey may often be lonely; so with an accountability partner, you can both push and celebrate one another.
Sujata Din is a Certified Health Coach and Certified Professional Cancer Coach. In this regular column for iGlobal, she offers some special insights, from useful wellness tips to recipes for creations that are not only delicious but also healthy.
