Tips to Keep You Motivated for Fitness & Weight Loss

When it comes to losing weight it is not just what you eat and how often that you exercise that is important. It is also wise to take some steps towards success by finding ways to keep yourself motivated. Motivation is the most important part of any fitness or weight loss plan. Without motivation we sit on our butts all day, gaining weight instead of losing it. Use the following tips and ideas to help give yourself the motivation you need to stay on the path to a thinner and healthier you!

Make A Goal & Write It Down

Writing down your weight loss goal will help you stick to it. Better yet, write it somewhere public where others can hold you accountable too, like on your blog or social networking page. Set goals and place them on your refrigerator so that you can see them every time you go for a bite to eat. Goals are important. Set a length of time and an amount of weight to be lost by that time. Stick to it and keep track of how you are doing on a daily basis.

Stop Down-Talking Yourself

Self-criticizing talk is not the right way to motivate yourself. Saying you can not do it, or calling yourself fat and lazy just has the opposite effect on your psyche and your weight loss regimen. Instead of driving you to work-out and eat better, down talk will drive you to whole cake eating and depression. Instead say things motivational to yourself: like, "I can do this," and "losing weight will be easy as long as I stay motivated!"

Remove All Temptation

Removing the things that temp you can greatly enhance your chances of weight loss. If you have to run out to the store every time you want ice cream or a candy bar you are less likely to eat them. If they are readily available you may be likely to binge eat them. It is alright to eat some of the junk foods you love, but this should be done in great moderation. Use it as a gift to yourself. At the end of the week if you lost an extra pound from your goal reward yourself with one of your favorite candy bars.

Find Someone To Look Up To

Find a fit celebrity or a work-out genius to idolize. Pick someone who looks how you want to look and has the attitude about themselves that you want to have. My weight-loss hero is Jillian Michaels, best known for her work on televisions "The Biggest Loser." She is all about eating healthy and getting fitness in every day. I try to read articles by her any chance I can. In fact, it was an article by her that inspired this article.

De-Clutter Your Space

Clutter can distract you from getting in your fitness time. Keep your home and your fitness are clear of clutter and you will have one less excuse not to work-out. Organize things so they are easy to find and easy to put away. I have also found that if I keep my work-out gear out of the way, but where I can easily see it, I work out even more.

Don't Look Too Far Ahead

You did not gain your weight over night, you will not lose it over night either. So do not expect to get huge results right away. And make small goals, and only one at a time. First make a goal to lose so many pounds in one week, or in one month. Then, once that goal is reached make another.

Use A Bad Day

Lastly, use the anger or frustration you have from a bad day at home, or at the office, as motivation to get fit. Run or jog off your anger. Take out your frustration with some crunches or on the treadmill. Use that negative energy for something positive and lose pounds while dispelling your anger!

Resources:

Fit To Be Well, Alton Thygerson

Self Magazine, "Instant Inspiration" by Jillian Michaels, February 2011