Camille Moore
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Motivation is key when you are trying to lose weight. It is the most important part of the formula. It matters more than what you are eating or what kind of exercise you are doing because without motivation, you are going nowhere. It can come from many different sources and we’re all motivated differently because we care about different things. Read on for our tips on how to reach your 2024 weight loss goal.
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1. Mark It Down
If you are serious about your workout and fitness routine then you need to mark it down. If you want to make sure that your time for fitness isn’t trampled on, then schedule it as seriously as you would a doctor’s appointment. It is a non-negotiable appointment that you must keep much like the many others that are on your planner. You won’t get anywhere with your fitness routine until you treat it with respect and demand the time you need for it.
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2. Find An Exercise You Enjoy
An exercise routing that you dread and bores you is not one that you are going to be likely to stay with long term. Make it a goal to find an exercise that you enjoy and then you will look forward to that time each day. It may take awhile to find your niche, but you can do it. Maybe you love the feel of a Pilates class, or how your mind feels refreshed after a long run by yourself. Keep trying until you find something that you want to do and then it will no longer feel like a workout to you. It will feel like pure enjoyment and keep the motivation high for you.
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3. Get A Partner
Going it alone when you are on a journey to weight loss is very hard. Things will be much easier if you have a partner to do this with along the way. It can be your spouse, a friend or family member. There are even online support groups you can join to help you keep up your motivation. A partner that you will have contact with frequently is the best way to use this type of motivation. If none of the people in your circle feel the need for weight loss maybe they can work on just becoming healthy while you work on weight loss.
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4. Invest In Your Fitness
Invest in your fitness by spending money on things that help you to achieve your goals. This means not being tight when it comes to spending on things like a gym membership, an exercise class that you enjoy or workout clothing. There is a lot of motivation in investing in your fitness. If you know you have spent hard earned money on it, you are more likely to keep up with the fitness routine so that you have not wasted your money. When you think about the fact that you are paying for an exercise class, it encourages you to not miss it.
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5. Buy Workout Clothes You Like
Buying workout clothing that you like will give you motivation to keep going. If you like what you wear when you work out then you won’t dread putting it on. You will have more motivation to work out because of it. Be careful not to settle when you are shopping for workout clothing. Don’t just buy anything that you think you can work out in. Take your time to find something that is not only comfortable and appropriate but something that makes you feel attractive, too. This adds to the motivation factor.
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6. Make A Motivation Board
Want motivation? Make a motivation board. A motivation board is exactly what it says it is. It is a board that you use to help keep yourself feeling the motivation you need to power on. You can put before and after pictures of yourself on the board, quotes, helpful tips or whatever other tools that you think would be helpful to you in keeping your motivation up. Be sure to place the board where you are going to see it on a regular basis. It is also a good idea to update it often so that you don’t grown indifferent to what it has on it.
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7. Make It Social
Make your workout social. Arrange to do something fun afterward such as meeting a girlfriend for coffee or a smoothie when you are finished exercising. Catch up with each other on all the neighborhood gossip while you walk around the block. Make new friends with those that are in the exercise class that you are taking or at the gym you belong to. That way, when you complete your daily exercise, you can ask them if they want to join you for a bite to eat or to go for a quick shopping adventure on the way home.
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8. Reward Yourself Regularly
This is an important part of keeping up your motivation. You want to feel like you are working toward something so be sure to reward yourself regularly along the way. One tip, though; you do not want to reward yourself with food. That kind of defeats the whole purpose. Reward yourself with something else that you can enjoy; a day out with your girlfriends, a piece of jewelry you have been wanting, a date night with your husband or any other number of things. The point it to remind yourself that you are on the right path.
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9. Set Goals
Goals are extremely important to have when you need motivation for your weight loss journey. Not only do goals allow to see where you are headed but they allow you to look back and see exactly how far that you have come. Decide exactly how much weight you want to lose and it is a good idea to make a time limit for it. If you have a very large amount of weight to lose then you can break that amount up into smaller chunks to work toward in different time segments. Maybe you want to not only have a weight loss goal but some goals with your health, too.
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10. Try New Dishes So You Don’t Get Bored
Don’t eat the same old same old day after day when you are trying to lose weight. That is boring and you will quickly tire of that. Be constantly on the lookout for new foods that you can add in with your diet plan to keep things interesting and keep your taste buds happy. Surf the net for weight loss web sites that offer you tips on how to get flavorful dishes that aren’t loaded down with a ton of calories and fat. Having something tasty to look forward to helps you to keep your motivation up while you are losing weight.
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11. Spend On Good Quality Foods
It is true that good quality foods are more expensive. You are going to pay more for a fruit salad than you are a bag of chips. But you need to remind yourself that you are worth the money you are spending. Every bit of money that you are spending now is money you will save later on in your life on health care bills. Having good quality foods is motivation to keep going. You will learn to love the new things that you are eating and begin to crave them instead of the junk that you used to eat.
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12. Track Your Progress
This goes hand in hand with setting goals. Seeing what your progress is getting you: a healthier body, a lower number on the scale and other benefits will give you motivation to continue on. There are many ways you can track your progress. You can keep track of your progress the old fashioned way with a paper chart or you use one of the many fitness apps to help you see how far you have come.
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13. Consider The Health Benefits You Are Reaping
Let’s be honest. Most of us want to lose weight for vanity reasons. We want to like what we see in the mirror more. Maybe we want to wear a certain outfit or fit into a certain size by the time our vacation comes. We may want to lose weight to make our spouse proud of us again. But there are more benefits than the ones we are searching for from vanity. Losing weight and following a healthy exercise routine will give you many health benefits. Considering this fact is added motivation.
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14. Go Shopping
Once you start losing weight, you will need different clothing. Do not allow yourself to wear clothing that are now too big for you. You are working hard to lose that weight. Buy yourself clothing that fits your current body. Shopping is fun and when you buy things that look good on you now, it will give you new motivation to keep going toward your goals. Remind yourself about all the new styles that you can wear when you lose weight and how you will fit into sizes that you never could fit into before.
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15. Learn A New Way Of Cooking
Learn to cook light, using new ingredients. Once you learn a new style of cooking then you will not want to go back to your old style that involved fattening oils and added fats. You will feel better when you are eating better. Buy a couple of new cookbooks to help you along your journey to losing weight. Learning a new style of cooking will help you to commit more fully to this style of living so that you will not be tempted to go back to your old way of eating. Healthy living and feeling great are the best motivation of all.
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