What I'm going to say might sound very contrary to what many people think of when it comes to weight loss, but it's true for me, and so I share it like this.
I do not rely on motivation to lose weight.
Motivation is a feeling. Granted, it's a wonderful feeling, but it's still just a feeling, and feelings are temporary. Feelings come and go. There is no feeling that is a permanent state. So relying on an emotion would be
detrimental to my weight loss plans. For example, if I said "I'm only going to walk when I'm angry" then I wouldn't be taking a walk every day. Many people might even suggest "Why wait until you're angry to do something healthy for yourself? Why not just take a walk each day no matter how you feel?"
And that's exactly what I'm going to suggest for you. Why wait until you feel motivated? Why allow motivation to be the big factor? I admit that it can be helpful to start, but it's not the glue that keeps us going when times get rough. And if times are rough, it might be better to take a different approach.
I threw away the idea that I need to be motivated to lose weight, and instead started relying on
commitment. The difference is that no matter how I feel, I
must do healthy things. No excuses. There are days when I say to myself "I really don't feel like doing xyz." But, too bad, self! I do it anyway, because I committed to these great changes.
I even apply this to things outside of weight loss. I don't always want to pay bills. I don't always want to wake up and get out of bed to take a shower. I don't always want to do the dishes. But, I can't wait until I feel like it or they might never get done. And I'd be stuck with a sink full of dishes forever!
Don't get me wrong. Motivation is great when it's around, but it's not always around. And it's rarely around when I really
need it. Commitment, on the other hand, is always there. It's always saying "Do it anyways." It's always nudging me to "Just
do it."
I don't say all this to sound discouraging, I promise. In fact, I say it to encourage you, because I truly believe that we all have it within us to make permanent healthy changes no matter what is going on. No matter how we feel from day to day.
We don't have to change everything all at once. I started out just taking a 5 minute walk each day, and tracking everything I ate. I didn't even change what I ate or how much. I just wrote it down.
We don't have to be perfect. I made some poor food decisions just last week!
But we must do something. And that means commitment.
You can do this. You can take one thing and you can go with it. If you like meetings, then to start maybe you just want to commit to going to a meeting once a week. Or maybe you want to start with focusing on getting in the good health guidelines. Or even just tracking in general. Not worry about your total points or weekly points, but putting it down for you to see.
A fellow 3FC member once posted the words of someone she knew, and I found them to be incredibly helpful, so I'll end with them:
It will never work out if you wait to do something until you FEEL like doing it.
Feelings come FROM actions, not the other way around.
Do the thing to get the feeling.
Then remind yourself how it feels for the next time, but never rely on how you feel at the moment.
Help! I need some extra motivation and encouragement please.
