How to Find the Motivation to Lose Weight When Your Diet Is Faltering

If you’re trying to lose weight at the moment, you should know that you’re definitely not alone. A study released in the summer of 2018 revealed that about half the American population is trying to lose weight at any given moment.

But as anyone who has tried to lose weight will tell you, it’s not easy to do! With more than 30 percent of people eating fast food at least once a day, you’re constantly going to be surrounded by temptation, which will make it tough to stick to a diet.

By finding the motivation to lose weight despite the temptations that surround you, you’ll increase your chances of being able to shed some pounds. Here are 7 tips that should help you achieve success when searching for weight loss motivation.

1. Set Weight Loss Goals

One of the easiest ways to keep yourself motivated when you’re trying to lose weight is by setting a series of weight loss goals for yourself. Your goals will keep you on track and allow you to see where you’re making improvements over time.

Try not to make the goals too lofty, though. Your ultimate goal might be to lose 50 pounds, but that’s not going to happen overnight. And you’re going to feel very defeated if you set a goal of losing 50 pounds and only lose 5 pounds in a couple months.

Rather than setting large goals, break them down to smaller goals that are easier to attain. You’ll feel better about yourself and your weight loss mission when you’re able to start hitting your smaller goals from the start.

2. Avoid Frustration When You Fall Short

While setting goals for yourself will give you the motivation to lose weight, missing those goals could be completely deflating. If, for example, you set a goal to lose 5 pounds in your first month and you only lose 1 or 2, you might be tempted to call it quits when it comes to dieting.

Don’t do it!

You’re inevitably going to run into different roadblocks along the way as you strive to lose weight. Rather than getting frustrated about it, use it to motivate you even more. Recommit yourself to eating even better than you already are so that you don’t miss out on hitting future goals.

3. Create a Diet You Enjoy

When you first start dieting and trying your best to eat better, you’re going to find that there are a million and one different weight loss diets to try. From the Atkins Diet to the South Beach Diet, there are new diet plans popping up every day.

The great thing about this is that you can find the one that you like best and use it. You’ll have a better chance of sticking with a diet if it includes foods that you actually enjoy eating on a regular basis.

If you constantly feel like you’re starving yourself or limiting what you can eat, it’s only going to be a matter of time before you scrap your diet plan and go back to eating the way you were before. Try to pick the right diet plan from the beginning to prevent this from happening.

4. Find Fun Workouts

Dieting and watching what you eat will help you lose some weight. But if you want to send your weight loss mission into overdrive, it’s a good idea to incorporate a workout plan into the mix as well.

Just like with your diet plan, you should make it a point to find fun workouts that you’ll actually want to do. Not everyone is cut out to run 5 miles every day or spend 3 hours in the gym lifting weights.

Instead of doing these kinds of workouts, you might want to try:

Your goal should be to make your trips to the gym as fun as they can be. This will give you the motivation to lose weight by sticking to a regular gym schedule.

5. Surround Yourself With Support

A lot of people underestimate the importance of having a strong support system in place when they’re trying to lose weight. They don’t think they need to rely on anyone else to meet their goals.

In some cases, you might be able to shed pounds without the support of others. But you’ll make things a heck of a lot easier on yourself by seeking support as you inch your way closer to goal weight.

Whether your support system includes your spouse and your kids or your best friend and your coworkers, you’ll find dieting and working out easier when others are cheering you on.

6. Stay Positive

If you’re normally a pretty positive person, you shouldn’t have too much trouble keeping your spirits high when you’re trying to lose weight. But if you’re a “glass half empty” kind of person, staying positive might not come as natural to you.

Instead of focusing on the 3 pounds you lost last week, you might dwell on the 2 pounds you didn’t lose to hit your goal. You might even tell yourself that you’re a failure and set yourself up to fail as a result of it.

Try your best not to do this. Look in the mirror each and every morning and smile while you think about the progress you’re making. All the support in the world isn’t going to mean much if you can’t find a way to feel proud of yourself day in and day out.

7. Celebrate Important Milestones

Did you just hit your goal of losing 10 pounds in the first six weeks of dieting and working out? That’s a cause for a celebration!

Throw your diet out the window for a day (but only a day!) and eat some of the things that you’re not allowed to eat normally. By celebrating milestones with fun nights out and cheat days, you can keep the motivation to lose weight alive.

Find the Motivation to Lose Weight and Use It

It’s not always going to be easy to find the motivation to lose weight. There will be times when you want to give up and indulge in a bowl of ice cream.

But by keeping your eyes on the prize and focusing on what really matters, you can achieve your goals and feel so much better about yourself. You’ll love the way you look and feel when you maintain your motivation to continue moving forward.