Can we talk weight loss motivation? Because I just saw someone online asking for ideas for weight loss rewards. She was looking for things to buy for when she hit one of her goals and it got me thinking. If you need to buy something in order to reward yourself for your weight loss results, your motivation isn’t where it should be. I just want to share my thoughts on this, because I might have a story to help you tackle this ‘problem.’
I speak from experience when I say: “Rewarding yourself with ‘stuff or food’ isn’t the right way to motivate yourself.’ I know it’s the easier way, but it’s most likely not going to work in the long run. In most cases people who want to lose weight, have used food to ‘fix’ their problems. These problems are mostly mental problems, like being stressed or hurt by a person or situation. Food makes people feel better, but people who are overweight might have been using food to feel better a little too much.
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For me, it started with having some comfort food after a stressful day. That became a habit since I used to have many stressful days. Before I knew it, I was addicted to eating when I was stressed. I got a little bigger, but since I’m a small person I didn’t feel too bad about it. I never really gained weight because I was always pretty thin. But the eating to feel better got worse and one day I didn’t fit into my jeans anymore.
By that time, I was already deeply into the habit of eating out of stress. I had a really hard time stopping it. I tried diets, followed the advice from people I knew and I was constantly finding motivation to stop in the wrong places. Losing weight was constantly on my mind. Going to gym was rewarded with some cookies or shopping for new clothes. ‘Because hey, I just had a great workout, right!?’ Yup, those things were all part of the wrong weight loss motivation.
You have to dig deep to find your weight loss motivation. This means opening up and really looking at yourself. And yes, that is hard! You’ve probably been avoiding it for years, like I did too. Giving yourself another cookie, a new bag or a new lipstick isn’t working, is it? That type of motivation will last about five minutes and then you need some more. Think about it, why do you really want to lose weight?
The best reasons can be your health, feeling great in your own body, loving yourself and live the life your supposed to live. If you want to lose weight because everyone else is doing it or if you want to look like someone else, you have the wrong weight loss motivation! Stop it right now and dig deep, why do you really want to lose weight? If you are doing it because of something outside yourself, it will never be as glorious as it can be.
You see, intrinsic motivation is motivation that comes from within. This means you want to lose weight for reasons like earlier mentioned. This also means you will get right back up when you fall, without anyone or anything helping you to do it. Because you have a goal and no one can stop you, because it’s yours and you want to succeed. It means facing your fears and all of those things that make you eat the wrong foods.
For me it was eating out of stress. Later on, I also started snacking when I was sad. I did not know how to deal with stress in a healthy way. I’m not a crier, I don’t like to talk about my problems and I like to just forget. So that was my problem, not dealing with stress and emotions in a way it works for me. But I managed to do it and it took me a few years. But now my weight loss motivation is perfect, because it’s not about the weight anymore. It’s about me, being the best version of myself and enjoying who I am.
Now that’s some killer weight loss motivation right there. What is your motivation, let me know!
Kaya-Quintana
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