How to set yourself up to lose weight is a difficult decision that requires a person to have willpower, great desire, and a willingness to improve their body, change their consciousness, and their way of life. Many stopped halfway without reaching their goal.
It’s simple, you need to completely change your life and consciousness: give up unhealthy foods, understand the importance of exercise when losing excess weight, and properly motivate weight loss.
Choosing a motivator
Only the right motivation will help you lose weight by radically changing your diet. It is she who charges you with energy and enthusiasm, allows you to focus on the final result and achieve it by any means. Therefore, if you don’t know how to go on a diet, if you don’t have the willpower, start by making a treasured list.
Add to it all the reasons that make you struggle with excess weight. Moreover, the minimum number of points is 10. This is necessary so that as soon as one of the motivators fades at some stage, you, having looked at the list, will immediately be inspired by another.
To make the task easier, we bring to your attention several very effective motivators.
- Strengthen your health (excess weight means shortness of breath, aches throughout the body, frequent colds and other problems).
- Show off your perfect figure in a swimsuit.
- Attract the attention of men.
- Pull on your favorite jeans from your past life.
- Admire yourself in the mirror.
- Look better than your friend (neighbors, colleagues, sisters, rivals)
- Compare yourself today with your future self and be proud of the results achieved.
- Keep an online diary so that you won’t be ashamed to publish your results in front of others.
- Finally, flood social networks with beautiful photos with an ideal figure.
- Prove to your ex that you still have willpower (as well as a beautiful figure).
- Be the most stunning on the beach this summer.
- Still buy that beautiful dress in the shopping center, which is now 2 sizes too small.
To force yourself to go on a diet, read over and over again the motivators that matter to you. You wake up and dream of losing weight. When you go to work, imagine yourself looking slimmer. When you talk to a friend on the phone, think about how surprised she will be when she sees your changed figure. When you fall asleep, create images from the list you have compiled. This is the only way to achieve what you want.
As motivation, you can hang posters of slender and beautiful girls in your room and every time you get angry that you are far from them. But, as practice shows, the most severe stimulus is a photograph of your ex’s girlfriend, who has stunning curves of a delightful body... Are you weak?
From the world of stars. John Travolta (American actor) does not like diets. But the profession requires you to always be in shape. Therefore, in order to maintain his figure, he reduces the portions of his favorite dishes. If, for example, he wants a cheeseburger, he eats only half of it.
Reviews
Reviews from those who were able to motivate themselves and lost weight:
Alexandrova Anastasia
Nutrition and healthy lifestyle specialist and author of myfitnesblog.com. For many years, she has successfully helped women and men lose weight and maintain a beautiful figure.
Diet selection
The incentive has been chosen, the motivators are outlined. The next step is to choose the right diet.
- If you have eaten half a bar of chocolate every day for 25 years of your life, it is simply unrealistic to give up this habit. Therefore, approach your diet choice very wisely. Don't imagine your diet without a piece of bacon - Dukan will allow you to eat it. If you love milk, protein diets will come in handy.
- Even if you don’t have money, you can always choose a budget food option. This is not an excuse for not losing weight. Cabbage and buckwheat cost pennies.
- A mono-diet and severe hunger strikes are not your path. Avoid them. You will get nothing but breakdowns and disappointments from them.
- Choose gentle long-term regimens that guarantee slow but steady weight loss. As a rule, there is an extensive list of approved products that will allow you to withstand the test to the end.
- Create a detailed menu according to your chosen diet. Rate it: are you satisfied with this diet?
So you'll have to sift through a lot of information to come up with a diet that you can stick with until the end.
Modern reality. Unfortunately, today many young girls fanatically worship beauty standards. According to statistics, beauties who are not yet 25 years old are more afraid of excess weight than cancer, nuclear war, and even the death of their parents.
Why do breakdowns happen?
Most women who set weight loss as a goal have experienced failures.
The causes of failures are:
- Strict prohibitions in diet and habits. Abrupt removal of favorite foods from the diet or strict dietary rules provoke a breakdown. The body was no longer given its favorite foods and daily habits were denied. Example: abrupt withdrawal of sweets. This will not only affect the state of the body (it does not understand what is happening), but also the psychological state.
- Poor nutrition, strict diet. The main mistake will be choosing a diet that will help you lose 10 kg per week. It is possible to achieve this goal, but due to sudden weight loss, the body is under stress and after the diet it will gain “reserve.” Diets are not effective for long-term weight loss. Carefully consider your weight loss plan and the products you want to switch to.
- Poor motivation, lack of it. For example, during the holidays. Ill-thought-out motivation does not allow you to adjust yourself - you may not expect any effect. Start when it is determined: what is being done for and what results can actually be achieved.
It’s easier to prevent any breakdown in your diet than to set everything up all over again.
What to do and how to adjust yourself if a breakdown occurs:
- Don’t be upset, realize and return everything to the way it was. After the breakdown, spend 1-2 fasting days, arrange a protein-vegetable day or a fasting day on cereals.
- If you want something sweet, you can have kefir, fruit, honey, a little dark dark chocolate.
- In his free time, he will take care of walks or his favorite pastime. This will distract you from the thought of losing weight.
- Create a menu and lesson plan, taking into account all the details. Adjust your head and brain to your dream. You need to push all bad thoughts aside.
Failure is not scary, it’s scary and unpleasant not to reach your goal.
Preparation
Once the best diet has been chosen, you need to prepare yourself mentally and physically. At this stage, you will have to change not only your daily routine, but also your way of thinking.
Moral
- An already compiled list of motivators, which you need to review more often, will help you set yourself up for weight loss.
- Read stories of people who inspire others with their example and were able to lose 30, 40, or even more kilograms.
- Watch films about such heroes.
- Find your old photographs where you are captured as a young, slender girl without flaws, admire them. And then immediately look in the mirror and be horrified by your ugly folds of fat.
- Write down your parameters in a special diary: weight, chest, waist and hips. And next to it is the final result that you are counting on.
- Select any items from your wardrobe that are too small for you and try to fit into them.
- Enlist the support of someone (household, relatives, friends).
Physical
- Gradually train yourself to drink a lot of water - up to 2 liters per day.
- Move more: walk several stops, skip the elevator, wash the floors without mopping, etc.
- Do sports that you enjoy: aerobics, swimming, cycling, etc.
- Treat yourself to SPA treatments, tanning in the solarium, anti-cellulite massage - all this is very pleasant and at the same time will benefit the body.
- Gradually give up foods that are on the prohibited list in your diet.
If you properly prepare for a diet, this will increase the chances that you will be able to stick with it and not fall through the cracks. Much will depend on the first days.
Did you know that... the effectiveness of any diet without physical activity and exercise is almost zero?
Motivation Tips for Losing Weight
Before losing weight, a woman must understand that she not only needs to lose extra pounds, but also switch to proper nutrition. Perhaps a healthy lifestyle, which is supported by a huge number of famous people, is the main motive for losing weight. Life should not be devoted to diets, but proper nutrition should serve a better quality of life.
You should pay attention to this important nuance: people do not only eat when they are hungry. Food, especially tasty food, is a way to relieve stress. With the help of food, you can distract yourself from sad thoughts or just keep yourself busy with something. If a woman wants to become slimmer, she needs to eat only to maintain her body in normal condition. You need to eat small portions three or four times a day. It is recommended to drink as much fluid as possible. You need to drink about 1.5 liters of water per day.
It is recommended to eat only from small plates. At one time you need to eat a portion that will fit in the palm of your hand. It is forbidden to take supplements. All large plates should be hidden in the closet.
Psychologists recommend throwing away all large things. True, you can leave one sweater and skirt. If a woman only has new things in her wardrobe that are too small for her, she will quickly lose extra pounds. After all, what could be worse than wearing the same clothes every day?
Before you start losing weight, it is recommended to buy scales. You need to weigh yourself every day. If a woman has lost at least 100 grams of weight, this result should be noted. You can please yourself with some gift, for example, buy a new ring. Any, even the smallest victory in the fight against excess weight should not go unnoticed.
Start of the diet
What is the best way to start losing weight so that on the second day you don’t overeat forbidden delicacies and hate yourself for being weak-willed?
- A series of holidays are not the best days to follow a diet. Guests, a feast, it’s inconvenient to refuse a treat... However, just like a vacation. Choose an ordinary period in your life, which is characterized by routine, and the upcoming celebrations will not be soon.
- As for the day of the week, it is better to start a diet on Monday - it’s so convenient to count the weeks and tie the result to them. And morally it’s easier.
- Remove all unhealthy foods from the refrigerator so they don't tempt you.
- Ask your family not to crunch on chips in front of the TV in the evening and not to invite them to a karaoke bar, where it will be difficult to refuse a glass of beer.
- Reward yourself for a day without a breakdown. Believe me: a slice of chocolate and a piece of your favorite bacon will not make you fat if all other principles are followed.
The most difficult thing during a diet is not even the feeling of hunger, which can be drowned out by the same motivators. The side effects of fasting are more difficult to deal with. For example, what should you do if your stomach has been twisting or you have a headache for several hours in a row? First, eat something - nibble on a carrot or enjoy a handful of nuts. Secondly, take a pill. If the symptoms recur the next day, you need to interrupt (temporarily!) the diet and undergo a medical examination so as not to harm your health.
Interesting fact. The fear of gaining excess weight has its own name - obesophobia.
How to motivate yourself to lose weight: advice from a psychologist
Before starting to lose weight, a woman should ask herself why she needs it. Psychologists advise setting a goal for which you need to lose extra pounds. Then it is recommended to come up with several motives that will help achieve the goal. Motivation for losing weight for girls is a psychological attitude that encourages them to correct figure defects. If women don’t know where to start, they need to follow the advice of psychologists.
How to motivate yourself to lose weight:
- Find the reason for dissatisfaction with your appearance.
Women may not like their bodies due to various factors. For example, a belly that is too big does not allow you to fasten the fly of your jeans. Perhaps thick legs look ugly compared to the slender legs of other women. Or the man the girl dreams of despises fat women. Perhaps a woman wants to become slimmer due to health problems caused by obesity.
- Determine the goal for which you need to lose extra pounds.
The woman is sure that by becoming slimmer, she will be able to make the man of her dreams fall in love with her. A thin girl can easily get a well-paid job, beating out other applicants for the vacant position thanks to her attractive appearance. Having lost weight, a woman will be able to awaken the extinguished passion in her partner or husband. By becoming slimmer, a woman will be able to get rid of heart problems, normalize blood pressure, and improve the functioning of the digestive tract.
- Specify the goal, break it down into stages and outline ways to achieve it.
If a woman wants to lose twenty kilograms, she first needs to understand that losing excess weight in a week or month is impossible. Losing weight is a long-term process. First, you need to force yourself to eat less and lose at least 100 grams of excess weight every day. It is important to come up with ways to help a woman become slimmer. This could be running, swimming, working out in the gym, or a diet of vegetables and fruits.
- Come up with a system of rewards and punishments.
Daily diet and constant physical activity have a depressing effect on your mood. It can be difficult for women to say goodbye to their favorite habits and delicious food, laziness and force themselves to work on their body. The process of losing extra pounds will not be so painful if you reward yourself every day for the right behavior. Every day you can pamper yourself with a piece of your favorite expensive cheese, delicious candy, expensive lipstick. However, if a woman could not restrain herself and made a mistake - she did not go for a run, she ate a huge piece of fried pork, then she must punish herself. For example, do 50 squats, give up morning breakfast.
- Keep a diary in which to record all your actions.
It is recommended to buy a notebook and write down all your plans in it every day, and in the evening put a “tick” next to the completed items. By documenting her actions, a woman will be able to observe firsthand how her weight loss process is progressing. Daily entries will help you clearly see the results. It is important to constantly monitor the progress of work on yourself. If necessary, make timely adjustments to your daily routine and sports training.
Psychologists advise keeping records about working on your body on the Internet. For example, you can create your own blog and report your results to readers daily. Virtual recordings will be able to be seen by people who also have problems with excess weight. Together it will be easier to lose unnecessary pounds. After all, what could be better than collective motivation for losing weight?
Reality and expectations
In order not to break down, initially prepare yourself for the fact that there is no such thing as instant weight loss. All these express diets are a difficult test for the psyche and body, which does not end well.
There is a very useful formula. According to research, the most correct and safest weight loss is minus 1 kg per week. So determine for yourself a figure for exactly how much weight you plan to gain. 15 kg? Divide by 4 - you will have to wait about 4 months for the result. Yes, this is quite a long time, but at the same time you will initially count on this and not expect miracles. But what a joy it will be to achieve the desired effect before the designated period (this usually happens with those who are firmly committed to reaching the end).
Through the pages of history. Of the noble ladies who went down in Russian history, Princess Dashkova, an associate of Catherine II, was the first to actively lose weight on diets. She loved to arrange fasting days for herself with water and red wine.
As you can see, losing weight at home will require a lot of effort. But, re-reading the motivators, you need to understand that they are simply necessary. Stop hiding your body in baggy sweaters and looking 10 years older than your age. Stop turning off the lights every time you undress in front of your loved one and feel embarrassed about your folds on your stomach and sides. Life without the hated kilograms is a bright, beautiful wardrobe that emphasizes the ideal figure; this is the absence of complexes and a sea of admiring glances. Isn't this an incentive to go on a diet soon?
Psychological causes of excess weight
We all know that poor nutrition and lack of physical activity are the main causes of obesity. They are followed by hormonal disorders and diseases of the musculoskeletal system.
But not many people think about the psychological aspects that lead to excess weight. These include:
- Lack of love and warmth. Endorphins are produced when falling in love, contact with people dear and important to us. A person experiences a lack of attention, he lacks security, a sense of significance - he begins to abuse sweets. Cakes, chocolate, and sweets stimulate the production of happiness hormones.
- Overeating can be caused by dissatisfaction with life. You are not satisfied with your career or family relationships. All this leads to the subconscious consumption of large amounts of sweet, fatty or spicy foods. Some people compensate for “failures” this way; others punish them, considering themselves unworthy and worthless.
- An eating disorder can stem from childhood. Many parents force their children to eat by force. Eternal fights for a clean plate teach a person to overeat. And if the requirement to eat all the soup is accompanied by the phrases “You will be strong and beautiful,” children begin to associate strength or beauty with more food.
- Sometimes sweets or fast food serve as a reward for a successfully completed task. People prone to procrastination are looking for an incentive so as not to put everything off until later. This often leads to the abuse of “sweets.” And the reward and its frequency exceed the value of what was done.
- People who are in conflict with themselves and their environment use excess weight as a protest. Society demands that women be attractive and slim, without seeing them as individuals, specialists, or talent. To draw attention to their professional or other abilities, girls choose to be overweight and reject generally accepted beauty standards.
- Sometimes the reason for being overweight is due to trying to please a man. Abusers seek to suppress their partner. Through jealousy, men force a woman to give up cosmetics and stop taking care of her body. To then begin to convince her that she is unworthy of love.
- Low self-esteem and a constant mindset of failure are also projected onto the body. A person overeats, does not try to lose weight, considers himself unworthy, and does not believe in his own strength.
16. Seek professional help if necessary.
Don't hesitate to seek professional help to assist you in your weight loss efforts when needed. People who are more confident in their knowledge and abilities will lose more weight.
We suggest you: High Protein Diet Plan to Lose Weight and Improve Health
This may mean finding a registered dietitian to teach you about certain foods or an exercise physiologist to teach you how to exercise properly.
Many people also like the accountability that a professional's perspective gives them.
If you're still having trouble getting motivated, consider finding a psychologist or nutritionist trained in motivational interviewing, which has been proven to help people achieve their goals.
Summary: Specialists such as nutritionists, physiologists and psychologists can help increase your motivation and knowledge to help you achieve your weight loss goals.
Psychological tricks for successful weight loss
Often, after losing weight, a woman returns to her usual eating behavior and gains extra pounds again. This is due to the fact that her psychological problem, which leads to overeating, has not been resolved.
Determine the root of evil
Follow the principles of weight loss psychology - determine what exactly pushes you to gluttony. If necessary, consult a psychologist.
Look for incentive
Motivation is equally important for successful weight loss. Determine your ultimate goal - why you need to lose excess weight. Examples:
- It perfectly stimulates the desire to be healthy and look younger. After all, obesity is the cause of a large number of diseases.
- The desire to attract the attention of the opposite sex. Bring back the old passion into your current relationship.
- Love for yourself and your body, the desire to be in harmony with yourself.
- Career advancement.
Preparation
Having decided on the motive, begin the proper preparation for losing weight. You must clearly understand that this is your desire, and not something imposed from the outside. Do not consider diet and exercise as torture. Enjoy food and exercise.
Make an action plan - decide on a new diet. Choose a set of simple physical exercises.
Take action
Don’t put off changes until the beginning of the week, month, or year. This is a dead end path. If you are ready, immediately begin active actions.
Maintain your motivation - read books, communicate on thematic forums or groups on social networks. If you're inspired, check out the before and after photos. They give understanding that achieving results is possible.
Learn to distinguish the feeling of hunger from thirst or the desire to binge experience. If you want to eat, drink water or green tea.
Keep yourself busy with pleasant things, fill your life with positive emotions. Then you will be less and less likely to feel the desire to eat away boredom or anxiety.
Don't beat yourself up over breakdowns. Everyone can make a mistake. Try to find a reason why you did this. Refuse for a while to communicate with those who do not believe in your success or insist that you do not need changes.
To help you get started, set small goals for yourself. For example, three days without sweets or fast food, and do morning exercises for a week.
Find social support.
People need regular encouragement and positive feedback to stay motivated.
Tell your family and friends about your weight loss goals so they can support you in your journey.
Many people also find it helpful to find a weight loss buddy. You can train together, hold each other accountable, and support each other throughout the process.
We offer you: 11 proven ways to lose weight without diet or exercise
It can also be helpful to involve your partner, but make sure you get support from other people too, such as friends.
Also, consider joining a support group. Both in-person and online support groups have been helpful.
Summary: Having strong social support will help keep you accountable and keep you motivated to lose weight. Consider joining a support group to boost your motivation along the way.
Consider the best options for stress relief
Losing weight is always a certain stress for the body, especially considering the fact that for many people food is a favorite option for relieving accumulated nervous tension, and it’s not for nothing that the expression “eating stress” exists! However, when losing weight, “eating stress” is definitely extremely undesirable, and therefore you will have to try to choose for yourself other, much more appropriate options for getting rid of stress in this case. And it’s best to think through them in advance, even before you start losing weight, and not just think through them, but also try them out in action, and also understand that they really work!
For some, the best method of relieving stress may be knitting, for others - cross-stitching, and for others - meditation or leisurely walks in the park. In this matter, everything is very individual, so there can be no unambiguous advice and recommendations here!
What to do if the weight has risen: how to force the body to lose weight again, and to believe in a good result
Often on the way to the goal there is a plateau effect - a kind of delay in losing extra pounds, when the number on the scale is in no hurry to change, despite all our tricks. Should we panic? In no case.
- Remember that the reasons for a sudden “break” can be completely different: from the onset of menstruation to a slowdown in metabolism.
- Often, a plateau effect occurs when someone who is losing weight is addicted to diets and limits themselves in everything. Make the right diet and eat well.
- Do not overdo it with physical activity - too intense training can lead to metabolic disorders. Spare your body - choose walking, swimming or aerobics, but not the treadmill, weight training or hours of self-experimentation in the fitness club.
Psychosomatics of excess weight
Dissatisfaction with your body, the desire to lose weight and at the same time the unpreparedness for active actions, the reluctance to change situations provoke stress. A person begins to look for the advantages of being overweight.
From obese women you can hear, I don’t want to lose weight, otherwise my breasts will shrink. They cover their lack of will and fears with a kind of shield.
Sometimes a person is happy to lose weight, but he is afraid of changes and self-restraints. Due to uncertainty, he looks for reasons not to go to the gym or swimming pool. Hiding behind work, family, lack of free time.
In some cases, a person uses excess weight as a protective cocoon from reality:
- Failures in career or personal life are fully justified.
- Some, constantly complaining about being overweight, manipulate, demanding more attention and emotional support from loved ones.
- It is common for men to use excess weight as confirmation of their status. For them, a fat person is successful, significant, and holds a high position.
In psychology, there are several rules for increasing awareness of the need to lose weight:
- accept the fact of excess weight;
- understand the main reason;
- find a way out of the situation;
- act.
You must learn to be responsible, because no one but you can change the current situation. Before you start on the path to your desired figure, you need to find motivation that will help you stay on your chosen path.
What are the consequences of postponing a “new life”?
Time is running
Do you think you will always have time to lose weight? Do you promise yourself to start every week on Monday? But all this time, the days of your precious life are flying by - by the way, your only one. Think about where you could be now if you had started on a journey without excuses last year. Do you want to experience the same disappointment in a year? If not, the choice is yours.
Metabolism gets worse
Every year it becomes more and more difficult for the average person to lose weight - this is a fact. Metabolic processes slow down, habits take root, and everyday life becomes more stressful. With age, muscles become no longer so easy to “move.” Don't forget that while you put off the path to a healthy lifestyle until later, you are naturally digging a deep hole for yourself and moving even further away from your goal.
The dream is getting further and further
Sociologists have noticed an interesting thing: if a guy does not approach the girl he likes within the first 30 seconds after he notices her, there is a high probability that he will never meet her again. If there is not enough impulse, more and more excuses and doubts will appear. But this works not only with girls - it’s easiest to start achieving your goal from the first thought about it. TO
How long have you been putting off losing weight since you first thought about it? Every day you become further and further from your dreams. And the likelihood that you will succeed tomorrow will be less than now.
Quotes from famous people for self-motivation
“There is nothing better than living life striving to become better.” Socrates
“The journey to a thousand pounds starts with one hamburger.” Chris O'Brien
“If you're not giving your body the best, you're simply robbing yourself.” Julius Erving
“If you feel like you're giving up, remember why you were holding on before.” Jared Leto
“At the end of the day, your health is your responsibility.” Jillian Michaels