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How To Stay Motivated To Lose Weight

Staying motivated to lose weight can seem like an impossible task at times. Often this is due to not getting the results expected within a given timescale, or simply struggling to get started.

Here are 12 tips you can use to keep you motivated to reach your weight loss goal.

  1. Set a long term goal
    • It’s important to have a long term goal to work towards. Ask yourself where you want to be in a year’s time.
    • Make sure your goal is realistic and achievable for that timescale.
    • How much weight do you actually want to lose? What dress size do you want to get down to? How much stronger would you like to get?
  2. Set a short term goal
    • Short term goals are just as important as long term goals. Again, be realistic when setting these – if weight loss is your goal; aim to stay within a calorie deficit for 7 days, or if general fitness is your goal, aim to workout 3-5x a week.
    • Make sure your short term goals are able to be achieved within 2 weeks, at the end of the 2 weeks create a new goal.
  3. Write down your goals
    • Get yourself a fancy new note pad and write down your goals. Studies show we are more likely to accomplish a goal if we write it down, as opposed to only having a goal in your mind.
    • The process of penning down your goal mentally engraves it to our mind which makes us less likely to slip back into bad habits.
    • If you have a goal of losing a stone, write down everything that you need to be doing in order to reach the stone in weight loss.
  4. Stick it to your door so you see it every morning
    • Once you have your goal written down, stick it to your door, or somewhere you will see it every day before you leave the house. That way your goal will never be off your mind.
  5. Allow cheat days
    • Don’t be afraid to treat yourself once in a while to celebrate your hard work. If you’ve been dieting and exercising all week, there is no reason why you should avoid a nice meal out with your friends.
    • Remember, your goals need to be sustainable otherwise you will be back to square one when you relapse due to being fed up of only eating clean, and not enjoying yourself once in a while.      
  6. Have rests
    • If you need a day or two off from the gym, have them! You don’t need to be putting the hours in on the treadmill, or lifting weights every single day to achieve your goals. Listen to your body, you need to rest to allow it to recover.
  7. Train with a friend
    • Get yourself a training partner! Try and find someone who is a fitter than you, it may be daunting to train with someone who out performs you at first, but use their knowledge to help you with your goals.
    • Having somebody to hold you accountable to your goals will make it much easier for you to get yourself to the gym.
  8. Get a personal trainer
    • If your motivation is lagging because you are not seeing results, then get yourself a professional to help. Personal trainers are there to offer you their wealth of knowledge to help you get the results you want.
  9. Find exercise you enjoy
    • If you don’t like doing certain exercises, don’t do them. There is more than one way to lose weight. If you don’t like dieting, you can do more exercise, if you don’t like a certain form of exercise, find something that you enjoy. Keep at it until you find something that works for you.
  10. Take progress pictures
    • People often lose motivation as they see no results. This is more common than you will think – the thing is, you see yourself in the mirror every single day, so the small changes that happen from day to day we don’t notice.
    • By taking a progress picture once a month, you can really see just how far you have come.
  11. Weigh yourself every day
    • Your weight changes every day, it will go up, and it will go down. It depends on a number of factors, from the food you ate the night before to hormones.
    • By weighing yourself every day as opposed to once a week, you can get a realistic idea of how much you weigh; jot down your weight every day that way you can see how far you have come.
  12. Plan your workouts
    • Instead of going straight into your workouts without a plan, sit down one weekend, and write yourself a plan. Include all the exercises that you enjoy doing, but still get your heart rate racing. From there, lock the days into your diary and make sure you stick with it.

Final Thoughts

Motivation and sustainability is key for any weight loss goal.

Find out what works for you, and stick with that. Remember, there is nothing wrong with treating yourself once in a while, or having a few days off from exercise. Keep at it, and the results will come.