Everyone has been through the same vicious circle. First, you decide to lose weight. Then you pick a workout… and after a few weeks, you find yourself skipping diet days and workout programs. Why can’t you just stay motivated? Don’t blame yourself. Motivation is always hard to find, and you need to give yourself the means to achieve your fitness goals. This means that you need to be very clear about what you want, from how much weight you want to lose to which area of your body you want to tone.
Additionally, you will need to keep your goal in sight, and, more importantly, to know how measurable your results will be. For instance, if you are planning to lose a lot of weight, it will still be several weeks before you can measure it, and several months before you can feel it. In other words, how can you stay motivated throughout the little steps that lead to your big goal?
#1. Some Quality Me Time
A fitness goal is a journey that you take for yourself. You will naturally spend a lot of time exercising and sweating at the gym. So you need to find a way to reward your effort by creating some comfortable and enjoyable me time. Websites, such as myconcierge.com, offer great spa deals that can give your me time a new direction. Why does it matter to create an embellished me time session? Because you don’t want to risk associating time on your own with pain and efforts. Consequently, you can set a step – let’s say when you reach the first third of your weight loss journey – where the reward is a fantastic spa weekend. This will give you something to look forward to.
#2. A Shopping Trip
Motivation is a difficult topic. While you can be motivated to lose weight, you need to secure rewards for all the short-term steps that you reach. For instance, when you are halfway through your weight loss journey, it may be the right time to consider a shopping trip. Why a shopping trip? For two reasons. Firstly, shopping can genuinely make you happy, because it takes your mind off your worries and it boosts your confidence, as careergirldaily.com explains. You can pick items that you know make you look good. There’s nothing wrong with feeling amazing! The second reason why shopping is a great reward is that when you lose weight, you need new clothes that fit better and can support your new shape.
#3. Avoid Food
There are plenty of other reward ideas that you can use to motivate yourself. For example, you can plan a weekend getaway when you hit a new step in your fitness journey, or you can get a new hairstyle to mark the beginning of a new you. If you’re a tech-lover, why not consider buying a smartwatch or a new gadget for your home? As you can see, there are a lot of choices. There’s only one thing that should avoid at all costs: Food should never be a reward to keep you motivated. Allowing yourself to eat a cookie or have a lunch out as a motivational reward creates an unhealthy relationship with food… which inevitably leads to weight gain.