Motivation pt1.

Hello again!

I said in a previous post that I would try to put down some thoughts about motivation IF I could avoid it sounding preachy.

Well the best way I can think of doing that it just to relate some of my own personal experiences and thought processes and if anything is useful to you then great.


I have been overweight & therefore dieting pretty much my whole life. I was sent to see a hospital dietitian when I was a kid and then have tried all sorts of diets with varying degrees of success over the years. I have been for a liposuction surgery consultation (which I decided not to go ahead with) and have seriously given consideration to a gastric band.

I would guess the question going through your minds might be: Why would someone who is obviously unhappy and considering such drastic measures to correct a weight problem, not be able to find the motivation to fix it through diet & exercise?

Well I think motivation is very much at the heart of it.

I am a person who needs results to remain motivated, if I stick to a diet for 2 weeks and loose next to nothing I get very disheartened, this doesn't mean that I instantly reach for the biscuit box (I am too resolved to believe that that will help anything), but it does mean that I might revert to my standard eating pattern which I know holds my weight steady.

My brain has been so filled with information about weight loss from different, and sometimes contradictory, sources that I loose focus on the main goal. If I don't loose weight for a couple of weeks I think my body must be in starvation mode so I eat more, If I loose weight rapidly I think I must be loosing muscle so I eat a greater proportion of protein. Occasionally I will have a prolonged period of success and I think "Cracked it!" so I carry on doing exactly the same exercises and eating the same foods. Then suddenly it will stop working and again my motivation dissipates.

So that's how I loose my motivation, how about how ways to increase it.

1. Find a plan that you know works

There are thousands of different diets out there which offer varying degrees of success, Talk to your doctor about your options. I have found that weight watchers/slimming world diets work, they are cheaper and easier to fit into your life than other systems. Atkins worked for me but I had serious doubts about the health implications of removing so much healthy foods from your diet. As mentioned in my previous posts I am currently on the Alizonne program which is working well for me right now. It is isn't cheap but I have never eaten more healthily.
Which ever route you take it is important to have absolute confidence in the plan that you choose, after all you are placing a lot of trust in this system, you should know it works.

2. Make sure the plan fits with your personality and lifestyle

My limited success with the weight watchers plan is due to my problems with moderation. I would rather be told to have no alcohol all together rather than a couple of units but you can then drink more if you save up points from your food. My natural tendency is to move a lot of points around in the system so I can still go out and have a big night out at the weekend. It's pretty unlikely you will loose a significant amount of weight a week if you are out on the sauce regardless of what my points say.
My point here is to make it as easy as possible to integrate the plan into your life.

3. Tell all your family and friends and work mates what you are doing

I was initially hesitant to tell people when I stared on a plan because it would be embarrassing when I failed. That is staring from a very negative place. Their support is what will see you through the shitty times when you feel like quitting.
The second reason is that if you tell people up front what you are doing, they will not offer you food you can't have.

4. Try on all your clothes

Seriously! try on everything you own. Arrange them in your wardrobe from what fits on the right, down to what doesn't on the left. Try to get them in order of size as best you can. There will be one piece f clothing that just fits, put this right in the middle.
Then every week try the next item to the left. As you loose weight you will see the right side of your wardrobe fill up and the left side empty. I find this to be a massive motivator.
I have taken this one step further and bought a shirt and pair of trousers that are way too small. The idea being that I have my goal shirt & goal pants. The idea behind all of this is to stop weight being about the scale and more about how you look.