Weight Loss Motivation That Lasts: 5 Ways to Incorporate a Healthy Diet Plan Into Daily Life

Weight loss motivation is different for different people, depending on lifestyle, body type, and genetics. These five ways to incorporate a healthy diet plan into daily life will help you figure out what works for you, for long term fat loss.

“Nothing tastes as good as being slim feels,” is often repeated when people are trying to lose weight permanently. Repeating a motivational phrase like that may help you stay motivated and stick with a healthy diet plan. Any reminder, especially if it resonates with who you really are, will keep you on track to successful weight loss.

Achieving goals – whether you’ve made New Year’s resolutions or are just learning about healthy diet plans – takes more than simple desire. Achieving weight loss goals is about knowing your strengths, weaknesses, and temptations (such as emotional eating). These five ways to incorporate a healthy diet plan into daily life can help you achieve your goals and increase your motivation for long term weight loss.

Step 1 - Visualize Your Weight Loss Goals

Imagine that you’re as slim, healthy, and active as you want to be. Picture yourself at your goal weight (this is the law of attraction and it works for many people). Think about how good you feel when you can run, bike, and hike effortlessly. Imagine getting on the scale and smiling because you’re achieved your weight loss goals. Keeping picturing yourself as you want to be, and you’ll be motivated to stick to a healthy diet plan.

Step 2 - State Weight Loss as Accomplished

Use the present tense when you’re thinking about weight loss motivation. “I weight 150 pounds,” and “My jeans aren’t too tight anymore!” and “I am at my goal weight,” are positive ways to solidify your goals. This is affirming that your weight loss goals are already achieved, which creates positive energy. The more you state your goals as already accomplished, the more you drive it into your subconscious – and it does become reality.

Step 3 - Accept Complete Responsibility for Losing Weight

No excuses. It doesn’t matter if your partner is bbq'ing bacon cheeseburgers every night or your mother is baking cheesecakes every weekend; you must take responsibility for finding weight loss motivation that lasts. Getting and staying motivated for fitness involves being self-reliant and not rationalizing the reasons behind your slip ups. Accepting complete responsibility for your life will help you achieve long term weight loss.

Step 4 - Do Something to Lose Pounds Daily

It doesn’t matter if it’s eating smaller portions or going to Pilates; do something every day to bring you closer to your weight loss goals. Take specific, concrete steps toward your goal weight by focusing on it every day. Forget about the lofty “I want to lose weight” thoughts. Instead, take action-oriented steps towards achieving weight loss goals and find motivation that lasts.

Step 5 - Believe That You Will Lose Weight

Be confident that you will reach your goal weight! The previous four steps all build that confidence – but you won't be successful until you really believe you can achieve your weight loss goals. Act as if getting motivated for fitness and reaching your weight goal is inevitable…and then your dreams will come true!

Effective Weight Loss Articles is a round up of information about healthy diet plans, and includes more tips for long-term fat loss.

Sep 1, 2008 6:24 AM

Guest :

what am i meant to do? i'm 12 and i don't have any choice over what i eat and because of school i can't fit much exercise into my day. also, being 12 makes it impossible to get surgery

Sep 6, 2009 2:31 PM

Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen :

Hi,

I'm so sorry I didn't see your comment until now! Yours was one of a couple dozen that I missed, due to a glitch in the system.

Even though you’re 12, you DO have a choice about what you eat, my friend. You can eat smaller portions, and you can focus on eating as much fresh fruit and veggies as possible. Cut out the soda pop and potato chips – and spend as much time as you can moving around outdoors.

I’ve learned that how much exercise you get isn’t as important as what you eat. You can control how much you eat, so you can lose weight. But it does take time and dedication.

Losing weight is as simple as eating fewer calories than you burn off in a single day. The trick part is when emotional eating or other factors come in.

Another suggestion is to find a weight loss buddy; someone who will keep you accountable and help you control how much you eat.

I hope these suggestions are helpful. If you have any more questions, please do ask them here! I promise to respond within a day or two.

Laurie

Sep 14, 2009 8:37 AM

Guest :

HI Laurie,

I was doing so good 5 months ago.. when I planned to go to Hawaii beach, and get motivated and tried to lose weight and achieve my goals.. i was 145 lbs.. and I lost 7.2 lbs for just 1 month of eating less.. regular exercise.. and stay focused. I was 137 lbs when I went to Hawaii.. and it felt so good.. but then, as soon as we get back from that trip.. I started eating bad food again.. and then a couple of months ago, I wanted to get my healthy diet back, so that I can achieve my weight goals.. right now I am 140 lbs. and still trying to lose weight... because of these 5 steps.. I hope that I can maintain it and stay focused before the end of the year.. and hopefully I can achieve my weight goal of 125 lbs. Do you have any more advice that you could give me aside from all of these 5 steps? I would really appreciate it :) Thanks so much and I hope to hear from you again soon ;)

Sincerely,

Erika

Sep 14, 2009 9:24 AM

Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen :

Hi Erika,

Your experience is very, very normal – most people lose weight quickly, for a specific reason, and then gain it back even more quickly! That’s because diets and restriction don’t work, and because you may have lost weight too quickly. Losing one pound a week is slow, steady, and most likely to keep the weight off permanently.

Go back up to Related Reading About Weight Loss and Healthy Diets at the end of my article above, and click on “Effective Weight Loss Articles.” There are two articles in there that are particularly helpful – especially the first one, called Best Ways to Lose Weight!

Best Ways to Lose Weight – I wrote that based on what I learned from my husband. Most people gain weight when they get married, but I lost a bunch of weight! It’s because he has incredibly healthy eating habits, and I’ve just picked them up from spending so much time with him.

And, another pretty good article there is 10 Ways to Lose 10 Pounds. But it’s a little more “ho hum” – there aren’t a lot of new ideas there, but it’s based on Julia Cameron’s book called The Write Diet, which is interesting.

If you’d like to share your biggest weight loss obstacles in the comments section of one of those articles, I can give you a few ideas for overcoming your particular challenges. For example, eating at night is a huge challenge for many people – and I have written about that in my Psychology blog.

First, check out those articles (I can’t post live links here). Then, let me know if I can help further.

Good luck!

Laurie