Hi.
Petrina Hamm here, your go to girl for learning how to make fit work in a crazy busy world
and today I'm going to be talking all about motivation and getting your motivation mojo
back and keep going strong in your quest to lose weight.
If you're like most people, chances are you've started a program, you've been all gung ho
and excited, whether you signed up with the gym or a personal trainer, you invested in
a home work out program, nudge, nudge, wink, wink, or you've taken steps to start eating
smarter and you know, before you know it, some days and weeks go by and you find yourself
and your motivation kind of disappearing.
The good news is you are not alone.
Everybody loses their motivation mojo at one point.
It's how you handle it that's going to make all the difference and if you're like me when
I was getting started and you have over 50 pounds to lose, it's going to take time and
the more time it takes, the more you may struggle to find your motivation.
So without further ado, here are my five best tips to keep that motivation strong.
My number one tip is to harness the power of the pen and paper, whether it be you know
a post it or a full on note pad.
Get a pen out, make a list of things you know would be better about your life at a healthier
weight.
Write it out and be as detailed as possible, whether it being able to keep up with your
kids, enjoying grandkids actively, being able to walk to your store from the parking lot
without losing your breath.
Anything that's powerful to you, write it down.
Write out all your "why's".
Why did you start the program?
Why did you sign up for the gym?
Keep a copy on your fridge, a copy in your pantry and one in your purse that you can
easily pull out and go to any time you're feeling tempted or the motivation to get your
work out done is really not there.
Sometimes even I don't feel like it.
Tip number two is don't make it all about the scale.
I think this is what frequently frustrates people I know and work with.
They step on the scale and they don't see a number they like so they start figuring
"what the heck am I doing this for".
You know, they search for comfort in a Ding Dong or a Ho-Ho after seeing the number on
the scale.
Too many people put too much importance on that three digit number that pops up on the
scale.
Don't do it.
I say avoid daily weigh ins.
Weigh yourself once a week or once every other week ideally, especially if you have a big
goal to get to.
Don't be obsessively weighing yourself.
You're really going to be more likely to get frustrated and give up and you'll lose sight
of that motivation just because you're feeling so discouraged about that number on the scale.
Having said that too, make sure that you have a goal other than your weight.
You want to run your first 5K, maybe you want to be able to do push ups on your toes, which
is pretty cool when you can do it.
Write down goals other than those that involve the number on the scale.
Celebrate those non-scale victories.
You know, being able to touch your toes when you're doing a [unclear 3:06].
Celebrate all the little accomplishments you're starting to make that you couldn't do before.
Tip number three is to go back to the future.
Get all Marty McFly.
What do I mean by that?
Take out your SmartPhone or video camera and record yourself in that honeymoon stage when
you're first starting out and you're actually excited about working out and you're proud
of yourself that you're staying on track.
When you do work out and you feel very pumped and accomplished and proud for actually strapping
on the shoes and getting it done, take out that video camera or take out that SmartPhone
and tape yourself talking about how you feel.
Those kind of videos can serve as a powerful kick in the pants to help you when your motivation
is starting to fade.
Tip number four is to get a little friendly competition going.
If you were born with a competitive spirit, you may want to check out diet bet.
You can find it at DietBetter.com.
You can join a team or form your own and maybe get some friends and family in on the competition.
There are two different levels of competition on Diet Bet.
One where you're betting whether or not you can lose 4% of your weight in 4 weeks or 10%
of your weight in 6 months.
The bigger the goal, the bigger the potential prize is.
If you're not a competitive person, try to find an accountability buddy, someone who
will support your journey who is also going through a journey themselves with similar
goals.
It can be a family member, a friend, a colleague or even someone you meet at an online weight
loss support group.
My fifth tip is to ask yourself the tough questions when the going gets tough.
When you're starting to really fade and telling yourself "I don't really want to work out
today" or "it's too hard to plan out meals", ask yourself "how are you going to look and
feel in 6 months if you quit right now?
What is your health going to be like?"
Asking yourself those kinds of questions and giving yourself honest answers can actually
motivate you to keep on going strong with your diet and nutrition plan.
I'm going to give you one more bonus tip and that is to get real.
Don't resort to using pictures of fitness models or other probably heavily photoshopped
images to service 'fitspiration' for you as you're striving to lose weight.
It's unrealistic.
Instead of doing something like that, I would say to go into your closet and look for an
outfit.
It can be a swimsuit, a top, a dress, a pair of jeans that you haven't been able to fit
into for awhile and hang those up in your room where you can see them each and every
day.
You have a better shot of fitting into that swimsuit, those jeans or that dress than you'll
ever have looking at some sort of a fitness model.
That's my two cents.
I hope you find this helpful.
If you have your own tips, please share them in the tips below and that's it.
Those are my best tips for keeping your motivation strong.
As always, if you have any questions you can shoot me an email at CoachPetrina@yahoo.com.
If you'd like to sign up for absolutely free fitness coaching with me, you can do so at
MakeFitWork.com.
You can also check out my crazy sexy cool website at PetrinaHammFitness.com.
That's it.
Take care and have a great week and keep that mojo going peeps.
Bye bye.