Trying to make changes to your lifestyle, is never easy. It's staying motivated which is one of the most difficult aspects of the journey. You go through times of being upbeat and confident in yourself, but you also go through times where you feel like you are never going to reach your goal! It's very easy at times like these to give up and return to the bad habits you had before. But before you eat that giant piece of chocolate cake, yes you....put in down! I thought I'd write a list of tips, which have helped me to stay motivated over the past 8 weeks or so. I hope it helps!
1. Create a schedule.
I find that healthy eating is easier if I keep to a set schedule. Make sure you don't leave to much time between meals by setting specific times for the main meals of the day and even snack times! For example, I have breakfast at 10, lunch at 2 and dinner around 6ish. I usually have a snack around 4 in the afternoon as its the biggest break between meals. Splitting up the day likes this prevents you from getting too hungry between meals, as well as from skipping meals. Once I skipped lunch and came home and was so hungry I couldn't wait to cook food so I quickly reheated Lewis's pizza from the night before and devoured it all!
2. Create a workout regime to suit you.
Make time where you can to exercise, and figure out when you are most enthusiastic to workout. I tend to enjoy working out in the mornings because it gets it out of the way for the day, but I know others who love working out in the evening or even really late at night! On work days I don't have time to workout in the morning, so I have been utilising my lunch hour by walking for the full hour. I get home and do an half hour YouTube workout while the dinner is cooking. Try not to convince yourself that you don't have time to workout, even a 20 minute workout 5 times a week can really help!
3. Research low calorie/healthy food choices.
I have been using the calorie counting technique to lose my unwanted weight, as a result I don't have many calories to play with on a given day. So researching low calorie meals and even low calorie snacks has really helped me! There are websites like this one, which lists loads foods which come in under 100 calories. Doing a little bit of research helps to make you more aware of which foods are high calories and which are low. I've filled my cupboards with an array of different low calorie snacks. So now when I get the munchies, instead of chomping on a whole pack of chocolate digestives (I have the biggest craving for these right now) I only have low calorie choices to pick from! I don't have that feeling of guilt that comes after eating something you shouldn't have, you know you didn't need to eat all of those digestives! Researching for meals also helps you to create different options for each meal of the day, its easy to stick to the same meals because you know they are safe, I am really guilty of this, but mixing it up helps keep things more interesting!
4. Make new friends.
Finding others who have similar interests/goals to you has really helped me! I mainly use apps (MyFitnessPal and Pump Up) which are social but also fitness centred. Everyone is working towards their own individual goals on there and I found that many are really encouraging and lovely. It also allows you to interact with people who have succeeded in reaching their goals already! I have even made a friend through Pump Up who has already lost six stone in just over a year, she did it completely through healthy eating and working out (which she did at home with a set of dumbbells and an exercise mat!) and she is such a motivation for me! Having a support like this is invaluable when you feel like you're losing enthusiasm.
5. Don't deprive yourself.
Allow yourself a treat every now and again. Yes...I don't have a treat everyday like I used to but I have limited myself to only eating chocolate on Sundays and making sure it still within my calorie allowance. The important thing to take into account is that you are making a lifestyle change, you need to create a lifestyle which is sustainable for you. You shouldn't deprive yourself of the things you enjoy, you just need to make sure you eat them in moderation. This works differently for different people, I like to save my treat for the end of the week and the day that I weigh myself because it prevents me from straying within the week. Also, if I've lost weight that day, which after all is the plan right, I feel like I'm treating myself for doing well!
6. Don't let turn down social invitations.
Since I started calorie counting, I know that I have been a little apprehensive about going out to restaurants with family/friends because I may not have have access to the nutritional information. But if you say no to going out because of this, you could start to resent the decision to eat healthier. You can make healthy choices when eating out, choose a smaller portion or even something from the lunch menu, swap chips for a jacket potato or ask for no dressing. Many restaurants do print the calories of their meals on the menu itself or even on their website. But nevertheless, one meal won't ruin your weight loss in the long run or undo all the work you have done so far. Enjoy it while you're there and start the next day a fresh, try not to let one day where you over-ate morph into a week!
7. Try not to weigh yourself everyday.
Some people are obsessed with weighing themselves when they are trying to lose weight and I used to be one of those people! Weighing yourself every morning and sometimes twice a day hoping to see a loss. But, I found that by doing this my mood and motivation would depend on the scales. The fact is though, your weight doesn't always stay exactly the same and it fluctuates throughout the week/day. So, this time around I have stuck to weekly weigh ins. I chose Sundays because it keeps me motivated throughout the week, and I can start a fresh each Monday. Once, I have reached my goal I hope to focus more on losing inches rather than pounds so I will be weighing myself less often then.
8. Compliment yourself.
Honestly, this is one of the most important tips I can give you. 'Be your own motivation' its a very well used expression but its so true, no-one will reach your goals for you, only you can! Try your hardest and compliment yourself when your clothes start to feel different, when you've worked out really hard that day, or you choose a healthier option when something really unhealthy/tasty is offered to you! It's also important that you're not too hard on yourself when you maybe don't make the best choice or you can't get to workout as much as you wanted to. It's a journey that you're on and you need to accept that you will have days like that but don't let those days turn into weeks, start each day a positive!
I really hope these tips helped! If you have any of your own I would really appreciate it if you posted them in the comments below! Lets all help motivate one another!
5. Don't deprive yourself.
Allow yourself a treat every now and again. Yes...I don't have a treat everyday like I used to but I have limited myself to only eating chocolate on Sundays and making sure it still within my calorie allowance. The important thing to take into account is that you are making a lifestyle change, you need to create a lifestyle which is sustainable for you. You shouldn't deprive yourself of the things you enjoy, you just need to make sure you eat them in moderation. This works differently for different people, I like to save my treat for the end of the week and the day that I weigh myself because it prevents me from straying within the week. Also, if I've lost weight that day, which after all is the plan right, I feel like I'm treating myself for doing well!
6. Don't let turn down social invitations.
Since I started calorie counting, I know that I have been a little apprehensive about going out to restaurants with family/friends because I may not have have access to the nutritional information. But if you say no to going out because of this, you could start to resent the decision to eat healthier. You can make healthy choices when eating out, choose a smaller portion or even something from the lunch menu, swap chips for a jacket potato or ask for no dressing. Many restaurants do print the calories of their meals on the menu itself or even on their website. But nevertheless, one meal won't ruin your weight loss in the long run or undo all the work you have done so far. Enjoy it while you're there and start the next day a fresh, try not to let one day where you over-ate morph into a week!
7. Try not to weigh yourself everyday.
Some people are obsessed with weighing themselves when they are trying to lose weight and I used to be one of those people! Weighing yourself every morning and sometimes twice a day hoping to see a loss. But, I found that by doing this my mood and motivation would depend on the scales. The fact is though, your weight doesn't always stay exactly the same and it fluctuates throughout the week/day. So, this time around I have stuck to weekly weigh ins. I chose Sundays because it keeps me motivated throughout the week, and I can start a fresh each Monday. Once, I have reached my goal I hope to focus more on losing inches rather than pounds so I will be weighing myself less often then.
8. Compliment yourself.
Honestly, this is one of the most important tips I can give you. 'Be your own motivation' its a very well used expression but its so true, no-one will reach your goals for you, only you can! Try your hardest and compliment yourself when your clothes start to feel different, when you've worked out really hard that day, or you choose a healthier option when something really unhealthy/tasty is offered to you! It's also important that you're not too hard on yourself when you maybe don't make the best choice or you can't get to workout as much as you wanted to. It's a journey that you're on and you need to accept that you will have days like that but don't let those days turn into weeks, start each day a positive!
I really hope these tips helped! If you have any of your own I would really appreciate it if you posted them in the comments below! Lets all help motivate one another!