The Right Motivation for Healthy Weight Loss

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This post is the part 2 of The Ultimate Weight Loss Guide

Words spoken after “I am…” define what you will become

Here is the most important lesson:

You are the one who forms your inner self with the choice of words to say after “I am…”

I am not referring to the words which are actually spoken although they matter too. I am talking about the words you say in the silence of your mind.

Sentences like “I’m fat” or “I’m stupid” sound as an opinion describing your condition at a given moment in time. In fact, they are commands which have led you to your current state.

You need to start telling yourself affirmations of what you would like to become – and your words will soon turn into reality.

Everything is possible

The overwhelming majority of people live without realizing that they are the ones who control their destiny. Their mindset is that of a victim. That way it is much easier to put the blame elsewhere and shun responsibility. Such attitude is not actually inferior in itself. We all have to start somewhere.

The next step is to entertain an idea that your life may be different. Anyone can understand that he or she can do more and have more and, in other words, become a better person.

Then we proceed to a further stage – the formation of the belief that nothing is impossible. Generally, most people are captivated by the idea of a better and more wonderful life which means that, quite possibly, it’s your own life which can become better and more wonderful.

Finally, we’ve reached the highest level – when you become aware that you can achieve anything you wish for. The only restriction is your own mental power.

Step up to the highest level.

Everything is possible!

Motivation and its importance for losing weight quickly

Our thoughts are material. If you have a definite goal and you pursue it regardless of all the things that come in your way, then your physical body is bound to adjust accordingly. For example, when you really want to shed some extra kilograms, the body triggers those hormones and enzymes which are responsible for burning the stored body fat and lowering your food demand.

The journey to achieving positive results begins with goal-setting and acquiring motivation. The importance of motivation in anyone’s life cannot be overestimated. Motivation is key to success of any enterprise. Some people have managed to keep one and the same diet for a long time and yet, in the end, they achieved varying results. Those who reportedly managed to shed the hateful excess pounds and to change out of all recognition later admitted that they had been very highly motivated.

Do not fool yourself

Time and time again we keep hearing the words along the lines of “I know far too well that in order to lose weight you have to eat less and exercise more. I can lose weight in no time at all only if I wanted to. It’s just that …” which is usually followed by a great variety of excuses of which the most favorite are listed below:

• If only I had more free time, I’d definitely lose weight;
• If only I were single, with no husband and kids, then I’d definitely be slim, healthy and beautiful. I would simply have enough time to devote to keeping my body healthy and fit.
• If only I were younger, I’d easily lose weight as all young people do;
• Corpulence runs in our family: my grandmother and my mother have always been plump. I have a metabolic disorder and there’s nothing I can do about it;
• I have given birth to several children; therefore my metabolism went haywire;
• I cannot afford the money (or the time) to go to a fitness center or a massage therapist;
• If only I had an exercise bike at home, I’d have got into a celebrity-like shape long ago;
• If only I had lots of money, I’d go to expensive fitness clubs and beauty parlours every day;
• If only I were more financially secure, I’d buy only the best organic food as opposed to products which are chock full of assorted nitrates.

And of course I would eat only the healthy food like fresh fruit and vegetable salads. This would help me remove various toxins from the body and at the same time I could lose weight!

How to choose the right motivation for losing weight

Sooner or later each individual is likely to face the problem of making a choice between “I will do anything it takes to look and live like I want” and “I’ll just keep on dreaming about making a difference in my own life”.  Stop trying to hide behind your excuses! Time is ripe! Right here and right now. Not tomorrow or next Monday but today! However, you have put your mind and your back into it and take care not to make the same mistakes over and over again.

Imagine the situation: as soon as you get back to your normal weight, the government will give you a great big house or a gorgeous new car in the context of the federal program promoting healthy living. Do you get the picture? Now ask yourself about the time it’s going to take you to lose weight.

Do you see how fast things are changing? All of a sudden there is will power and self-confidence that you are going to win this battle against overweight with flying colors. And there are no more doubts whatsoever! This is what is meant by having an important motivation. As soon as it appears, you are practically half way there!

Having the right motivation is fundamental to all positive examples of losing weight.

Our thoughts are material. If a man’s goal is in his clear line of sight and he moves towards it by doing the activities whose effectiveness he does not question then his body goes into a different operational mode. The body stimulates the activity of certain hormones and enzymes which are responsible for extracting the fat from its body deposit.

Consequently, the body’s craving for food becomes substantially reduced.  Many people can relate to a situation when they forgot to eat in times of experiencing high anxiety. Thus, we are witnessing a smooth transition from psychology to physiology and then to biochemistry, which brings about the required results: our body fat is burning and we are losing weight.

If despite all that the weight does not drop, then either your motivation is weaker than it should be, or you are dealing with the wrong kind of motivation.

What do you say to the idea of investing a dollar and getting more than a hundred dollars in return within just a few years?

The facts are convincing beyond doubt.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spends more than 20% of its annual budget on treatment of obesity-related diseases. In absolute figures, this amounts to over 200 billion dollars.

Statistics show that a timely investment in disease prevention for as little as one dollar helps save as much as six dollars on average on further treatment.  Or 18 dollars if you consider sanatorium and spa treatment. Or 30-dollar savings on medical rehabilitation. Or 42-dollar savings on physical fitness and sports and about 60 dollars in savings if you consider balanced nutrition. Just think about it – one dollar will save you 60 dollars in the long run!  If you consider the last two factors in combination that your savings will reach the amount of 102 dollars just for a dollar investment!

However, you have to keep in mind that these are average efficiency indicators of investments in health. They vary considerably when it comes to individual person characteristics. Maximum efficiency rates are recorded for investments in child health. The average ratio here is 1 to 200 (in USD), with maximum efficiency of 1 to 400 (in USD) for the age group of4-6 –years old.

Ask yourself: why do I want to lose weight in the first place?

1. Undoubtedly, the first choice is the life itself in all its diversified magnificence. Somewhere close is most likely the idea of “being healthy”. Healthy living!  Pain in the joints and in the lower back even at the smallest motions, labored breathing after walking up just to the second floor – all such trifles quickly change the subject of our thoughts from contemplating finer things in life straight to the frailty of our existence.

Nowadays many people are well aware of disastrous diseases which are very likely to develop in addition to obesity (such as arterial hypertension, diabetes, etc.).  When I realized it, the problem which had been tormenting me for years, simply burst like a soap bubble.

Back then when I used to feel like a fat sack of lard it became clear to me that my life expectancy was like 5 or 6 years if judged by the rate of development of various symptoms and signs of overweight-related diseases. And I had never felt so willing to live. Needless to say, I did not want to live a miserable existence of a bloated handicapped person who could barely move about. I wanted to live a healthy full-fledged life of a young man in full bloom.

Over the next 6 months, I lost 50 kg of fat! A whole shopping cart full of lard. Even now I can’t stop wondering how I could have lived for so many years with such a burden. However, I did set a goal! Yes! I had a definite goal!

2. Dissatisfaction with your appearance which sometimes is accompanied with various relationship problems with the opposite sex. Yes, it is true that many people who are seriously overweight feel very sore about being perceived only as friends and not being considered as sexual partners.

Check yourself in the mirror and honestly answer the following question: does your current lifestyle appear attractive to you? If yes, then to what degree? Perhaps you are quite happy with the life you are living and your appearance seems to be just fine at the moment?

If you are happy with what and who you are, then just let it go and never fall for any marketing hype about losing weight. And stop trying to find favour in the eyes of those who ignore you. Someday you may as well realize that your current weight is best for you. But if you constantly feel discomfort verging on a cry for help and you are totally unhappy with the way you look – then it’s time for a serious weight loss makeover!

3. Comfortable conditions of life. People with normal weight will have trouble even trying to picture the range of problems that corpulent people face on a daily basis. Therefore, the bigger the excess weight, the more critical is the issue of survival in the world designed for (let’s be honest here) people of medium height and of medium weight. Every day time and time again a fat person is being haunted with various problems starting with a sagging sleeping mattress and a bowed bed and ending with being unable to get into a bathtub or to simply go outside.

We simply get tired of wearing this “suit” of excessive body fat every day.  Just think about it – tens of kilograms of fat! Naturally, we become tired quickly and opt for a lie-down every time we get a chance. Gradually, we become more and more interested in rest and relaxation.

Your fatigue which morphs into laziness and regular pain in the small of your back make it impossible even to do basic cleaning around the house.

However, we can experience discomfort not only on a physical level but on a psychological one as well. For example, every time you board a public transport, you are most likely to get a handful of reproaches and an endless supply of hostile stares from other passengers when you just can’t hide from their unabashed disgust at the way you look.

You may often face trouble when you attempt to walk through some doors, subway turnstiles or try to get in a car.  Personal hygiene demands too much effort and taking a shower isn’t fun anymore. You aren’t able to sleep on your stomach as well as on your back because of snoring. Long walks in the park or in the country become too exhausting. You think that skating, skiing or riding a bicycle is what happens to other people.

If you pay a visit or entertain guests you cannot avoid the helter-skelter at the dinner table because, obviously, you take up too much room. The chairs under you tend to collapse when you least expect it. It’s painful and shameful at the same time. It’s uncomfortable to dance with a partner both mentally and physically – your bulging belly always gets in the way…

Shoes with laces are not an option so you stick to loafers which are wide as swimming flippers. If only you knew how awkward and aggravating does it feel to do something simple as putting on socks or cutting one’s toenails.

If a common person with normal weight tried to spend a day in a fat body like that – life would seem hell for him! I can attest from my own experience: such quality of life can act as a rather powerful motivator all by itself!

4. Buying clothes: Shopping for clothes used to be fun and I could pick any item without even trying it on while now it has become a tiresome endless journey in search of clothes that will fit. I am tired of hearing the same old “Sorry, we don’t have anything of your size!” which sounds like a prison sentence”. Sometimes when you come across a really cool new cardigan or a skirt that you know is not going to fit you but you still are dead set on buying it – this kind of wish becomes the strongest motivator to being an immediate battle with overweight.

It is no wonder that early spring is characteristic of the peak number of people who decide it is time for them to lose some weight. Many women painstakingly begin to review the contents of their closets and come to a dreadful conclusion that they cannot get into any item of their summer clothes.

However, not all types of motivation will do the job!

“I have to get slimmer because my dresses don’t fit me anymore” – is a wrong type of motivation! Yes, it is a hard fact that your dresses don’t fit you anymore, but it does not necessarily mean that it should be the primary reason for you to get back in shape!

Think of a child who keeps growing out of his old clothes. This does not mean that he needs to lose weight, doesn’t it? Whereas you may as well gain more weight and buy new and more spacious dresses. A dress or a belt that is too tight is merely a source of aggravation, not motivation!

Everything that you do in order to lose weight should be appealing all by itself as something which does you good regardless of the actual purpose of your endeavour.

This is probably the most important point I wanted to get across to my readers. Therefore, the right kind of motivation should not go away even after you have got your old shape back. Success favors only those who view their overweight as some sort of deviation from the physiological level and not from some kind of aesthetic standard.

Examples of the right kind of motivation

• I don’t want to spend half of my earnings on all kinds of medication. Let the pharmaceutical drugs do their job for me.
• I don’t want to become a burden to my children but instead, I’d like to be able to support them both financially and physically.
• I don’t want to end up dying on a hospital bed. When I get to the ripe old age I want to be able to ski downhill and still attract the attention of the members of the opposite sex.
• I don’t want to spend my retirement being stuck on a bench outside the house. I dream of travelling across the globe. I suspect that senile dementia has been created by nature with a special purpose so that in the twilight of their life people wouldn’t burden themselves with painful regrets over their meaningless past.
• I want to live my life to the fullest regardless of the number of years destiny has yet in store for me.

Or, for instance,

I WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT BECAUSE:

1. This will be a wonderful springboard for fulfilment of all prospective family plans. Stop right there! I think “all” is a bit too much here. Don’t be vague but take your time to lay out some specific plans.
2. A healthy and fit body will be very favourable for my career development. When you are in good shape, it is much easier to effectively connect with people: “I will be more self-confident in my interactions with business partners and coworkers”.
3. This will be hugely beneficial for my own business! Indeed, wonderfully shaped figure as a sign of healthy lifestyle will be perceived as an integral part of my brand. I can expect a more earnest and respectful attitude from my customers and partners.
4. This will be very advantageous for my health and a long and dynamic life.
5. A healthy lifestyle is a great money saver. It pays off to stay healthy!

Once you have worked out the right kind of motivation, you will need to support it by the following simple steps:

1. Weigh yourself and take pictures at regular intervals 1 or 2 times a week.
2. Keep a weight loss diary.

What’s next?

GO TO THE PART 3 OF THE ULTIMATE WEIGHT LOSS GUIDE  >>> The First Step of the Weight Loss System – Taking a U-turn

What do you think about it? I would be very grateful if you share your opinion in comments!