While learning about healthy foods and regularly exercising help reduce excess pounds, reaffirming your motivation for weight loss is equally important in developing a healthy lifestyle, according to Dr. Robert Carels, a weight loss psychologist at Bowling Green State University. Staying motivated is challenging, and keeping a three-ring motivational binder for weight loss consolidates different types of motivation into one easily accessible book.
State Your Reasons
Clearly state your reasons for wanting to lose weight in the first page of your motivational binder. General concepts, such as improving your health or having more energy, are less tangible than personal motivations. Write specific reasons at the top of the page, such as to be healthy for the family that loves you or to watch your grandchildren grow up. Articulating your reasons keeps you focused and motivated to go for a bike ride instead of indulging in a third cookie.
Record Your Food Feelings
Devote a section of your motivational binder to recording your emotions before and after eating certain foods. This motivates you to make positive food choices by letting you revisit your emotions after positive and negative meal choices. For example, recording your feelings of euphoria before eating a huge bowl of ice cream along with the depressive state that follows makes ignoring those feelings impossible. Conversely, detailing your feelings of empowerment and happiness after eating a dinner of grilled chicken and baby spinach salad motivates you to continue making nutritious food choices.
Track Your Progress
Losing weight takes time, which can discourage an otherwise disciplined person. Tracking diet and exercise changes in your motivational binder highlights the progress you've achieved. For example, record your activity during an exercise session along with each weigh-in or body measurement. Milestones and minigoals, such as running one mile without stopping or having only one dessert in a day, show that change is possible and motivate you to continue making progress.
Record Your Fantasies
Keep a collection of pictures or images that remind you of everything you'll enjoy after losing weight. While living a healthy lifestyle is always important, your fantasies are like the carrot on a stick inside your motivational binder. Paste pictures of yourself from a thinner time in your life or ads for the types of clothing you're excited to wear. Describe activities you were unable to do previously because of your weight, such as completing a triathlon or riding the theme park rides with your children. Use these images and descriptions as motivation whenever losing weight feels daunting or futile.