Losing weight is the focus of countless people around the world as is evidenced by the billion-dollar diet industry. The fact is that 75% of adult Americans are overweight to obese, and childhood diabetes is a increasing problem among the world’s children. The reasons to lose weight are many but the difficulty usually arises in the motivation. So what can you do when you don’t have any motivation to lose weight? To get yourself moving in the right direction, here are some tips to use for when you find yourself being low on motivation.

Company You Keep

Whatever you want to achieve in life you need to have like-minded people around you. Often you hear that if you want to be rich you need wealthy friends. The same principle applies to weight loss! Having like minded people around you is a powerful strategy for maintaining your weight loss motivation. Select your skinniest friend to begin to go out with, eat with, go for a walk or join them in some of their favorite activities. Very soon, you start to lose weight lose weight and become like them as a result of following the same actions that they do.  If you do not have any friends who are in shape, join a gym and make some new friends!

Goals: Negative and Positive

We hear all the time about positive reinforcement, fun goals and rewards. However, did you also know that you might need to consider some negative goals? Hang around for a moment if that sounds like a condradiction to you. Writing down all the great things that will happen in your life if you lose weight is great, however, thinking about the negative implications of failing to lose weight can be a serious motivator as well.

For example, make a list of each of the bad things that could come into your life if you fail to lose weight. For example, you might include diabetes, damaged joints, embarrassment, lack of physical attraction and more. The point of this exercise is not to depress you, but to give yourself a shot of tough love. We need a reality check sometimes to get that motivation to lose weight, and a negative goal list will do exactly that.

Images

What you constantly look at can be a powerful motivator for when you have no motivation to lose weight. Do you avoid looking in the mirror for very long because you cannot stand yourself? Take some time every day to look at yourself in a full-length mirror, if you are very brave you should undress first. Now, before getting totally discouraged you should pull out a picture of yourself at your thinnest – or an image that represents your ideal weight – and post it on the mirror, refrigerator, and cabinets and everywhere you can see it constantly. Make a promise to yourself that no matter what, you’ll get back to that picture. If weight has always been an issue, find an image from a magazine that you strive towards and put your face on that body. Having an image of where you are and where you want to be can be a powerful motivational technique for when you want motivation to lose weight.

It’s About More Than Losing Weight

Part of what I’ve said above could be taken as negative, but remember that what you’re doing isn’t just about losing weight, it’s a battle for your health! Remember through it all to forgive yourself when you make a mistake, while aiming to keep your goals firmly planted and in front of you.