Have you ever committed yourself to a fabulous new diet or a daily exercise routine – only to give up on it weeks later? Losing weight seems deceptively easy during the first week – it's the week after that you first start thinking that you're just too tired to go to the gym today, or that maybe, just maybe, that little piece of cake can't make that big a difference.
Have you ever committed yourself to a fabulous new diet or a daily exercise routine – only to give up on it weeks later? Losing weight seems deceptively easy during the first week – it's the week after that you first start thinking that you're just too tired to go to the gym today, or that maybe, just maybe, that little piece of cake can't make that big a difference.
Staying motivated is always hard, but it's twice as difficult when you have to get yourself to a gym every other day or watch every last bite you eat. Fortunately, in this article, you will discover five tried-and-true ways to make weight loss a little bit less painful – and maybe even fun!
1. Set a Goal
The first thing to do to stay motivated is to set a clear goal of how much weight you want to lose, in what period of time, and how you're going to accomplish it. Commit yourself to exercising a fixed number of days every week. Don't accept any excuse you make up not to go – there's rarely such a thing as being too tired for a 30 minute workout session.
2. Share Your Plan With Others
If you're not sure that you can stick to the promises you made to yourself, what about keeping promises given to others? A great way to make sure you meet your weekly gym commitment is to inform people you care about that you will be going to the gym every week. Make it a commitment to them, so that if you fail to observe it, you won't be just letting yourself down – you'll be disappointing people you care about, too. You'll be surprised how much harder you will have to work when you have to meet the expectations of others, not just yourself!
3. Don't Stop the Music
Get yourself the cheapest MP3 player out there and take it to the gym every day. Pump the volume up to the maximum and play a really active and energizing tune. This is a great tip for aerobic exercises, since, no matter how you slice it, jogging on a treadmill for an hour can get dead boring, fast.
4. Let Success Be Your Motivator
This will only happen if you can survive the first few weeks of weight loss, but when you see your body in the mirror and start noticing definite improvements - you'll be amazed by how much more motivated you will be to keep going! Nothing motivates better than the sight of your love handles slowly giving way to hard muscle.
5. Trash the Junk Food
Turn your house into a junk-free zone. Throw away any junk food you have left. Don't ever let anyone else bring it into the house - threaten to shoot on sight those who try (you can tell the police they were trying to break in). Stockpile only healthy foods, such as whole grains and fruits. The objective is to make sure that even if you do get those late night cravings, you only have something healthy to satisfy them with.
In conclusion, a diet or an exercise plan will probably never be on top of your list of the things you enjoy. However, following the five tips above will hopefully make both activities a little bit less annoying (at least you won't be tempted to shoot yourself every time you consider going to the gym, which is a clear sign of improvement!)
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