By healthiergang writer The Fitchef, food blogger and nutrition expert.
Finding the Motivation To Lose Weight
The lack of motivation to start a training path and attention to the way in which we eat is a common problem, which often afflicts even the most talented professionals in all sports.
A few tricks are enough to find and maintain motivation, let's see what they are.
How to find it?
Before embarking on a path of improvement, be it from a purely physical point of view or concerning any other aspect of existence, it is essential to focus on some essential points:
- autonomy: or the ability to control one's actions
- competence: that is, adequate preparation regarding how to achieve the set goal
- the sense of belonging: being part of a community helps to find consensus and support even in the most difficult moments.
So how can we find these three fundamental elements in the construction of the motivation necessary for the motivation to change to be born and remain stable over time?
1. Autonomy
One way to find motivation to lose weight is to find autonomy. Autonomy in fitness corresponds to a good degree of flexibility; you need to be able to deal with any kind of eventuality with feasible solutions, whether it is a lost workout, an injury or a work commitment, or a dinner with colleagues that you absolutely cannot miss.
Very often it is in the face of this kind of unexpected that the motivation fails, you are unable to regain control of your program in front of the first obstacle, almost always because this is too rigid or not easy to insert in everyday life.
Therefore flexibility becomes an essential ingredient to quickly get back on track after an unforeseen event.
For this reason it is preferable to opt for a diet and athletic regime based essentially on one's lifestyle and needs, rather than settling for a universal commercial scheme that is unlikely to be sustainable in the long term.
2. Competence
Our second tip for finding the motivation to lose weight is to target people skills. Most people tend to lose motivation because they expect amazing results in unrealistic times, or because, in an attempt to shorten waiting times, they tend to overdo it (exaggerating loads or training times or resorting to unsustainable calorie cuts) he ends up facing the damage caused by haste and inexperience.
Finding yourself discouraged in the face of difficulties that seem insurmountable, if not addressed with a solid foundation of basic notions, is perfectly understandable.
If, on the one hand, the support of a good trainer is essential, at least at the beginning, it is a good idea to start understanding for yourself the fundamental elements on which good training and nutrition adequate to your goals must be based. Underestimating the learning curve is a serious mistake that must always be avoided.
3. Sense of belonging
One way to find motivation to lose weight is to feel part of a community.
But how can you create a sense of belonging or team spirit if you train in a large commercial gym, or at home?
If possible, try to get a friend or two to join you. In this way we can train together, feel mutually responsible for the progress of others, support each other in difficulties and enjoy the journey together.
It is important to say that the relational factor is an aspect that not everyone is necessary to remain oriented towards one's goal. Many athletes prefer to train alone, but the sense of challenge and competition is always an excellent stimulus when embarking on an athletic and nutritional path.
Online communities can also be a good source of stimulation, social networks offer hundreds of daily challenges and the opportunity to compare your progress with other enthusiasts of your discipline.
Of course, once these fundamental points have been put in place, the essential task of anyone who is about to start a path of weight loss or improvement of their athletic performance is to start a plan of action that satisfies everyone and three criteria have been listed so far.
Nothing can be achieved if you do not act in its direction.
For example, if your goal is to lose weight, it is time to clearly establish the time available and a realistic goal. Subsequently it is necessary to organize a training plan that can be integrated with your daily commitments, evaluating alternative action plans if, for any reason, you find yourself having to face an exception not foreseen in the food plan or miss one or two workouts. right away.
In the meantime, we can consult texts or professionals who are able to fill our gaps, technical or notional and make us independent over time. Finally, it is always good to involve a friend, partner or anyone else who is able to collaborate while keeping us focused on our goal.
