Visual Motivation for Weight Loss

Using visual motivation for weight loss is one of the best ways to accomplish your goal. There are two primary ways to use this technique--bad photos of yourself and photos of how you want to look.

Bad Photos

• Quite possibly the most effective visual motivation you can use for weight loss is to keep a really bad photo of yourself in sight at all times. If the picture makes you look even heavier than you actually are, then so much the better because this will help make you more motivated to start losing weight quickly.

  Take your own picture using a mirror, or have a friend or spouse take the photo for you. Wear a skimpy bathing suit, so as much of the flab and fat is hanging out in plain sight as possible. The goal is to make an ugly picture of yourself.

  Once you have the picture made, post it on the refrigerator door, your computer monitor, the bathroom mirror and any place else you're likely to see it constantly. The photo will serve as a reminder to yourself throughout the day that you don't want to look that way anymore.

Good Photos

• The second way to use visual motivation is two-fold. Collect photos of body styles you want to have, and collect photos of your own body over the course of your weight-loss progression.

  Choosing a photo of a healthy, trim and slim body style can help motivate you by reminding you that's how you want your body to look. It's helpful if there is no face attached to the body because your mind will have an easier time associating yourself with the photo.

  As you start losing weight, it's very important to continue taking photos of yourself. Doing so allows you to see how far you've come over time, and seeing even small amounts of progress is often more motivational and helps you keep the momentum going.

  When taking progress pictures, be sure to make the photos look as good as possible. That will provide the most obvious contrast to the original photo, and you will be much happier with how you look with each future photo. Hang the photos next to each other in order, so you'll see the obvious changes from one photo to another, as you continue to lose weight.