The Best Way To Get Motivated to Start Losing Weight

No one can get inside your head to motivate you to lose weight. Will you do it if you get angry enough? Will losing weight even change your life the way you want it to? Eating is a learned behavior. Often, people eat under stress. Maybe it's too much to think about at this time in your life. There are several ways to help you get motivated to lose weight. Some will hit the mark, some won't. Do what works for you.

Write It Down

• You can talk a blue streak but committing your goal to paper and visiting it every day might just make a difference. Start by writing what frustrates you about being overweight. Get it out of your system. Then write down one goal: drink water before and after each meal. Many people confuse eating with being thirsty. When you've reached that one goal for 21 days, write down and start another goal such as: eat two raw fruits every day. Keep going.

Team Work

• Okay, you hate exercise. That's fair, many do. But could you take a walk with your neighbor? Set a time to get together and walk with a friend for 20 minutes every day. If you like it and the companionship, you'll keep it up. Increase the length of time you walk and the intensity, when you both decide it's doable.

Into the Mouth Slowly

• A diet usually means you have to give something up. This shouldn't be the case. Decide to try a new method of eating: the pay-attention-to-eating diet. Don't change any food choices right now. Just take your plate and sit down without distraction. Spend as much time as you can eating what's on your plate but do it slowly. Put the fork down between bites. Chew, chew, chew 20 times or more. Ask yourself every few minutes whether you are feeling hungry or not. We have forgotten what feeling full is like. Remember, you can wrap it up and eat it later too. Just pay attention and eventually you'll eat less.

Ignore Joining

• Don't like to feel the pressure of joining a gym? Instead, think back to what you liked to do as a kid---was it riding a bike? Roller skating? Swimming? If you believe you can't return to that activity because of age or condition, get motivated by buying one exercise DVD to fit your lifestyle (there are a thousand) and try to work your way through it. The point is: do something you like.

  Along with this suggestion comes this question: have you ever tried pilates? Why not? Yoga, why not? Ballet moves, why not? Dancing tapes, why not?

Learn What the Butcher Knows

• A man who cuts meat for a living knows portion sizes. Make friends with your butcher or learn what he knows. The U.S. Department of Agriculture food pyramid (see Resources) suggests we eat protein every day. That could be meat, fish, beans or chicken. But it also suggests we eat about 3 oz. of protein. That means your meat selection should be about the size of a deck of cards. Learn what true portion sizes are and you'll be motivated to downsize when you see what you've been gorging on.

Distract Yourself

• Having problems not thinking about food? Television viewing just increases our need for snacks when we really don't want them because of the power of suggestion. Still, it is difficult to ignore that unless you can distract yourself long enough to get over the urge. Play a video game instead of being bored and eating. Maybe by reaching new levels of Tiger Woods Golf, you will eat less for no reason. It's not a sin to distract yourself. Take the time to get into something intensely and time will fly by without food.

Reward Yourself

• Dogs learn tricks best with doggie snacks and praise. If you do something to create a change like a dog---or any animal for that matter---you should get your motivation reward. Maybe your prize is to buy a new pair of jeans; maybe it is to take a weekend trip. Use a treasure to keep you going---a "carrot vs. the stick" motivator---but just don't choose food as your reward.