However much you want something to happen, and however high your motivation is one Day One of your new "Healthier Me!" project, at some point motivation may ebb a little. It doesn't mean you are weak willed or not committed to your goal - it means you are human!
 When motivation dips however you basically have two choices:-
Choice No. 1 is to stop, tell yourself you can't do it, you'll never be able to do it and feel like a failure - not a great option.
Choice No. 2 is that you recognise why your motivation has dipped and in a calm, balanced way, plan to do something about regaining it.The consequences of Choice no. 1 are that nothing changes. The consequences of Choice no. 2 are that you move forward towards the health and weight loss goal you want to achieve, feel physically and mentally better and your self esteem and self confidence lifts.
If you prefer the consequences of Choice no. 1, no problem, stop reading now and delete this newsletter.
However, if you prefer the consequences of Choice no. 2 - keep reading!
10 Ways (or Choices) To Keep Motivated When Losing Weight:
 1. Remind yourself of why you set the weight loss goal in the first place. A really useful thing to do is to write yourself a letter when you first make the decision to embark on a weight loss plan. Be very open and honest (no-one else is going to see it), tell yourself what losing the weight would mean to you, the benefits it would bring you, why you don't want to stay the way you are, and then re-read this letter on the low motivation days to spur you on.
2. Use photographs. One of the changes brought in this year to the Programmes is that I now photograph clients at the beginning of their LighterLife journey and then again every four weeks. It used to be that you just had the two photographs - at the beginning and at the end once the entire Programme was completed. Now, however, I take monthly pictures and email them to my clients so that they can keep a separate folder in their "My Pictures" file to actually see themselves shrinking over the weeks.
 3. Get a visual image in your mind of something that you want to achieve that only weight loss will give you. For example, have you got a significant birthday coming up this year, or a wedding, or even just an item of clothing that you long to look great in again? If so, fix this picture in your mind and every time you are tempted to lapse, take a deep breath, close your eyes and find that image in your mind to remind you of what your weight loss success will bring you.
4. Get out of the house and go for a walk! Don't feel like it, then that is exactly the time you should do it. This will tick several boxes: Exercise of any kind releases endorphins (natural happy drugs in the body) which will lift your mood and in turn your motivation. It burns off calories. It takes you away from any food there is in the house for others that may have been tempting you. Make sure your walk takes you away from any shops (or anywhere selling food!) and ideally out into the country and remind yourself of just how beautiful the country is that we live in, this will lift your mood. All this from just taking a walk.
 5. Distract yourself. What needs to be done in your house? Is there any little DIY project that your home would benefit from and would keep you distracted? Is there a hobby you have been wanting to start up, take up nail art perhaps, or practice styling your hair differently? Possibly there is a person who you really want to keep in touch with and haven't contacted for some time, a local volunteer centre that would benefit from an hour or two of your time? Anything that allows your brain to focus on something else other than food and eating. Research shows that it only takes 15 minutes for your brain to become distracted and forget what it was craving 15 minutes ago!
6. Mind your language! Generally, you underestimate the power of the words you use. You forget how the words you use determine the way you feel and ultimately what actions you take. For example: "I can't lose weight, I've tried everything. Nothing works for me.!" That's all pretty depressing isn't it? Imagine thinking that you are stuck inside a body you don't like forever because you tell yourself that statement on a regular basis. Now imagine you changed that statement to "I could lose weight if I chose to. I've tried several ways of losing weight that haven't suited me, let's see what else is out there that could help. In the past I've had success when I've......... (whatever fits in here for you personally)
" It's rather more optimistic and uplifting isn't it? And all you've done is changed a few words.
7. Believe you can. I know this might sound like a line from Glee - The Musical, but self belief is incredibly powerful. If others are telling you "I'd give up if I were you, you've never lost weight before and kept it off", or, "But I like you as you are, I don't want you to change", etc it can shake your belief in achieving your goal. Just remember, you did not set out on your weight loss goal to please anyone else, you did it for you. Tell yourself quietly several times of the day "I believe I can be successful, therefore I will be".
8. Measure yourself. I don't just mean the monthly body measurements of bust, waist and hips, although they are important measures, but measure other things as well that give you evidence that you are heading towards your weight loss goal:- your weight loss, your dress size (keeping a favourite outfit that is one dress size smaller than you are now hung on the outside of the wardrobe door and trying it on once a week is very motivating. You'll be surprised how the zip does that bit further up each week and how less "snug" it feels all of which will spur you on. Other measures can be how many steps you do a day. If you are using a pedometer, aim for 10,000 steps a day. Your mood on a scale of 1-10, 1 being "totally demotivated and feeling like giving up" and 10 being "100% motivated - success is mine!" Whatever your score, write a line or two of why you feel that way. As the weight drops you should see your score increasing.
 9. Don't over think. It's very tempting to become overly focused on a goal and think of nothing else. This can be very draining. The psychology behind the design of the Total Programme was to take food away from the equation because if food had become a problem in someone's life, then removing it was the first step to dealing with it. This is then replaced with 100% of your nutritional needs by simply having four of our packs a day and keeping well hydrated. So, on the Total Programme the only thought you need to give to "food" is making sure you ingest 4 foodpacks and water every day - doesn't take a lot of thought!
10. And finally! Well - why don't you supply the final point. What is the most motivational thing you have done to spur you on to your weight loss goal? Share it with us and help others.
 | | Rachel Before Motivation Took Hold |
 | | And After |
LighterLife is genuinely different. It isn't a miracle, it isn't new (we've been around for over 20 years now) but it is tried, tested, well established, successful and has thousands of happy, slim, healthy clients. Also, in an industry that isn't regulated, we have chosen to be regulated by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to further prove our professionalism and commitment to the health and safety of clients.
Why don't you come and meet me and investigate whether or not it could be the thing for you? Give me a call on 01509 234433 or email me at debbie.ford@lighterlifecounsellor.com or text on 07860 017700 (text only, this is not a mobile phone no.) and I'd be delighted to meet you and tell you more about the Programmes we offer in a relaxed environment with absolutely no "hard sell" involved, I promise, and you could start the journey to a NEW you!
I look forward to meeting you. Best wishes,
Debbie Ford
LighterLife
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