What is Your Motivation to Lose Weight?  This is part one of a two–part series.

Warning this post may be a bit harsh and includes straight talk with very little bull.

As many of you know I’ve been on a journey to loss 100 pounds, I’ve lost 56 pounds as of June 2, 2017.  I started this quest on December 26, 2015 when I decided to get help and went to see a nutritionist, at the same time I also signed up for a weight loss and nutrition class online.  However, the month of December was almost over and with New Years festivities, I didn’t get serious until the first of the year.   When I look at the date I started and factor in how long it’s been it feels like this has been really slow.  But in the weight loss game slow and steady is actually better than fast, because studies have shown that if you lose the weight slowly your more likely to keep it off.

Several people at work have approached me about my weight loss success, other’s see it quicker than you will.  I talk about Keto and Low Carb and it seems to go in one ear and out the other, I don’t think people can grasp the concept of eating fat to lose fat, but I must admit that Keto and low carb while popular I don’t think people really understand it and seem to shy away from it.  Several people have recently joined Weight Watchers, one person is experimenting with the 5:2 Fasting Diet.  All these things are awesome! And I’m encouraged that these people have taken the steps to actually move forward towards losing excess weight, not only to be lighter on the scale but to feel better, look better and increase their health.  If you have interest in finding out more information about the Keto Diet you might want to check this post that I wrote earlier about 5 Reasons To Do the Keto Diet.

What is your motivation to loss weight?  This is the fundamental question that we all must ask in order to take action.  Here are several things to consider.

You Must Find Your “Why?”

Lets be real, most of us just talk about losing weight and really have no real intention of doing anything about it.  Losing weight is hard work, requires us to change, requires us to make sacrifices and of course it is never fast enough.  We approach the task of losing weight often like we think about going to the dentist for a root canal.  It’s a hell of a lot easier to not lose weight that it is to lose it.  I love eating donuts, cakes, muffins, pie these are all my weakness and since I started doing Keto I can’t even remember the last time I had a cinnamon roll, or a glazed donut–I drive past my favorite donut shop everyday on my way to work, and sometimes even today I’m tempted to drive in.

But my “Why” is bigger and more important than that donut, slice of cake or bagel.  My “why” began to come into focus when I was diagnosed as a Type II Diabetic, with high cholesterol, and potential kidney issues–that got my attention.  But it really wasn’t enough of a motivating factor to really get me to change.  Shit we’ve got medicine to help with insulin issues, high cholesterol and kidney issues so sadly enough that really wasn’t my wake up call.

My wake up call came in the form of a sense of dissatisfaction, it came from being irritated by all the time and effort I’d spent trying to lose weight.  So think about what I’m saying this is important!  I wasn’t motivated when my doctors told me that I had type II diabetes, and that if I didn’t make changes I was at serious risk for having a heart attack, and potentially dying.  I didn’t get motivated to make a decision until I got pissed off, irritate, dissatisfied by the time I was spending being fat.

All of us are different.  If you want to get serious about losing weight and improving you health you must figure out your “Why.” Until you do that your basically just talking a bunch of bullshit and lying to yourself.  You’ll recognize that BS because when your motivation wains you will easily quit.

You Must Make A Decision

This kinda goes with your “why?”  Like me we have plenty of reasons we know we should lose weight, we even have a strong “why.” It could be that sense of irritation I had, or maybe you’ve got a wedding to get ready for, or a high school reunion–you’ve figured out what “why” is important to you.  Now you must actually make a freaking decision–just do it, start moving, take action, make a commitment and get your ass in gear.

I personally think that a ketogenic diet is best way to loss weight, reduce your body fat, build lean muscle and improve your critical health markers long-term.  But you know what, I didn’t start my weight loss journey doing keto.  I started by counting calories, and busting my ass in the gym and I had success with that.  I moved to Keto after I did some research and saw my fiance have great success with Keto, for more information I would suggest you read the book Keto Clarity: Your Definitive Guide to the Benefits of a Low-Carb High-Fat Diet.

My point is, make a DECISION! and get started.  I applaud my friends who are doing Weight Watchers, or the 5:2 Fasting Diet they are moving, taking action, doing something to take control of their health and weight and that’s a great place to be.

Speaking of the 5:2 Fasting Diet here is an informative BBC video.

Get Your Expectations Right

When I was in my twenties and thirties I could lose weight really quickly, I felt invincible!  I could eat anything I wanted, do some exercise or diet for a short period and the weight would just melt away.  When I got into my forties I quickly found out that something had changed with my metabolism and the ability to lose weight–ugh that was really a painful lesson, at one point I weighed close to 325 pounds.  My point here is that you didn’t get to where you are over night, you gained all of this weight one bite at a time over a period of time.  However, we have a tendency to have the expectation that we should lose the weight faster–that is really a bunch of bull and you need to get your expectation right or you will fail.

If you’ve got your why, and made a decision but don’t have your expectations in check you are setting yourself up for failure.  You should realistically be happy with losing 1 – 2 pounds per week, lets say you lost 1.5 pounds every week for an entire year that would equal 78 pounds in a year (check my math).  Unfortunately most of us who stick with it will hit plateau as we merrily go on our way to lose weight.  If your expectations aren’t right the minute you hit a wall, or fall off the wagon you will quit, because it’s easier to not change than it is to change.  Make sure you’ve got your expectations set probably for long-term success.

Keep Doing It Even When You Don’t Feel Like It Or You Have a Set Back

So here is a pretty straight forward question.  How many times have we all started a new diet and then quit?  I’ve done it hundreds of time, I’ve also sabotaged myself because I really wasn’t committed. I’ve quit in the past because my progress stalled and I used the logic that “I’m tired of busting my ass, and this aint working!”  I remember losing 25 pounds and getting really stuck for several weeks–talk about being discouraged.  I was doing everything I knew to do and the scale would not move–I had hit a plateau and I was really down about it.  My weight even started to creep up, and my old self talk started coming back, I could hear my little evil self saying “just quit,” “look at you, doing all this work and thinking you could lose a 100 pounds–who do you think you are.”  I was at a cross roads.

I remember doing a walk one evening out at beautiful Chambers Bay, I was freezing my ass off as the breeze was blowing off of the Sound.  I was listening to Les Brown and Eric Thomas (include links), trying to regain my motivation to continue losing weight and you know what; it worked.  I don’t remember what I listened too or heard, but as I finished my walk I realized how great I felt and the sense of accomplishment and pride I felt for doing my workout even when I didn’t feel like it–that little victory was enough to propel me forward.

Remember you will have set backs, you will fail and slip on this journey.  But get back up, forgive yourself, shake it off and keep moving forward even when you don’t feel like it, even after your enthusiasm and motivation has faded– you got this!

So this is the end of part 1.

[contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Website’ type=’url’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]