How to motivate and maintain your diet?

4 ways to motivate yourself to lose weight

There are various ways to diet, but in order to lose weight in a healthy way, it is necessary to continue the diet steadily for a certain period of time.

And it is important to maintain and improve “motivation” in continuing the diet.

A painful diet can easily lead to overeating, overeating, and rebounding, so it’s a good idea to be conscious of continuing your diet in a fun way.

Here are some ways to motivate yourself to lose weight.

Set clear diet goals

To motivate your diet, first set a clear goal for your diet and motivate yourself.

If you are vaguely thinking, “I want to lose weight for some reason” or “I feel like I’ve gained a little weight, so I should lose weight”, it’s hard to get motivated. Set specific goals that make you want to achieve your diet for whatever reason.

There are tricks to setting goals, and the point is not only to think “I want to lose 3kg” but also to “What would you like to do if you lost 3kg?”. For example, “If I lose 3 kg, I will rush to buy a brand skirt that I have always wanted”, “If I lose ◯ kg, I will go on a trip as a reward”.

Rather than simply “lose weight,” creating a “reason (goal) for losing weight” will motivate you to continue dieting.

Imagine a happy future

A study published by Dr Philippa Larry of the University of London found that it takes an average of 66 days for a person to start something new and form a habit.

In other words, in theory, if you continue dieting for 66 days, it will become a habit, and you will be able to continue it as easily as brushing your teeth in the morning without feeling like you have to do it.

However, it is not easy to continue for 66 days. The important thing there is a hormone called “dopamine” that gives euphoria and pleasure and motivates. Dopamine is released by remembering the past and imagining the future.

In order to maintain your diet motivation, let’s imagine a happy future by asking yourself, “What will happen to me when I lose weight?”

“I’m enjoying my leisure time while traveling, wearing the swimsuits and clothes I’ve wanted to wear for a long time.” I am moved by seeing the wonderful scenery that I wanted to see.” Envisioning details releases dopamine to help you stay on track.

By remembering this when exercise becomes troublesome, you can change the motivation of “I have to diet” to “I want to diet!”

use positive words

It is important to use positive words at the same time as imagining a happy future where you have achieved a diet.

For example, instead of saying, “If you eat, you’ll get fat.” Instead, say, “If you don’t eat, you’ll lose weight.” Change the words you’re thinking or repeating in your head into positive ones to increase your motivation.

Get stylish workout clothes

In order to have a healthy diet, it is important to incorporate moderate exercise such as walking and muscle training.

For those who find it hard to keep exercising, it is recommended to prepare your favorite stylish training wear and increase your motivation.

There are various brands of training wear and walking shoes, so choosing a stylish one that you like will help you continue your diet while enjoying it.

Tips for staying motivated to diet

Dieting is not just a temporary motivation, it is important to maintain it. Here are some tips to keep you motivated while dieting.

Avoid unreasonable diet restrictions and strenuous exercise

It is not uncommon for adult women to be in an environment that is prone to stress, such as work, housework, child-rearing, caring for parents, and worrying about their own physical condition.

Even if you are already busy, if you introduce unreasonable diet restrictions and hard exercise, you may become stressed or malnourished, and your physical condition may deteriorate.

It is best not to set too strict restrictions, but to eat three meals a day and avoid fatty foods.

If you haven’t been exercising recently, it’s a good idea to start with light exercise, such as using the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator, or taking a walk near your house in the morning.

Make diet companions such as friends and family

For those who find it difficult to stick to a diet, it is recommended to declare to the people around you that you have recently started a diet.

By telling in advance, you will be able to feel free to report and consult about your diet. Also, there is a possibility that you can get advice from people who are also dieting.

It’s also a good idea to make diet companions such as friends and family. Exercises such as walking and running are more enjoyable with a companion than if you were alone.

If you have friends who work hard on your diet together, it will be easier for you to continue without giving up even in situations where you may be frustrated alone.

Utilize diet apps and LINE

Nowadays, there are many apps for smartphones that can be used for dieting. Such apps are convenient because you can record what you eat every day and changes in weight.

For those of you who don’t feel comfortable using the app, it is recommended that you create a group for yourself on LINE and use it as a memo.

It’s a good idea to write down what you ate and changes in weight, put a picture of the menu you ate, quotes you want to look back on during your diet, words that people said to you that boosted your motivation, etc.

Make a picture of the clothes you want to wear, or an image of your favorite

It is also recommended to set a picture of the clothes you admire, the body shape you want to be, and the image of the person you are addicted to as the standby screen of your smartphone.

When your daily life is busy, you tend to naturally forget your diet goals. If you set it as your standby screen, it will help you remember your diet goals and keep you motivated.

4 actions and ways of thinking that lower motivation to diet

Far from raising the motivation for dieting, there are also actions and ways of thinking that lower it on the contrary. In order to succeed in dieting, be careful about these actions and ways of thinking.

set goals too high

Don’t set your goals too high just because you want to lose weight. For example, a goal that is difficult to achieve, such as “lose 10 kg in a month”, leads to unreasonable dietary restrictions and setbacks in dieting.

Rather, it is important to incorporate “dietary restrictions and exercise that you can comfortably achieve and make it a habit”.

If you set a goal that is too high while you are tired from housework or work, continuing your diet will become a burden. First, set goals that are easy to achieve and stick to them.

don’t worry too much about your weight

When it comes to dieting, you may be concerned about your weight, but it is also important to lower your body fat percentage as well as your weight.

Even if you weigh yourself on a scale every day, if you can’t lose weight, you may feel depressed and lose your motivation to diet. If you do strength training, you will gain muscle, so your weight may not change.

Rather than worrying about weight, it’s best to focus on appearance and size. Let’s check your body shape naked in the bath and see the change.

perfectionism

If you aim for perfection, it will be easier for you to fail your diet.

If you fall into 0 or 100 perfection thinking, even if you fail once, you will lose confidence that “I may not be able to go on a diet after all.”

As you age, you lose muscle mass and your basal metabolism slows down, making it harder to lose weight and lose control over your body shape.

Also, it’s not easy to make something a habit, not limited to diet in the first place. The key to continuing your diet is to focus on what you were able to do instead of what you couldn’t do, and to have the feeling that you should try again even if you fail.

compare with others

While dieting, you may compare to measure the effect, but it is NG to compare with others. Seeing a friend or family member who is also on a similar diet losing weight successfully can be depressing and demotivating.

Since each person has different basal metabolic rate, muscle mass, physical constitution, what they eat, and living environment, there are differences in how the diet results appear.

Instead of comparing yourself to others, compare yourself to your past self.

Points by type of diet motivation

Depending on the person, the type of diet motivation is different, and it can be roughly divided into the following three.

• The type that changes in numbers lead to motivation
• The type who works hard and gets motivated
• The type that is motivated by being recognized by others

From here, we will introduce the points for each type.

The type that changes in numbers lead to motivation

It seems that there are many people who are motivated by changes in numbers such as weight and size. It is recommended to check your body shape in the mirror because lack of change in weight can reduce motivation.

Many people tend to be perfectionists, so it’s a good idea to introduce rules that pamper yourself, such as “make a cheat day and eat what you like” without being too strict .

The type who works hard and gets motivated

“The type that works hard leads to motivation” is the type whose motivation increases by feeling that they are improving themselves.

For this type of person, if you quantify what you are doing by recording diet (a diet method that records the contents of meals and calories), it will be easier to maintain motivation and continue.

The type that is motivated by being recognized by others

People who are “the type who is motivated by being recognized by others” may lose their motivation if they silently continue their diet alone.

It is recommended to declare to your friends and family that you are going on a diet, or to set a motivational image as your smartphone’s standby screen.

Maintaining good motivation is the key to continuing your diet!

In order to maintain a healthy diet, it is important to increase and maintain motivation. Avoid unreasonable diet restrictions and hard exercise, as they can damage your body.

Even small things can boost your motivation, so even if you have failed to diet in the past, how about trying a healthy diet while keeping the points in mind?