Are you losing interest in exercise and eating healthy? Perhaps you were enthusiastic for a few weeks, but then your drive to get in shape quickly faded and you reverted to old bad habits.
Instead of trying to make huge changes in your weight and health, what if you decided to focus on a few small steps at a time? Research shows that small, achievable changes are most likely to make a lasting impact on your health and weight.
It is important to take small, positive steps that allow you to move forward consistently.
These ten motivational tips will help you take small, positive steps every day.
1. Today, feel good about yourself
No matter your health or size, make sure you are happy with the people you surround yourself with. If your close friends encourage you to drink excessively, smoke or overeat, it is a sign that you should seek out new friends who are healthier and want to be healthier.
Instead, you should be focusing on your inner health. Eat well and exercise often. Remember that you can look awesome and feel great, but not be thin.
2. Rethink your Role Model
Find positive role models. Do not choose role models who make you feel negative about yourself. Look for a role model that is strong, healthy, and real.
3. Find out what makes you overeat
It is important to identify your problem areas and create a plan to address them. This will help you stay motivated. Are you using food to deal with rejection, boredom, disappointment, and even personal success?
You can brainstorm healthier ways to deal with mood swings that don’t involve food. You can also control your environment to prevent you from eating high-calorie food when you feel sad, rejected, or bored. Make sure you have plenty of healthy options in your kitchen, such as lots of fruit and vegetables, low-fat yogurts, and flavored waters.
4. Make simple daily changes
It was once said that health-related lifestyle changes were all or nothing. Begin small by making a few weight-loss and exercise adjustments each day. You can make small, but significant changes over time that will give you a huge health boost. Here are some ideas:
All of us need a cheering squad. Having to answer to another person gives you motivation to keep going when you feel like giving up. It doesn’t matter who the support comes from, whether it is a spouse, friend or co-worker or an online buddy.
Find five people who are possible cheerleaders. These people might be able to offer support and hold you accountable while you strive to achieve your health and weight loss goals. If you have trouble adhering to healthy habits, reach out to your support group. Invite your support group to celebrate when you achieve small weight loss goals or exercise goals.
6. Forgive yourself
Forgive yourself if you make a mistake on vacation, overeat or drink excessively, or fail to exercise. Do not beat yourself up. Instead, tell yourself, “I really enjoyed the vacation,” and then let it go.
It’s okay to indulge in a few treats from time to time. You can forgive yourself if you feel guilty about having dessert after a special evening out. Then, get back to your more disciplined schedule the next day.
7. Never ever go hungry
Undereating is the biggest reason for overeating. People who go too long without eating then they gorge themselves when they finally do eat.
For anyone, rigid diets are not a good idea. To avoid binging, include planned snacks in your daily routine. You can have a treat once per week, but not feel guilty.
8. Keep in mind that change takes time
It is easy to look at thin people and think they are blessed. Here’s the truth. If someone is thin and over 30, or even 20, chances are that they are working hard to be thin every day. Take their advice. Find out how they keep thin. Do they exercise more? Are they eating fewer snacks?
Even if everyone ate a healthy, balanced diet and exercised to a high level of physical fitness, our bodies would still look very different. There are many people who are very thin, and others who are quite large, but most of them fall somewhere in between.
You can make a commitment to changing your lifestyle and give yourself enough time to reach your goals. Accept the fact that your body was designed to be a certain size, even if it isn’t small. And feel good about it.
9. Moving Around Today is Better than Sitting.
Be more active in your healthy choices. When grocery shopping, park at the end of the lot. You can get up and change the channel by yourself. Use the stairs to get to and from work. Take a walk with your grandkids or children. Raining outside? Watch TV while you walk or run. There are no excuses!
To increase your physical activity and improve your health, make a conscious effort to sit less and move more.
10. Celebrate Every Day’s Journey
Enjoy each day, even while you are working towards your weight loss and exercise goals. Many people agree that their future and lives are so tied to achieving a certain goal or destination that they neglect any pleasure. When the “goal” becomes our only purpose in life and takes precedence over our daily lives, it can lead to problems.
Although it is important to set healthy weight loss and exercise goals, be sure to enjoy each day. Every day, live in the present and enjoy some of the simple pleasures of life.
