Helping yourself succeed begins with having a plan. A plan will help stay focused and stick to your weight loss journey. People do get discouraged and struggle to keep going in hard times. Sure, it’s nice to have the motivation and to feel “up” all the time, but that’s not realistic. These are times when character is being developed – character to complete your current goal and a perseverance that will serve you well in all your other goals. If we only do things when we feel like doing them, we will begin to slide backwards in many areas of life.
Understand the reality of hard times to help yourself succeed.
Expect to see times where your motivation will decline. You can plan on the reality of getting discouraged and struggling to keep going at some point on your weight loss journey. When you are discouraged, you have choices. You can put on your rose-colored glasses of the past and falsely remember how perfect things were before you started your journey. Like how happy you were with your extra weight, medications, fatigue, inability to do things with family and friends, excluding yourself from others… and the list goes on.
Or, you can put on your realistic glasses, realizing that nothing in life is easy or stable all the time, face your difficulties, figure out a new strategy and keep moving forward into something better. It doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing even – just moving forward. The true test of our character comes when we hit a slump or crash into a pothole in the road.
Helping yourself succeed means asking yourself why you started this journey.
Go back to the very reason why you wanted to lose weight. Something motivated you to make a change. That is why it is always important when goal setting to make a list of all the reasons why you want to achieve that goal. You really need to have a strong enough “why” to motivate you to continue striving to meet your goal.
To succeed on your weight loss journey be prepared to change things up.
If your current approach isn’t working for you, perhaps you need to try something different. Life changes can bring new challenges along the way. What you did early on may not be as feasible now. So, instead of giving up because things aren’t falling into place, rethink your plan… your “How” to make your plan work.
Remembering previous accomplishments motivate us for current goals.
Consider an area in which you know you can excel and meet a particular goal and then make it happen. We are wired to want to succeed at something. Feelings of failure loom quickly if we are not moving forward in life, but feelings of achievement are contagious, prompting us to conquer more in other areas of life. It will remind you of what success feels like, then will allow that success to sustain you for a while longer while you re-energize yourself to progress forward on your weight loss goal.
Forgive yourself repeatedly.
You will be surprised at how much less pressure and anxiety you will feel when you allow yourself the grace to forgive your own mistakes. Sometimes, a little perspective helps out with that forgiveness. For instance, take the time to realize just how far you’ve come.
It’s perspective and unrealistic expectations that get in our head and cause us to stumble. Looking at how far you’ve actually come is the motivation you need to keep moving forward. Sometimes you may have to be more realistic and give yourself smaller steps.
Establishing a realistic plan is a key to helping yourself succeed.
Break your goal down into more manageable steps. You will eventually still end up in the same place. When you feel like you aren’t seeing any movement in your weight loss, keep taking consistent action forward by sticking with your plan. Your body is so busy repairing through all the nutrition you are providing, and that is its first priority. It will release the fat stores when it feels it is ready and safe to do so.
Begin your journey to success in 2026 today!
Don’t keep pulling off your start date. Set your date. Come up with your plan. Follow through on your plan. Every day. Take time to recognize your hard work and accomplishments. Then keep at it. Don’t stop. You’ve got this!