Weight loss isn’t easy. It takes time, effort and the creation of new habits (while you try to kick old ones). While this can fill you with energy and build your confidence, it can also cause you to feel discouraged at times. After all, when you’re trying your best to drop the pounds and look a certain way, not meeting your own expectations can be difficult to accept.
When you’re facing challenges such as not losing at the rate you wanted to, a plateau or, even worse, weight gain, there are certain things you can do to make sure you remain positive instead of falling into feelings of being discouraged.
Use the following methods to keep yourself feeling positive and motivated when you’d otherwise feel down or discouraged:
1. Treat yourself with kindness – When you’re thinking in negative ways, particularly when you’re thinking about yourself, you only succeed in dragging yourself down. Make a concerted, conscious effort toward positivity. Choose a time every single day, without fail, to make yourself a top priority. This will remind you that you are worthy of good things and that you need to treat yourself well. Even if it’s just a matter of practicing a soothing bedtime and skin care routine, it’s enough to keep it in your mind that you’re worth your own efforts.
2. Surround yourself with positive influences – Read blogs you find uplifting, take part in affirmations (they feel goofy at first but they really do work), try a bit of therapy or talk to more people who seem to have positive attitudes. The more you surround yourself in the type of perspective you’d like to have, the more naturally it will come to you.
3. Don’t diet like it’s a punishment – The worst thing you can do for yourself is to think of a diet as a short term punishment you must endure for all the eating and exercise mistakes you’ve made in the past, so that you can put it behind you and move on with your life. It’s not a punishment. It’s a renewal. You have accepted that you need to adopt a better lifestyle in order to achieve a version of yourself that is healthier and that you find more attractive. It’s meant to boost your confidence and longevity. Don’t treat yourself like you’re being punished. Remind yourself that you’re finally celebrating the importance of your body and of yourself.
4. Stop letting the scale dictate your mood – The scale is a limited tool. It can only tell you how much you weigh overall. It can’t tell if the weight is coming from fat, water, bone, muscle, a heavy sweater or your husband playing a trick on you and pushing down on the scale with his toe while you weigh yourself. Sometimes it won’t read what you want it to. That might be because you’ve gained more muscle than the amount of fat you’ve lost. It could be because you’ve retained a bit of water. The scale doesn’t know. If reading the scale is a negative experience for you, stop using it. It’s not the right tool for you. Find other ways to monitor your successes.
