4 Simple Changes to Boost Your Motivation

Get smart to get motivated.  Fuse/Getty Images

This article is part of my free e-course How to Lose Weight with Exercise. You can either sign up for the email class to get detailed guidance, tips and step by step instructions sent to your email address. Or incorporate these tips into your own weight loss workout program.

At this point in the program, your enthusiasm for diet and exercise may be a little weak. That's normal. Even if you are seeing results, the plan can get boring.

And if you are not seeing results, you really need to boost your motivation. Sticking to the plan is essential for your success.

So let's review what you've already accomplished.

• In Lesson One you learned how to invest in yourself. You laid the groundwork for a lifelong exercise habit.
• In Lesson Two you improved your level of fitness to burn more calories and build your exercise endurance.

• In Lesson Three you began to improve your strength and flexibility to create a healthy, lean, fit physique.

In this lesson, you will continue to do the workouts from previous weeks but you will learn a new set of skills to stay on track when your motivation is low. In the long run, these healthy habits for motivation are just as important as the workouts themselves.

Lesson Four: Change Your Habits to Boost Motivation

1. Step One: Stop Ignoring Your Accomplishments
   If you give yourself credit for your accomplishments, it can have a measurable effect on your ability to lose weight. Learn to build what researchers call "self-efficacy" to reach all of your goals, including weight loss.
    
2. Step Two: Become a Motivation Expert
   Learn how to be your own coach. Master the same strategies used by trainers and life coaches so that you are armed with specific skills when you're tempted to procrastinate.
    

1. Step Three: Learn to Identify and Manage Stress
   Stress pulls your focus away from reaching your goals. Learn how to decrease the typical stresses that affect dieters and exercisers as they tackle their weight loss battle.
    
2. Step Four: Sleep Better to Banish Fatigue
   You're not likely to have the energy to exercise when you're only sleeping four or five hours each night. Learn more about the connection between weight loss success and sleep patterns. Then develop the necessary strategies to catch essential zzzz's
    

Don't forget to continue to do your regular aerobic and strength workouts during this phase of the plan, and to eat reasonable portions of food to keep your weight loss goals on track.