Why does motivation go through the roof at the beginning of the weight loss process, and then disappear somewhere? What can demotivate and who can be the best motivator? These questions interest many who want to lose weight. In this article we will look at the reasons that prevent you from starting a new, "harmonious" life.
The fact that a person, regardless of gender and age, does not care about his appearance and the appearance of other people is an obvious fact. One of the most interesting things to do is stare at an attractive person and fantasize about his character and lifestyle. Our own appearance also comes under our attention. We try to understand our preferences and maybe hide something - both from ourselves and from others.
Throughout our lives we work on our own image – you can imagine how important the impression we make is to us! This is especially true for women.
The paradox is that external attractiveness is often more important than health concerns.
Man is a social being. Therefore, it is important to consider the role of appearance as a very strong motivational factor. But the question arises: why do obese people so often lack this factor to create the very image that a person needs so much since ancient times?
What is motivation
The term "motivation" is derived from the word "motive" (Latin movere - 'to set in motion, to push'). Motivation is a set of not only internal but also external forces that encourage some kind of activity. Needs and feelings are the most important motivational factors. Hunger, sexual desire, thirst and a feeling of insecurity are always accompanied by emotions.
Emotions are a psychological factor. For example, positive emotions indicate a fulfilled need, while negative emotions indicate an unmet need. Due to women's higher emotionality, it is they who often experience strong emotional stress.
The experience of an unmet need causes discomfort, and a desire to eliminate it arises. For example, if a woman is unhappy with her weight, she wants to get rid of this deficiency, and it seems that there should be more than enough motivation to achieve the goal.
So why are there problems with this drive? How do you find motivation to lose weight? It is important to understand that human activity is multi-motivated, that is to say that it is simultaneously influenced by different motives that may contradict each other. This is where the problems begin.
Factors in lack of motivation
- Lack of knowledge. First of all, they ignore the psychological causes of obesity. Although it should be noted that clients of nutritionists and dietitians are increasingly talking about the possible causes of overeating themselves.
- Lack of support, even if your loved ones only wish you the best. That's why they might think everything is fine with you anyway. If you cannot find support in your environment, you can contact a psychologist.
- Unscrupulousness of budding specialists and focusing only on results that are achieved quickly and are traumatic for both health and psyche. They do not learn how to maintain the results achieved, what to do if a relapse occurs.
- Constant breakdowns and relapses (which require the support of a specialist when working with eating disorders) reduce motivation and mood.
- Slow weight loss with the right holistic approach, as a result of choosing short programs. An example of such a choice is the goal of "losing weight in the summer. "
These factors negatively affect motivation when losing weight and lead to an inability to cope with the problem on your own. A person who loses weight goes through certain stages: at the beginning of a weight loss marathon, in the wake of group euphoria, he strictly follows the recommendations, and then the enthusiasm disappears. Apathy sets in, often protests, followed by a breakdown.
Food addiction
Almost all obese people have a food addiction. This conclusion suggests itself because of the connection between well-being and behavior. That is, a person who has no addiction will change behavior when their health deteriorates.
If behavior does not change and continues to destroy a person's health, we can talk about a hidden reason for being in this state. Being overweight causes a lot of physiological problems (illness, lack of energy, poor skin and hair condition) and psychological (low self-esteem, shame, guilt, constant anxiety, depression, chronic depression), but the person is in no hurry to change anything, then he continues to overeat, that is, we are talking about food addiction.
Day after day, food is used, among other things, as an anti-depressant and sedative, to dampen the feelings and emotions that arise in a cycle: diet - decomposition - guilt - diet. Food relaxes, improves mood and even relieves pain.
The child's psyche develops on the basis of "couple relationships": mother - child, mother - milk, mouth - stomach, care - support. Food satisfies important desires for an infant from the very beginning of its life.
For him, delicious food is an ideal mother. A mother who understands and accepts anyone or anything. It is important to remember that food has not only a physiological meaning for a person, but also a psychological one. It is a powerful regulator of psychological balance. That is why it is so difficult and takes so much time to work with obesity and food addiction, with breakdowns, setbacks and relapses.
Reasons for low motivation
In the process of working with overweight, a person is simultaneously affected by multipolar motives: on the one hand, the fear of losing an ideal image and condemnation from society, and on the other hand, the fear of losing a powerful tool for maintaining emotional balance.
Emotions and feelings that throw those who lose weight out of balance are quite serious conditions. The most common: shame, guilt, fear, anxiety, helplessness, despair, melancholy, boredom, fatigue. Every day we experience many different emotions and feelings.
Let's consider some of them in detail in order to understand the depth of the problem, and the next time when motivation is reduced, do not rush to condemn yourself. Try to find out where demotivating factors come from.
- Fatigue. This is a loss of strength after prolonged work. But this need requires sleep and rest, not food. But in addition to physical fatigue, mental fatigue can also occur when repressed emotions take up too much. The inability or unwillingness to look for other tools of self-regulation leads tired people to grab food. The idea of constantly beating yourself up for something or someone is combined with the inability to replenish resources with rest. How to solve a problem? Go for a walk in the fresh air, meditate, read a book, plan to go to bed early, take a magnesium bath.
- Boredom. You know that feeling when waiting too long leads to burnout and prolonged boredom? With the loss of meaning in life and the apparent meaninglessness of what is happening, it is pointless to talk about motivation to lose weight. Melancholy, despair, emptiness. . . Strong and complex emotions cause discomfort, and in the case of food addiction, only food helps to cope. How to solve a problem? Find something to do that sparks your passion! When was the last time you drew? Have you picked up a new book? Have you tried making a new dish?
- Fear of hunger. Genetically and historically, the fear of hunger induces increased appetite. Therefore, a huge number of people eat much more than their stomach capacity allows. A festive table or cupboards and fridge full of food will certainly reduce motivation. How to solve a problem? Don't forget to drink water! Eat slowly without being distracted by gadgets and conversations. The salad plate must be deep - a bowl is ideal. The size of a flat plate should not exceed two palms. Remember the principle of balance – the right combination of proteins, fats and carbohydrates helps to satisfy hunger for at least 3-4 hours.
Macronutrient and water intake cheat sheet:- protein - 1 g per1 kg weight;
- fats - 1 g per1 kg weight;
- carbohydrates - 3-4 g per1 kg weight. Don't forget fiber! The norm is 20-30 g per day;
- water - 30-35 ml per1 kg weight.
- Shame and guilt. These are the two strongest emotions. Weight loss is a process usually with ups and downs, crashes and setbacks. And every time a relapse occurs, a person experiences a sense of shame and guilt for his weakness. And to punish himself for this offense, he goes on a strict diet, which in turn leads to a breakdown. And so on in a circle.
I eat, which means I exist. A passionate desire to feel active is one of the motives for eating excess food. A society where material values are the measure of social success leads to a series of negative emotions, without working through which you will not be able to increase your motivation.
How to set goals correctly to increase motivation
So negative emotions interfere with weight loss. In other words, the consciousness is overloaded with experiences that take away the energy that is so necessary to mobilize the strength to lose weight. And the range of these feelings is great: from finding yourself to fighting loneliness.
It turns out that there is a desire to lose weight, but the motivation quickly passes. The fact is that those who dream of losing weight ignore issues that are really important to them, and when they formulate motivation, they are guided only by secondary, superficial desires.
Many girls really want to lose weight and try again and again to force themselves to do so, but at the same time they remain overweight after trying different methods. Have you ever thought this strange? The only correct strategy: it is important to strive not to get rid of something, but to get something.
The most important thing to increase your motivation to lose weight is to have a clear vision and planning for that "something". Goal-setting workouts are based on this secret, which essentially teaches you to "make wishes correctly. " It's hard to lose weight if you don't fully understand what dieting will do for you. It is not easy for a girl to turn down another piece of candy if she does not remember the very swimsuit in which she will parade along that very beach and notice those very looks. No principles of rational nutrition will help you lose weight without exciting fantasies about yourself and how you feel in a slim body, in different outfits, in different life situations.
A bathing suit is not the only motivator. The body of obese people experiences severe stress. The consequences of fat deposition and lack of muscle tissue are early aging, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular diseases, disturbed detoxification processes. . . This is not the whole list of the consequences of being overweight.
It is better to forget the abstract words that once did not help you find harmony - "I want to lose weight, be more confident, healthier and more beautiful" - and start thinking about the joyful moments that await you.
A correctly set goal is the best motivator for losing weight.
List of basic rules for goal setting:
- Your goals (in our case, thoughts about being slim) should be framed in small plots (stories, screenplays, stories, essays - whatever you want) starring you, in which you describe in detail the situation in which you want to be very comfortablethanks to your slim body. These stories should begin with a detailed description of your figure in some clothing (or without it), then - your appearance as a whole, including accessories, hairstyle and makeup; your actions in this situation (how you came, sat down, turned your head, moved your eyes, etc. ) and most importantly - descriptions of your sensations and feelings (how you feel your body, how happy you are, proud of yourself, how confident and satisfied you are). As a result of this design, the imagination receives the energy that is in the emotions, which charges you with the desire for happiness - and it will guide you, even if you are not fully aware of it.
- Important: In your goals, describe only what you want to achieve with harmony, what you want to become, and not what you want to get rid of! And all this in the present tense, as if it had already happened. You cannot write for your own purposes about missing folds, swelling, shortness of breath! Describe slender legs, graceful ankles, thin waist and easy breathing. Our unconscious, our inner girl, cannot see what is no longer there. You just have to think wishful thinking - then the unconscious will perceive these images as a fait accompli and make your body lose extra kilos.
- You should have several such fantasies or stories, at least seven. They should be reflected in different areas of your life: personal life, communication with loved ones, work, leisure, health, self-realization. Everyone has their own list. After all, you need harmony not as an end in itself, but as a means to improve life in all its manifestations. Being thin in itself does not bring happiness, but strangely enough, it can be planned in terms of such pleasant situations associated with being thin. Remember that achieving your goals should bring you real joy, not profit, so they will be appreciated and supported by your inner child. You dream and write goals for him.
- Each of your goals should have a time and space frame so that at a certain point you can say to yourself, "Oh! It's done! I'm motivating myself. I'm losing weight".
- And in order for goals to come true for sure, they must be realistic and depend only on you. For example, you cannot plan for someone to fall in love with you, but you can assume and describe your confidence, joy, pride and admiration to yourself in an important situation and your mood will do the trick. . .
- Your goals should be both immediate and short-term, and distant and long-term. You will need to distribute them over the entire period of weight loss so that, as they gradually become reality, they "warm" you and stimulate you to new achievements. You should be proud of yourself, praise and reward yourself for each goal that comes true. Remember to update your "happy plans" as they progress. There is only one condition: the reward should not be in the form of a sweet bun or burger. What do you like? New dress, go to the theater, meet friends? There must be at least seven goals at all times. When the targets run out, the scale will stop.
- You are on the right track if, in the process of fantasizing, thinking and writing goals, you experience joyful excitement, impatience and itchy fingertips: "Oh, I wish I could hurry! "Oh, how I want this! How amazing it will be! "You can "test" an already completed goal by mentally holding and weighing it in one hand while placing your favorite product on the other. Imagine its smell, taste . . . What outweighs? If the product is still preferred, yourmeasurements are incomplete or not completely accurate.
Goals are a powerful driving force in your journey to get fit. They will work somewhere in the depths of consciousness and show the right direction.
What to do - step by step plan
This article is not an instruction or a guide to action. It may force you to start analyzing possible reasons for your decreased motivation. As practice shows, there are significantly fewer motivating incentives in working with overweight than demotivating ones, so the latter must be processed carefully.
- Determine the relevance of the goal: do you really have a desire to lose weight?
- Remember the importance of a balanced diet. Lack of vitamin D, chromium, B vitamins and complete fats in the diet leads to increased appetite.
- Seek professional help. If you are convinced that you have a desire to lose weight, and it is relevant today, it is better to seek help from a psychologist or psychotherapist, since it is often difficult to cope with the problem on your own due to internalresistance.
And before you start putting the acquired knowledge into practice, we want to give you the most important advice: do not fight with difficult fat, force yourself to lose weight. It is important to build friendships and partnerships with your own body. The most rewarding motivator is yourself.