I’ve been interested in living a healthy lifestyle for many years, and I’m constantly monitoring my food choices and exercise habits. Lately my clients have come to me mostly for help on their weight loss journey, looking to modify their choices in a way that supports a holistic approach to healthy weight loss. It’s been a running theme around here, so it seemed timely to address this today’s post…
I’m surprised at how many times my clients are amazed at my lack of motivation to exercise. They all think I LOVE to get in a daily workout. They’re shocked when I tell them that mostly every workout I do is met with dread, loathing, a haphazard attitude… I’m just not happy to wake up at 4:30 AM and drag myself out of bed, to muster enough energy to do some cardio or weight lifting or yoga, or whatever is in the plan for that day.
A lack of motivation is very common among my weight loss clients as well. I’ve heard a lot about how they WANT to get healthier, but they just can’t seem to find the “willpower” or “motivation” or “gusto” to get going. Or they start working on their goal but just can’t find the motivation to follow through to the end.
Here’s the thing: it’s NOT about motivation! It’s not about will power! It’s not about an iron will!! Most days I have little to none of any of those things. What I DO have is a plan and discipline.
Who really is burning with motivation, always, to get up every morning and meet their workout with gusto, energy, and a smile? Not anyone I’ve met (although there must be someone out there that does?). Most days I hear my alarm and turn it off and get back under the covers and hide my head. BUT then I use self-talk to force myself up and out, and once I’m up and going, I continue the dialogue until I have started my workout. It has nothing to do with the motivation to do it, and everything to do with the discipline to do it. It’s on the books, it’s in the plan, it’s on the schedule, and there are no excuses. It just gets done. Even on days when I “dog it,” putting in little effort because I just am not up to it, after a few minutes I’m going all in.
Am I perfect? Nope. Do I still skip days? You bet! Especially if my little guy has crawled into bed in the wee hours of the morning and curled himself into my arms- I cannot pass that up ever. And that’s okay! There’s no perfection in our journey, just learning opportunities. Over time I’ve learned that, for me, I need self-talk for the kick in the pants I need to get going. Being kind to myself just does not work before the crack of dawn. I need a drill sergeant (although I don’t think anything mean, belittling, degrading, negative). I’ve also learned that I’m ok with stalling my physical progress for an extra cuddle. I’ve learned that missing one workout does not mean my entire plan needs to be forfeited.
For those of you on your own weight loss journey (or really any journey toward any goal), what can you do to boost your discipline? Trying to find motivation is great. I encourage you to muster up motivation however you can, as it means you’re enjoying your journey! BUT, plan for days when the motivation is just not there. Figure out a contingency plan, and work on what you will do to maintain your discipline on days when the gusto is gone.
- Make a plan. Write it out. Write out your specific goal (“I will lose 5 pounds by my birthday” or “I will run a mile by the end of the month” rather than “I want to lose weight” or “I want to get off of my high blood pressure medication”). Next, HOW are you implementing the steps to your goal? Write it out. Then put that on your calendar. My current plan is to work on my nutrition (my sugar demon is out of control this past month!). My goal is to stick to a nutrition plan for the next 30 days. I have a written, specific plan for my nutrition, and I make daily meal plans for the week on every Monday. I made up tracking sheets where I can record what I eat for the next 30 days. I find that breaking down my month into smaller week-long bits makes things more do-able for me. Some of my clients tackle their plan daily, others like larger chunks of time. Do what works for you, but keep in mind WHAT WORKS. I’d love to plan one day at a time, but I’ve learned that this leads to my stumbling on road blocks that I don’t see coming, like a holiday or party with too many yummy temptations.
- Identify your “sticky” areas or foreseeable stumbling blocks. For me, this is weekend eating. We always order takeout for Saturday dinners so I don’t have to cook. It’s a treat for me that I really look forward to, but options for healthy restaurant food in my area are pretty non-existent, at least in my current plan. On Mondays when I’m making my schedule for the week, I build around this obstacle. Sometimes I forego the takeout and spend extra money on prepared food at the grocery store (pre-chopped veggies are SO worth the expense on my weekends!). Sometimes it’s changing my macros for other meals so I can splurge on a “treat meal.” When a party is coming up, I always bring a veggie tray with home-made dip so I have something to fill up on. This way I can enjoy mom’s specialty butter cookies without eating like 12 of them (they’re SO yummy!!!) Plan plan plan. Then have a plan B and a plan C. Trust me, you need them.
- Write out a schedule. Put it in your calendar. Make it non-negotiable. I always have a workout program that some expert has developed, with a schedule of which workout to do which day. I do video workouts at home, so each day has a corresponding video that I need to complete. It’s on my calendar, in my schedule, and I just see it as a meeting that needs to happen. If there’s a reason that it needs to change (like this morning when we were finishing up a class project on ancient Egypt before school), reschedule as you would any other appointment (I couldn’t do my morning workout, so I dropped my little guy off at school, ran my errands, then did my yoga before my scheduled consultations with clients).
- Plan on failing at least once! Seriously, if it’s a good goal, it won’t be easy. You’ll meet temptations and win some/ lose some. And that’s ok!!! Many years ago, one of my cardio teachers had a motto: “Consistency is the key to success.” It’s not about being perfect. We’re just not. It’s about being disciplined, following through, and keeping it up even when we fail. I cannot deny myself Mom’s butter cookies. Sometimes I’ll eat just one (because who can sustain a life with 100% great food choices?! What kind of fun is in that?!), other times I lose control and eat an obscene amount of them and truly enjoy every bite of all of them. And, yeah, there’s remorse afterward, but whatever- I get back to my plan and keep on going. A slip is NOT an excuse to abandon our goal. Even if we’ve failed 100 times before. The journey is never a straight line, a super highway with an efficient way to propel us toward our end goal. It’s a back road with winding turns, dead ends, poorly maintained roads, potholes, cliffs, backtracking… but we’ll get there eventually.
And sometimes you just need a copilot! I can help if you need someone in that passenger seat, with a road map, directions, and encouragement to find a new way. Reach out and schedule some time to talk. We can do this!!
Blessings,
Melanie
