Weight Loss Motivation

I have copied and pasted a post from Heather @fitinto.ca  —–because I think that it is so spot on.  Read and enjoy- visit her blog too at:  http://fitinto.ca/

To reach your fitness or weight loss goals, you need two types of motivation.

“Away from” motivation and “towards” motivation…

…as Renee Stephens calls them. (And I couldn’t agree more.)

Renee does an incredible job of explaining the two types of motivation in Episode 1 of her Inside Out Weight Loss podcast series, but I will try and do her justice by summarizing for you here.

“Away from” motivation is often what gets you started. It’s what you have too much of in your life, and want to avoid in the future. For example, maybe you want to move away from requiring prescription medication daily. Or maybe you want to move away from having to purchase larger sizes each season when you go shopping. Or maybe you simply want to move away from feeling bad about yourself.

We need “away from” motivation. It helps us to realize that it’s time for change. And that’s a really good thing.

The problem with “away from” motivation is that it is relatively easy to satisfy (though, it can still be a huge deal). The point is that you can do better. If it is your goal to stop requiring prescription meds, and you make the changes in your life necessary to do that, your goal has been met. You might be healthier, but I’m almost positive that you could do more at that point to further improve your life. The same goes for the other examples. If, when you go shopping next season, you need the same size as the previous season, you’ve met your goal. But could you do more? Of course. And if your “away from” motivation is to stop feeling bad about yourself, you’re likely to stop trying to make change in your life as soon as you feel a little better. Will you be at your best? Probably not. But you’ve met your goal – and that might make you think that it’s time to settle.

That’s where “towards” motivation comes in. It takes over when “away from” motivation stops working. For example, when you stop needing to purchase larger sizes, your “towards” motivation kicks in to keep you moving forward on the path towards bigger goals. Maybe you want to have a certain look, or be a specific dress size, or have a specific-sized waist. Feel free to dream. It’s okay if it seems like a big goal – that’s what “towards” motivation is all about.

The two motivations work best when they’re used together. And they work even better when you’re clear about what they are.

So take a moment to think about it. What’s your “away from” motivation? What’s your “towards” motivation? How do they interact? How will you know when you’ve made the shift from “away from” to “towards”? Do you have any other thoughts on motivation?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 10:20 am and is filed under Diet, Weight, Workout. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Weight Loss Motivation”

Hipolito M. Wiseman Says:
March 22nd, 2010 at 11:06 pm

Hey, I loved your article. You provide allot of good advice on getting in shape. People wanting to shed unwanted weight wil gain allot with the advice. Found your website Bing and have added this for future reference.

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