Finding motivation to lose weight is overrated. In this article, I share the best way to develop weight loss motivation and how to take real action now.

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The most common obstacle to getting started on your weight loss journey is … well … you.

Allow me to explain.

Perhaps the biggest reason why potential clients approach me to sign up for my online coaching programs is that they are lacking that initial motivation to lose weight and get moving on their fitness and nutrition goals.

And it’s a big reason why some of the most well-trafficked hashtags on social media tend to include some sort of motivational or inspirational message.

I’ll be blunt about my take on this: I hate motivation. It’s fleeting.

There, I said it.

You’re looking for someone else to push you to do something that only you have the power to do. Your health is your responsibility.

So while this is one of the biggest reasons why people sign up for coaching, it’s also one of the biggest reasons why people end up failing on their diets.

Ever check out the success rate on diets? It’s pretty bleak. Most people end up giving up and settling back into old “unhealthy” habits that put them in the hole to begin with.

In fact, according to this study, only about 50-percent of people will succeed in their weight loss goals and keep the weight off for good. That’s half. Half of the people looking to lose weight will never fully realize that goal.

That sucks.

Rebound weight gain occurs and they’re left in this yo-yo dieting cycle and circle of looking for more motivation to lose weight again and get back to where they used to be when they tried that low-carb diet that one summer and lost a bunch of weight.

In this article, I’m going to explain how to break this chain of suck. I’ll break down:

• The two different types of motivation
• How to use both types of motivation to your advantage
• Why establishing positive weight loss behavioral habits will always beat motivation to lose weight
• How to take action now to finally crush your goals and make your health a lifestyle focus

Let’s get into it.

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Using both Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation to Lose Weight and Crush any Goal

Extrinsic motivation comes from external factors and rewards, like earning money or better grades, fame or praise. When you take advantage of the extrinsic motivational cues in the short term, it can become quite handy in your journey.

For instance:

• “If I lose 15 pounds, then I can fit in my bathing suit for my upcoming vacation.”
• “If I make time for all of my workouts this week, I will feel better about going out to dinner this weekend.”
• “If I make my lunch every day for the next three weeks, then I will save enough money to reward myself with that new pair of sunglasses.”

The If/Then approach is incredibly effective for short-term motivation. It gets you to move on that new positive behavior and keeps you in the game to see it through.

Where this approach fails is in the long-term.

You’ll be less likely to follow through on your goals when you set up this sort of If/Then concept on a project that might take six months or more. The carrot is dangling too far ahead for you to hold interest.

This is a common problem that the yo-yo dieting mindset develops and it’s why the yo-yo dieters end up stuck in that endless cycle.

Think about that time you set out to lose 20 pounds over the course of the year. That’s a long time to be focused on such a heavy goal. How tough was it to actually see it through as a result? It becomes more difficult to maintain that motivation to keep going when the journey is such a slog.

You need another factor.

Intrinsic motivation stems from a short-term, more internal reward system

For example, you work out not because you want to lose 20 pounds, but because you enjoy how it makes you feel after a great sweat sesh in the gym.

Or perhaps you enjoy eating a big ass salad every day because you enjoy the taste of it and the nutrient-dense eating practice yields more energy throughout your day than the heavily-processed junk you used to eat for lunch.

That’s intrinsic motivation. And it’s a fantastic practice for the long-term compliance of a healthy lifestyle.

“Okay, so I get it, Pete. I should focus on the intrinsic stuff then, right?”

Well, not so fast.

Utilizing both motivational practices will yield the best results. It’s time to flip the script on the motivation record.

Start by determining a few goals that you have in mind. By the way, if you need a primer on that, I’ve got just the article for you right here.

It never hurts to have a few goals in mind because if gives you something to work towards. It will boost that extrinsic motivational mindset to keep you moving to reach that goal of fitting in your jeans by summer.

This physical goal provides just enough of a carrot to help you take action.

But then you need to really focus on the intrinsic motivation for long-term success.

In this article, I talked a lot about finding NSVs (or non-scale weight victories) to help determine progress outside of the weight and measurements. Things like:

• Building a healthier relationship with food
• Learning how to make movement more of a lifestyle that fits into your daily routine
• Realizing more energy and better sleep
• Feeling more confident

These are not measurable goals and wins. But that doesn’t make them any less important than tracking calories, average scale weight and weekly measurements.

Once you establish this new thought pattern, it’s time to make the more important mindset shift towards taking action.

Focus on positive habit-building behavior, not motivation to lose weight

I’m gonna assume that you practice sound dental hygiene and take a few minutes every morning to brush your teeth. If not … gross.

Anywho.

Ask yourself this question: do you need motivation to pop up and brush your teeth in the morning or before bedtime?

No. You don’t. It’s just part of your day to day life. It’s so baked into everything that you do, that you don’t even think about it. You just do it.

When you’re feeling like shit or just had a really bad day at work or you’re fighting with a loved one, you don’t say “Fuck it, I’m not brushing my teeth today.” Well, at least I hope you don’t.

That’s where we need to be with movement and your diet. It’s part of your life. It’s not an extra dose of work that needs to get done.

Start envisioning motivation as a cycle.

When you take action towards your goals it yields results. Those results in turn drive your motivation to continue. So you end up taking even more action to see it through. And the cycle continues.

So focus on the process.

In the past you’ve likely been a slave to the scale and assumed that if you stalled on scale weight, or even measurements for two, three, even six months down the line, it meant you did something wrong.

But in reality, short term results (or lack thereof) are not a correct indicator of proper behavior and process.

Instead, your mindset needs to be on the daily actions and behaviors:

• Hit your calories, protein and macros consistently
• Eat plenty of nutrient dense foods
• Get regular sleep
• Strength train a few times per week

Stop worrying how the scale, selfies and measurements look just seven days into your new program. This shit takes time.

And if you take the proper action consistently, then over time, you’ll be able to look back and see the progress.

So how do you muster the energy and willpower to get going and take action even when the motivation to lose weight hasn’t registered just yet? Let me break it down with four simple strategies.

4 Ways to Start Taking Action Now

First, you need to understand why you are doing something.

We already hit on finding the right way to determine a goal, which in turn becomes your extrinsic motivation. But, this exercise takes that goal and really drills it down into the deeper reasoning behind it.

Get to the root of your reasoning to reveal the real mindset for change by playing the Why Game with yourself.

Remember how annoying it was when your toddler would constantly ask you “why” all of the damn time and you were forced to answer a million questions about why pickle juice is in a jar? Well, now you’re going to be doing that for yourself, but with the objective of finding the core reason of why you want to make a change.

Say your goal is to “feel better and lose weight.” Awesome. The next step is to ask why.

• Why do you want to lose weight?
• Then you’ll take it further by asking yourself Why do you want that outcome?
• Keep asking yourself why up to four more times.

Let’s put this into action with a quick example: We have Christina. She’s a 37-year-old mom of two who’s been struggling to really get back her pre-baby body. 

Here’s how “The Why Game” breaks down for Christina:

• Why do I want to lose weight? Because I feel fat and out of shape and I’m finally ready to do something about it.
• Why am I ready to finally stop feeling fat and out of shape? Because before kids, I was in terrific shape and now I’m scare of being the “fat mom.”
• Why do I NOT want to be the “fat mom?” Because I want to set a good example to my kids.
• Why do I want to set a good example for my kids? Because they are my world and I want to live long and healthy lives and avoid the similar unhealthy habits that I’ve developed over the years. I want to be able to keep up with them at the playground and be around to watch them grow old and have kids of their own.

And there it is. That fourth and final “Why” ended up being the Core of Christina’s entire weight loss motivation puzzle. This is her intrinsic motivation and the defining factor of why she’ll stay committed to herself. Because it’s bigger than just her. It’s also about her kids.

Now it’s your turn. Do this sample exercise for yourself. Really get into the answers here and follow the chain to get to your core reasons for chasing your specific goal.

From here, it’s time to take action. But, even that action must be initiated in a way that makes sense for long-term sustainability.

Adopt the Slow and Steady Approach

The fancy magazine articles and #BodyTransformation posts on Instagram have you in this mindset that you must make dramatic changes immediately and as quickly as possible.

So after you see an initial surge of weight loss over the first three to four weeks of a training program, you’ve probably said to yourself:

“If some is good, more is better.”

So you hit full throttle and decrease your calories, jack up the cardio and eliminate the carbs. You’ve gone into this “go big or go home” mode and it’s hard to keep up. In fact, you can’t keep up.

It leads to the inevitable binge. The scale weight spikes up (because weight fluctuates for a number of uncontrollable factors) and you get discouraged.

Then you toss up your hands, say fuck it and just let go. You’ve returned to the yo-yo dieting mentality, all because you tried so hard to be perfect.

Hit the reset button on this mindset.

Understand that weight loss takes time. Lots of time. Which is why you must make dieting as enjoyable as possible. It’s why you have to embrace the suck of the journey and understand that you won’t get there overnight.

This is why you have to enjoy your favorite foods from time to time and appreciate that one meal or even one day of off-plan eating won’t wreck your progress or stall your gainzzzz.

You’ve got this.

Small changes over time add up to big results

Instead of trying to revamp your entire diet in the first week, start with a smaller goal of adding protein to each meal. Doesn’t have to be an entire chicken worth of protein, just a fist-sized portion will do the trick.

Hang out with this newfound habit for a couple of weeks. See how you feel. Can you add more after a month? Awesome.

Then it’s time to explore another positive habit.

Don’t expect to go from a sedentary lifestyle to a 5-Day Bodybuilding Style Training Split. That’s absurd. Start with strength training twice per week. Add in some more walking to your daily activity.

These small habits are much easier to achieve. And the minimum effective dose of added movement and more protein will still lead to results.

Remember, results bolster your motivation to continue taking action.

Don’t wait to find motivation to lose weight, take action now

It’s a universal fact that all diets begin on Monday.

There’s something about starting a new week with a new assignment that gives it more credence. But, it doesn’t have to be this way.

Do something so ridiculously small right now. Right. Now.

It can be planning one meal for tomorrow. Or trashing one extra bag of chips. Or just dropping and doing 10 push-ups. Do something.

It is cliche as hell, but doing something really is always better than doing nothing at all. And those small somethings add up over time, my friend.

Commit right now to finding at least one thing you can do each and every day that is better than the previous 24 hours. You might not get there every single day, but striving for this is a great way to hold yourself accountable.

Take action now. Let the motivation follow. This is how I work with all of my online coaching clients and it’s the proven way to finally break free from the cycle of yo-yo dieting and having to constantly start over.

Photo by Tegan Mierle on Unsplash.

Let me help you find the motivation to lose weight for good … 

I’m here to help you out. 

If you have any questions, reach out. I answer all of my emails at pete [at] petecataldo [.] com … Hit me up with the subject line “Motivation to lose weight” and I’ll answer any questions you have to make this work for you.

Or you can hit me up anytime on the socialz on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

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