Staying Motivated for Weight Loss

The ability to motivate yourself toward achieving your goals after weight loss surgery is an important skill to master after bariatric surgery.  Your weight loss journey is not always going to go smoothly so learning how to remain upbeat and moving forward in the face of setbacks will benefit you greatly.

When you find yourself struggling to stay with a healthy eating plan or exercise program try some of these tips for staying motivated and sticking with your weight loss goals:

• Keep a list of all the milestones you hit on your journey. When you find yourself losing motivation look at this list and realize all that you’ve accomplished.
• Keep a journal with realistic goals inside that you can achieve throughout the weight loss journey. Your goal should not just be to go from point A to point Z. You should have small weight loss markers, mobility improvements and other small indicators of success along the way.
• Don’t allow yourself to sink into old habits of negative self-talk. When you start thinking self-defeating thoughts, you give yourself no motivation. Instead, focus on all the ways you’ve positively surprised yourself throughout the journey and anticipate the ways you hope to surprise yourself in the weeks and months to come.
• Do you know someone who is an insatiable optimist?  When you are having difficulty with your motivation find the most upbeat person you know and spend some time with them.  Motivation is mostly about attitude and a positive attitude is infectious.  When you are running low on your own motivation – grab some from someone with plenty to go round.
• Reach out for help when you need it.  Are your friends and family supportive of your weight loss goals? Are you a member of a support group? Everyone needs a little support and encouragement at times so don’t be afraid to let people know you are having a motivation problem.  If you don’t have a strong support group established contact your bariatric surgeon for information about local support systems.

We can all expect to encounter times when it is difficult to stay motivated so have an action plan ready to go and follow it as soon as you notice there is a problem.  If you find your motivation is gone and you just can’t seem to get it back, contact your bariatric surgery team and let us know what’s going on.