Let's get motivated.

I’m always looking for different articles on weight loss and exercise. I specifically look for things that overweight and obese people can do to lose weight. I’ve noticed recently that most articles are in “how to” formats. There is nothing wrong with this, but I feel like they are missing the real first step; motivation.

            For example, a lot of articles are about simple changes you can make with your exercise of food choices. They all go in a step-by-step fashion. They tell you step-by-step what you need, how to do it, and how many times to do it. However, I need someone to tell me how to get motivated to even go through the steps!

    I was looking for articles about motivation, getting motivated, how to motivate, really anything that the word motivate in it. I found this article, How one man's shame sparked a 300-pound weight loss. This is a good article. It didn’t have all the magic answers about motivation that I was looking, but it did have a lot of good information about motivation. It was also an inspiring article about what this man went trough and how he lost weight. I wish being inspired led to motivation for me, but it doesn't.

         Embarrassment or fear of death usually does not sustain people's commitment to change. This is an excerpt from the article that stuck out to me. I read that line over and over again because I was trying to decide if it was an accurate statement. After a few minutes I realized it was true. People usually go back to bad habits after some kind of health scare. I know I have in the past.

To be held accountable, he told his friends about his weight-loss efforts. To stay motivated, Hoover made a bet with his brother to see who could lose more weight. To get support, he joined online dieting communities. His mindset changed as he walked more. This is eventually what the guy in the article did to help him lose weight. After reading this I realized that I eventually did the same thing. I started talking to my friends and family about wanting to lose weight, I’ve tried to get my family to do a Family Health Challenge, and I’ve started a blog! So, besides eating right and going to the gym I think I’m doing a pretty good job at making myself accountable for my efforts.

In terms of finding out how to get motivated I’m pretty sure now that there is no “how to” list. If there was I would have found it on the internet since everything is on the internet.