Weight Loss Willpower - Change Your Life

Willpower Builders

     It all started off so well. Perhaps it was a New Year's Resolution. Maybe it was a promise you made to yourself or a loved one. "This time I will lose the weight and keep it off". "I will walk/jog/run for at least 20 minutes three times a week". There was no lack of intention or desire, but somehow, a few weeks later, the diet Medifast Specials has lost out to desserts, fast food, and hectic schedules. The running shoes have spent more time in the closet than on your feet. What went wrong?

     For many of us, the problem is simply lack of motivation. The demands of every day life, with too many events on the calendar and too little time for health management, rob us of the will to go on fighting the battle for fitness. My goal in this brief article is to offer some suggestions on how to reinforce that will, how to find that motivation, even in the middle of all that life throws at you.

     One of the most important things we can do to maintain motivation is to track our progress. I lost over 40 pounds and have kept it off for four years, and it didn't cost me a dime. I began keeping track of my exercise on a spreadsheet. Even this simple act of typing numbers into a column at the end of the day was enough to remind me that if I didn't get off my rear and hit the pavement/treadmill, I wouldn't have anything to type. It made me accountable to myself in a way that, over time, brought excitement and a sense of accomplishment to my exercise routine. It also gave me the opportunity to challenge myself as I saw the distances go up and the times it took to travel those distances come down. So, Motivation Maintainer #1 is...Track Your Progress, and be honest about it!

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Perhaps equally important is having some sort of reminder built into each day. With our super busy lifestyles, it is easy to forget, or trivialize the importance of, regular physical activity. Set your cell phone alarm, or an outlook reminder on your email, or whatever it takes to remind you, to get up and get moving. Make an appointment with a friend for that walk or jog, schedule a bike ride, do something that requires some cardiovascular exercise. The more frequent the reminder, the less likely you are to blow off your routine, and the more likely you are to reach your goal. A recent study by researchers at Stanford University revealed that study participants who received reminder phone calls were more likely to comply with their fitness regimen than those who did not receive reminders.

     Finally, get plugged in to some sort of fitness community that shares similar goals and struggles. This could be your own network of friends, an online forum, or a running club. Having that bond and feeling that you are part of a team minimizes the depths of your valleys and maximizes the height of your peaks. Having someone to share struggles and successes with is a crucial component of success.

     Give these three simple steps a try, and don't give up. As Tommy Lasorda said, "The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in not giving up".

This website was developed with all three of the above suggestions in mind and we hope it will assist you in reaching your fitness goals.

You can become a member for free today and begin charting your way to a healthier you!
Thank You for reading,
ChartMeHealthy
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You Can Do This

"The difference between the impossible and the possible
lies in not giving up."
          ~Tommy Lasorda