How to Motivate Yourself to Stay Healthy
August 21, 2018Everyone wants to be healthy, but we tend to lose track of how simple it is to do when we look at the amount of work required. A simple change in attitude is all you need to make the difference.
Believe me when I say that millions of people lose their motivation to stay healthy. The hardest part about getting in shape is getting started. If you’re the kind of person that loses motivation after a short time, read on for motivational advice!
Don’t Bully Yourself into It
Hating oneself is a popular method of motivation for staying healthy. The idea behind insisting that you look terrible until you force yourself into a healthy routine is absurd.
Only one thing happens when you think that you look terrible. After a week or even less you’ll give in to your own self-hate and lose motivation! The very thing you hope to gain by talking to yourself like that is exactly what causes you to fail.
Make sure you accept yourself as you are. Don’t aim for unattainable goals. Decide that you’re happy as you are but you want to improve just a little at a time. Once you start noticing a little progress, you won’t even recall how upset you were.
On top of that, don’t allow anyone else to bully you into staying healthy either. For one, you’ll again give up after some time. You may end up resenting that person if and when you fail as well. Positivity is key!
Start Small
Don’t change your diet to 100% healthy all at once. Although you should aim to one day be eating healthy, it may shock your body to have so much change all at once. Start with something small.
For example, if you’re fond of drinking sugary drinks, start by switching out one of those drink each day for a glass of water. After a few weeks, switch out another one and so on until you no longer drink sugary beverages.
The same method can be applied to food. Take it one thing at a time, and you’ll get there.
Don’t Starve Yourself!
The worst kind of way to make yourself ‘healthy’ is to restrict yourself from eating. Even if you’re overweight, eating less is not the way to lose it. Those who try to eat less than what their body-size needs will find that they gain weight more often than lose it.
The problem is when your body thinks that it is being starved, it will start to store excess fat in anything you eat so that it can keep you going for times when you don’t eat. The result is that you feel tired all the time and you still don’t lose weight anyway.
Change the things you eat to healthy foods without limiting the amount you eat. Aim to eat foods that are high in fiber and low in carbohydrates. You all know which is which!
Take a look at Samantha Brown’s Health Advice for even more amazing tips on staying healthy!