Dr. Foster’s damn-good diet, Pt. 3
by Mira and Charles on February 3rd, 2010Staying motivated
OK, motivation: the next step in laying out Dr. Foster’s damn-good diet. It’s simple, really, Motivation is made up of just three things:
First, success. They say motivation leads to success. And it does. But success leads to motivation too. What this means is that to stay motivated you need to have successes. This is why, for example, some weight-loss programs try to get you to lose a lot of weight right off the bat.
But here’s the thing. Losing weight is a marathon, not a sprint. So here’s how to keep having the successes you need to keep you motivated.
Tip: Make sure your goals are achievable. It’s better to achieve small goals that suit your personality and your lifestyle than to fail at lovely, dramatic goals.
Tip: Have behavioral goals, not outcome goals. Now look: it’s fine to aim at losing a pound or two a week, or some such goal. But it is far better to have as a goal some piece of behavior you have control over. The best goal is to write down everything you eat every day. But there are lots of good behavioral goals. For example, cutting out fattening late-night snacks. Eating more vegetables. Taking baby carrots with you in the car. Not getting a scone with your coffee. The list goes on and on. The point is, you have control over this stuff, and you can and will succeed with it.
The second thing that makes people motivated is simplicity. Complicated diets won’t work. It’s too easy to get lost and discouraged. And so this is why so many commercial diet programs like Weight Watchers and others turn themselves inside out to make it simple for you to keep track of staying on track. And that’s a good thing. Tip: before starting on your diet, make sure you understand how it works and how you can work it in the middle of your incredibly busy, stressful life. But you don’t have to join a program. Anything that works for you to keep track of what you eat and is simple to follow will be good.
The third thing that will keep you motivated is the “this is me” factor. This is about your sense that you own this diet, you’re doing it your way, a way you like, a way you know will work for you. Tip: only diet the way that feels right for you. Yeah, you should listen to the experts. We really do know a lot about successful weight loss these days, so experts can help a lot. But there is still a lot of wiggle room. And that’s where you have to make sure you are doing things the right way for you. I knew a guy, for example, who ate the same meal three or four times a day. It was incredible boring but it worked because this was a busy distracted guy, and the last thing he needed was to think about food. Not thinking about food was how he got fat, and doggone it he found a way to make not thinking about food work to lose weight. (By the way, his same-meal-every-meal diet was cottage cheese on a slice of 100 percent whole-wheat bread, an apple, and a carrot. Filling, nutritious, and completely mindless. I’m not recommending it—I’m just saying: Whatever works for you!)
Next time: emotional issues and successful weight loss.
To catch up on this blog so far, here is yesterday’s on the how to of the diet, and the one before that introducing the whole thing. And here I am on my Fostering Change segment on New England Cable News launching my quest for weight loss.
Warmly, Charles
