If you’ve ever tried to lose weight, you know it can be a tricky and treacherous journey. Since it looks a little different for everyone, finding the motivation to lose weight can sometimes seem difficult. 

While getting overwhelmed is easy, it’s important to know many science-backed strategies to help you achieve your goal—and keep the weight off for the long haul! Read on for weight loss motivation tips sure to inspire you, especially when you lose sight of your goal. 

What Is Weight Loss Motivation? 

Motivation shares a root with the word motive, which describes one’s willingness or desire to act in a certain way. With weight loss, motivation is often linked to a person's reasoning for certain behavior. For example, older adults may feel motivated to lose weight to have more energy to play with their grandchildren. 

Motivation can be helpful, but it can also be fleeting when obstacles occur. Regarding weight loss, it’s important to take steps and create strategies that keep you on track when you aren’t feeling motivated. Helpful tactics can come in handy when barriers create fiction, making it harder to decide to do the “right thing” in the moment.

How to Get Motivation to Lose Weight

So, how do you find motivation when motivation is missing? These ideas can help you build an environment conducive to losing weight, making it more likely for you to choose weight loss-supportive strategies (even when you don’t feel like it).

Find Your “Why” & Set SMART Goals 

When embarking on a weight loss journey, it’s important to find your “why.” Identifying reasons you want to change can help make weight loss goals more meaningful. 

If you’re hesitant to set goals because they haven’t worked for you in the past, you may want to consider a new method. A SMART goals framework—also outlined in greater detail here—encourages specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely goals. For example, setting a goal to exercise five times a week can be more concrete than simply “exercise more.” 

Identify Barriers to Reduce Friction 

Even with a well-thought-out weight loss plan, there will be obstacles along the way. While barriers to progress can be frustrating, it’s important to identify them to move forward. 

Common barriers to weight loss include undereating (not giving the body enough fuel), exercise and eating patterns that work against one another, or underlying health problems. Poor sleep or stress management can also get in the way of weight loss. 

Build a Strong Support System

Whether you plan to lose a few or 50 pounds, having a truly supportive support system can make all the difference. Friends and family can hold you accountable, especially if they share goals or motivations and can act as accountability partners. 

Your circle of support doesn’t have to be limited to friends or family. Experts like a doctor or registered dietitian can also connect you with resources. Online support groups can also provide a virtual support system, which can be especially helpful if you live far away from relatives or health professionals. 

Join a Weight Loss Program

Another way to stay motivated to lose weight is to join a weight loss program. Many places of employment offer some sort of physical activity, healthy eating, or wellness challenge. This can unite people in the workplace to bond around a shared goal.

Thanks to social media, there are many apps and online groups. Choosing a group that works with your lifestyle and promotes weight loss healthily can make the process less stressful. Working with others can also introduce ideas you hadn’t considered before, such as crockpot cooking for effortless, easy meals. 

Try Meal Delivery 

If you know healthy eating is an area in which you struggle, don’t count meal delivery out! There are many healthy weight loss diet plans to choose from, and options like bistroMD can help you stay on track. 

Made with delicious, whole foods and meals backed by dietitians and doctors, bistroMD diet delivery is a great way to kickstart (or continue) your weight loss journey. BistroMD also recognizes just how vital social support is, and offers countless opportunities to receive it—via one-on-one email support with dietitians, an exclusive member’s community, and more. 

How to Stay Motivated to Lose Weight 

Abandoned more weight loss plans than you can count? You aren’t alone. Staying motivated can feel tricky, especially if none of the strategies you’ve tried before haven’t stuck. 

However, you may be making more progress than you think! Research has shown that sustainable, slow changes are the way to go and that losing just 1-2 pounds per week is considered healthy. For some fresh perspective, try these tips for staying motivated. 

Health Metrics Beyond Weight 

Health is about much more than losing weight. While getting to and staying at a healthy weight can do wonders for your health, measuring progress by other metrics is important. 

Instead of a goal weight, consider looking into other markers that your health is improving. For example, has your cholesterol decreased or has your blood sugar been more balanced? Sometimes, these changes can be more meaningful and life-changing than seeing the “ideal” number on the scale.

Non-Scale Victories

One of the most important relationships in life is the relationship you cultivate with yourself. Stepping on the scale can be a triggering experience and an act that complicates how you feel about yourself. 

Instead of measuring progress by the number on the scale, try seeing victories from a different viewpoint. These are often called non-scale victories and can help you focus on the progress you see each day along the journey. For example, have you decreased calorie intake without cravings occupying your mind?

Choosing to focus on small victories instead of weighing yourself each day can have many benefits, such as: 

• Cultivating a feeling of freedom, like trying new foods and indulging more intentionally
• Helping you tune into your senses and appreciate eating cues
• Increasing awareness of other health parameters, weight-related or non-weight related 
• Reducing anxiety surrounding weight or weigh-related issues 

Use Non-Food Rewards to Celebrate Success 

With all this hard weight loss work, you deserve a reward! Since eating can be fraught with new meaning during weight loss, finding ways to reward yourself that don’t involve food is important.

Instead of regularly turning to dessert, consider rewarding yourself with these non-food activities or ideas: 

• Buy yourself a new outfit when your clothes start to fit differently 
• Sign up for an exercise class you’ve wanted to take 
• Take a progress photo to help you appreciate how far you’ve come

Weight Loss Motivation: Final Takeaways

It’s normal to encounter obstacles on a weight loss journey. Luckily, there are many ways to stay motivated, whether embarking on this journey alone or with others.

From starting with SMART-er goals to measuring progress in a new way, there are many ways to make your weight loss experience more meaningful.