How to Stay Motivated - Your Choice Nutrition

Motivation is a funny thing. What strongly motivates one person does nothing for another. There are many different ways to try to motivate someone. For some, it is by using scare tactics: “If you don’t get your cholesterol levels down you could have a heart attack.” For others it is looking to where they want to be in the future: “If you start exercising you will be able to run and play with your grand kids longer.”

Another thing about motivation is that it comes and goes. Sometimes you can be totally gung-ho on hitting the gym everyday after work, 4 weeks later you couldn’t care less about that place. This is normal. It is common to be at different levels during this process called change. When I work with clients it is very important for me to assess where they are on the stages of change (transtheorectical) model, that is, how ready are they to make changes? There are 5 stages to this model:

Precontemplation (Not Ready): You are not even considering making changes at this point in time.
Contemplation (Getting Ready): You are thinking about making some changes in the future (usually within 6 months).
Preparation (Ready): You have a plan and intend to make changes within the next month.
Action (Changing): You are in the midst of change, working towards your goals.
Maintenance (Keeping up with Your New Habits): You may not be actively changing, but have made new habits and are sticking to them.

As noted by the arrows, you are not always progressing in a step by step manner. You can fall out of the cycle at any stage and can re-enter at any stage. Sadly, even once you have reached your goal (maintenance) there is always a chance for relapse. So once you have lost that weight, how do you keep it off? You have been exercising regularly, eating healthier and are feeling better, how do you keep it up? What’s the secret? Is it a habit? Was that work-out routine realistic? Are those new eating habits sustainable for the rest of your life?

One thing to remember is that things change. Life changes. You may have started these changes before you had kids. Now you have two kids under the age of 3 and fitting in exercise has become more difficult. Cooking a healthy meal from scratch every night is proving to be a miracle in and of itself. You want to know my secret?

Being flexible and knowing that I am not always going to be 100% perfect. Yup, I said it. This type-A personality dietitian is not 100% perfect. If you didn’t get a work-out in today, that’s okay. Try harder tomorrow to squeeze it in, adjust your schedule and make it more of a priority. Fell off your dinner menu plan for the week and it’s only Wednesday? You know what? Life happens. The week is not over yet and the remaining dinner menu plans are not void just because you missed one day! Tomorrow you can prepare in advance so you can make a healthy meal for your family. There will always be ups AND downs. Expect them, deal with them and keep moving forward. Easier said than done, right?

Top 5 Tips on How to Stay Motivated #motivation Share on X

To help you out, below I’m giving you my top 5 tips to staying motivated:

Set Goals – both long-term and short term goals. I talk about setting SMART goals here. Be specific, write them down and visualize yourself doing and achieving them.
Find the Reasons Why. Really think about all the reasons why you want to make changes in the first place. Is it because you want to look and feel good for your wedding? Is it so you can be there for your kids and grand kids as they grow up? Do you want to be able to be self-sufficient as you age? Whatever your reasons, write them down and keep them somewhere to remind yourself why you are doing this every day.
Think of Possible Barriers. As I mentioned earlier, be flexible. Think ahead of what could possibly change or hinder you from achieving your goals. Then, after thinking of those barriers, create a plan of action for overcoming them. This way, if or when those barriers come along, you will be prepared with an action plan to beat them and keep on moving towards your goal. Being flexible by changing how or when you do something can still keep you on track.
Make it Fun. Do you normally hate cooking? Turn up your favorite songs and have a cooking party in the kitchen while making dinner with your family. Exercise is a bad word to you? Find something you enjoy: join a volleyball league, take a dancing class or check out a health club or martial arts center. Be creative to add in some pleasure while working towards your goals!
Make Yourself Accountable! Whether it be a family member, friend, neighbor, coworker, or even your healthcare provider, find someone to report to. Let them know your goals and have them be your personal cheerleader. Even better, see if they want to join you in the process of change! You can root each other on to keep going!

So there are my top 5 tips on how to stay motivated. What else would you add to the list? Let me know in the comments!

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Brittany

I'm a registered dietitian nutritionist and mom of four with a passion of helping families build confidence in the kitchen. I share family friendly recipes and helpful tips to help you navigate mealtime one bite at a time.

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