Which Comes First Weight Loss or Motivation

Getting and staying motivated to lose weight is a tricky thing.  At some point in your fitness journey you feel like if you could just get motivated then you could lose the weight.  At other times you feel like if you could just see results (weight loss) THEN you would be motivated to do what it takes.

So which is it?  Which comes first?  The motivation or the weight loss?

BOTH!

Here’s the deal. 

You may need to take those very first steps toward losing the weight even though you aren’t motivated because…

Actions- not motivation- produces weight loss.

This is the magic of just getting started.  This is also why some people say that “anything is better than nothing”.  They are trying to get you to stop analyzing and just START. BUUUUUT I don’t agree with the anything is better than nothing school of thought because while you may be able to psych yourself into taking a few steps toward losing weight, if you don’t see any positive change as a result of that effort your almost non-existent motivation is likely to completely disappear.  That brings me to the next important point.

It is important to take PRODUCTIVE ACTION so that your body will change in response.

Let’s be real.  If you give up something (no matter how small) in order to move toward your weight loss goals and nothing at all happens.  How long will you really sustain that change?  How long will you suffer (abstain) without a payoff?  For most of us that answer is not long.  That is when the “I may as well (eat X OR not do Y) since I’m not losing weight anyway” thoughts come flooding your mind.  Can you relate to that?  Me too!  While it is important to take productive action, it is also important not to get stuck searching and planning for the perfect plan because after all…

SEARCHING AND PLANNING doesn’t count as productive action.

How many pounds will surfing the internet shed?  If you create a super spreadsheet to track all of your food and plan how many pounds you will lose each week, how many dress sizes will you have lost when you are done?  You see where I am going with this don’t you?  Many times the things that we busy ourselves doing in order to lose weight are not moving the needle one bit.  In many cases, it is keeping us so confused that we lose even more motivation and eventually DO NOTHING.  So what can we do instead?

Following a SIMPLE yet customizable blueprint of productive action can help you get started right away and produce the weight loss that will increase your motivation.

We know that programs and plans have limitations because they aren’t really designed specifically for you BUT if you are looking for the ‘quick win’ that will show you that weight loss is possible and that will help you get motivated to continue the journey, a plan that is flexible enough to allow you to honor your personal preferences can be an awesome starting point.  The simpler the better because if it is super complicated, you end up spending all of your time figuring it out and planning- which we have already said is NOT productive action.

Motivation and weight loss can create a forward feeing cycle… the more you lose the more motivated you are and the more motivated you are, the more consistent you are with your weight management habits which produces continued and sustained weight loss.

Just like gaining weight and losing motivation can create a cycle.  So can losing weight and gaining motivation.  That is exactly how it works.  If you feel stuck with your weight loss goals and you are trying everything to get motivated… stop and take an action step toward losing the weight today and watch your motivation soar.

What did you think? Let me know in the comments below! And if you found this helpful or inspirational, be sure to share.