Looking for Motivation

Last night I was scanning the Internet, looking for words or pictures that might be motivating in the context of weight loss or exercise. Unfortunately, none of the words were that motivating; not because they weren't true, I just find most of the quotes unrealistic in the real world of weight loss.Losing weight is not easy at all. Keeping it off is even harder. So, it's important each day that we realize we must work (mentally) to keep ourselves on track as best we can. A short high intensity workout is great for the body, but won't result in weight loss if we snack too much later in the day.Motivation is being able to think long term. We must look past the ups and downs of the scale, beyond the holidays and travels, beyond the stress of work and home life with its' associated fatigue. We need to develop a daily habit of writing everything down and analyzing it to try and figure out what was good and maybe what was not so good, such that we can either repeat the same effort tomorrow or change some of the 'faults' of today.A lot of this business about 'motivation' is simply not allowing oneself to become discouraged. Getting fit does not happen in a month or two. Significant weight loss takes time. Your graph of weight loss will show many downs, yet many plateaus and even some ups. As long as the line is generally a downward one, even half a pound or two pounds, you are doing incredibly well.The most motivated people I see are not ones who begin the day knowing perfectly what they are going to eat and how much exercise they are going to do, it's the ones who know that the day(s) will bring challenges and that they will do their best to eat well and move more around those challenges. If, for whatever reason, they don't have a good day, they don't allow themselves to become upset or frustrated, because they know they will get back on track tomorrow.All of us have really good days, but unfortunately we often have some really bad ones too. Most often it's not the main meals that hinder our efforts; it's the snacks that occur during the end of the day when our emotional defenses are down.Fatigue at the end of the day is often referred to as ‘ego depletion.' We are tired, not from physical effort, but from the effort of giving energy to others no matter what our place of work is. Realize that the fatigue is mental, not physical. If you have the opportunity to do some activity, please force yourself to do something because the fatigue will disappear as your emotional neurotransmitters elevate.Don't get discouraged or frustrated. Don't give into fatigue and just sit or lie down all evening. Challenges will arise daily, and try to learn to overcome them without snacking when you feel down or anxious or stressed.Do some sort of activity. Even if it's only for 10 minutes. Even if you feel tired. Don't allow fatigue or the excuse of 'time' get in your way of health success.You can do it. Look long term. Just keep trying and don't ever give up.Dr. Doug