Finding the Motivation to Stay Slim

Losing weight is hard work and every time you do it you tell yourself that never again will you end up in the same position. However, frequently you find yourself needing to lose weight once more. You just can't seem to get away from the mentality of either being on a diet or simply stuffing your face. There is no middle ground where you eat, drink and exercise in moderation to keep the weight off. Instead, you're either on a diet or not and it is when you're not on a diet that the weight piles on and you feel miserable about yourself.

Since losing weight is so challenging you'd think that people would be extremely motivated to keep off the weight they lose, however this is often not the case. When you have weight to lose you usually have a goal in your mind, which keeps you focused on what you need to do in order to accomplish that goal. You don't mind as much that you can't eat all the kinds of food you want, because you know that when you step on the scales the numbers will tumble down over the weeks. When you're losing weight you're able to fit into smaller clothes and quite often you will be at the receiving end of compliments about your weight loss.

Once you've lost the weight, though, what is there to keep you on the right track? Eventually, the compliments stop as people get used to seeing the slimmer you and you no longer get the same buzz whenever you step on the scales or go clothes shopping. Although you can appreciate the benefits of being slimmer, you also miss being able to pig-out on junk food and not having to worry if you've eaten too much or not done enough exercise. Unfortunately, your inclination to eat junk food and to serve huge portions is always there and you just can't motivate yourself to control your eating habits. The result of this is obviously weight gain, which is precisely what you don't want.

Yet, there is always a tussle in your mind between wanting to be slim and wanting to eat without calorie counting. If you've always battled your weight, quite often it will be food that comes before your determination to remain slim. You may not enjoy being overweight, but sometimes you just cannot be bothered to deal with the fact you're gaining weight and it is much more convenient to ignore the problem and deal with it at a later date. The only trouble is that you find yourself continuing to pile on the pounds, so that by the time you do decide to deal with the issue you have a substantial amount of weight to lose.