In a previous post, I wrote about the important act of surrender: surrendering to your lack of motivation.
That topic was in regards to a long-term slump of non-motivation. What if once in a while though, you wake up and you just aren’t motivated? You don’t feel like this every day, but sometimes it happens. What can you do?
One thing you can do is come here and read my daily motivational post. 🙂 Also though, there just may be those times when it’s in your own best interest to go through the motions. Especially if you have food addictions, it’s best to just stick to your healthy eating and exercise plan for the next day or two, until you get out of your slump and regain your weight loss (or healthy, non-addictive eating) motivation.
I’ve found something that works for me when I feel like this: I bribe myself, saying that if I will finish out the day on my plan, then tomorrow morning I will get to re-evaluate how I feel. If I still want to give in to the craving that I was having the day before, then I can do so.
What ends up happening though, is that I stick to my plan, and the next morning I always end up thanking myself for doing so. Tomorrow comes, I’m happy that I stuck to my plan, bribing myself worked, and I no longer want whatever it was that I was craving the day before.
Usually, when I want to give in to unhealthy eating, it is in the evening, so by the time the next morning rolls around and I’ve “made it through”, that craving is gone. If it’s not gone, I have yesterday’s progress behind me, and I have more motivation to continue my positive actions, rather than giving in to a craving that could lead me into a binge, and/or derail me from my goals.
It’s not always easy to go through the motions of healthy eating and exercise when you want to eat something else (for whatever reason), but I’ve never had a day when I looked back at the previous day and wished that I had given in to cravings or temptation.
The action of “going through the motions” also ties into my more recent post, “Act As If“. The more of these days that you can string together of staying on your weight loss and exercise plan, the more they will contribute to your weight loss motivation. Of course, if you find that your lack of motivation is long standing (and you are not depressed), then you can refer back to my post on surrendering to the state non-motivation that you are in (mentioned above). You may also find one of my first posts helpful, “What is Your Motivation to Lose Weight?“.
In addition to going through the motions, continue to read and listen to positive, inspirational, motivational material. This, coupled with sticking to your weight loss and exercise plan will see you through to the other side. I have done this many times myself and honestly, I have always thanked myself the next day.
