The last 5 lbs are the hardest to lose and often the first 5 are the hardest to get going with.
There is a lot of info out there on both kick-starting weight loss and losing the last 5 pounds. Interestingly enough, a lot of the information for both is the same. It all boils down to this; eat less and exercise more, change up or add to your exercise routine, examine your diet, cut out unnecessary calories and fats, and write down or track your progress. In fact, this is exactly what you need to do to lose 5 or 50 lbs.
The Power of Motivation
However, how many of us find ourselves just not doing it? And what good is the info if we don’t put it to use right?
Before any of us will do anything, we need to be MOTIVATED—this applies to everything from brushing our teeth, to going to work, to working out.
In the case of weight loss, you have to be annoyed with being at the weight that you are at, then tempted by eating poorly, eat too much, or not following through with your workouts. We lose, gain or maintain weight one day at a time.
The bottom line is, you have to be truly motivated all day long to execute the steps to losing weight — any amount of weight.
Get In Touch with Your Triggers
We all have some thought or trigger that get us upset, inspired or otherwise motivated. It may be a health issue, a big event, a comment that someone made, or just feeling plain tired of being unhappy with how you look and feel. Whatever it is, get in touch with that and let it motivate your actions.
Plan to be Motivated for 3 Days in a Row Only
This takes some pressure off of you and generally leads to quicker results. After 3 days, re-asses and think about what you’ve done and how you feel. From here you can decide if you are motivated to do another 3 or do you need one day of “not caring” before you try for your next 3 motivated days in a row.
Make Sure You Are Losing Weight for YOU
You can start by being motivated by another person, but unless this shifts to you losing weight for yourself then you will not succeed in the long run. It’s ok if this takes a while or you don’t get there the first couple of times. Keep trying, you will get there eventually.
