21 Ways to Stay Motivated to Lose Weight
21 Ways to Stay Motivated to Lose Weight Power through an "off" day and keep seeing results with these expert tips for weight loss. Stop Trying So Hard "The key to staying motivated to lose weight is similar to the [amount of] fuel in a car—you don't need the motivation tank to be full to drive, you just need to prevent it from running empty," says Joshua C. Klapow, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and author of Living SMART: 5 Essential Skills to Change Your Health Habits Forever. "I tell people not to waste precious time and energy on staying highly motivated because motivation has a natural rhythm. Most people see a drop in motivation as a signal of failure, but it's not," he says. If you notice that your weight loss motivation is waning, give yourself a break from your diet or exercise plan for one to three days, Klapow says. "The problem with motivation is that the more peo...