How to Get Motivated to Diet When You Have Lots of Weight to Lose

If you’ve got a lot of weight to lose, you’ll have been overweight for a while – perhaps almost all your life.

It can be incredibly daunting to think about changing your habits and losing a significant amount of weight – but you can do it.

Are you feeling anxious about the journey ahead and wondering if it’s worthwhile or whether you’ll have the willpower to stick to your diet?

Here’s how to get motivated.

Aim to Lose 10% of Your Starting Weight

First, don’t set a target goal which takes you right down to a BMI of 20-25. Instead, aim to lose 10% of your starting weight.

If you weigh 300lbs, aim to lose 30lbs. If you manage that, it’ll be a significant achievement that delivers huge health benefits. It’s a realistic target which is challenging but not overwhelming.

Focus on the Benefits of Eating Healthily

Instead of just thinking about how you’d love to be slim, focus on all the other benefits of eating more healthily. For instance:

• Increased energy every day
• Better hair and skin
• Better digestion
• A healthier heart (potentially life saving)
• Massively reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and other lifestyle-related illnesses
• A longer life
• Setting a great example for your kids, parents, partner or friends

If your sole aim is to see the number on the scales go down, you’ll probably have weeks when you’re disappointed – and tempted to give up. But when you think about all the other reasons to eat healthily, you’ll know it’s worth carrying on.

Join a Club or Group

Dieting can be very hard at times, especially if you’re trying to break the habits of a lifetime – and if your family or friends are all overweight. You may end up feeling quite isolated or uncertain.

By joining a diet club or group, like Weight Watchers or Slimming World, you’ll find a bunch of new friends who can support and encourage you – and keep you accountable. Regular meetings will make sure you stay focused, even when you’re tempted to find excuses to quit your diet (“I’m on vacation” … “It’s Joe’s birthday” … “I’ve had a bad week”.)

If you can’t make it to meetings of a physical group, or if you feel too shy, how about an online forum or support group? You can remain anonymous and you don’t have to share any personal details – but you’ll still get tons of motivation from other dieters.

Read Weight-Loss Blogs and Magazines

Whenever you’re trying to make a change in your life, it helps to focus as much as possible on your new lifestyle. There are thousands of blogs about dieting and healthy eating (this one, for instance!) which can help bolster your enthusiasm and keep you motivated. Many blogs even allow you to get every post by email, or to an RSS reader.

As well as blogs, look out for diet-related magazines which contain recipes, inspiring success stories, new ideas and diet product reviews. You could subscribe to one of these, or pick up issues of a few different magazines in the store.

Books are also worth a look. Don’t go for ones based around some fad celebrity diet – but look for encouraging, motivational advice – perhaps memoirs by successful dieters.

Celebrate Each Milestone

Finally, whenever you’re working towards a large and challenging goal like weight loss, it’s a good idea to set milestones. Don’t just focus on losing that whole 30lbs – celebrate each 5lbs along the way.

You could reward yourself at each step, perhaps with a new DVD, book or CD, or some other small treat. (Just don’t make it a food treat!) You could also give yourself a reward for sticking to particular behaviors: filling in your food diary every day for two weeks, or completing all your planned exercises sessions for a month.

If you have a lot to lose, what keeps you motivated? If you’ve already successfully lost a lot of weight, what tips can you share with other readers? Let us know in the comments!