Understanding that motivation isn’t just about willpower or inspiration, but rather a system of habits, mindsets and strategies that work together to support long-term success. Without establishing a system of habits, mindsets and strategies that work for us, we are more likely to fail when things get hard as you work toward your weight loss goals. 

Now that we understand how motivation works, setting specific weight loss goals that are manageable and obtainable is a first step. Then creating strategies to help support those goals to establish and maintain healthy habits follows.  When we develop those, we are able to change our mindset.

Understanding Your “Why”

The Power of Deep Motivation

Surface-level motivations like “I want to look better” are rarely sustainable for long-term change. When we connect with a deeper, more meaningful reason for a weight loss journey we find true motivation. However, this requires digging deep, getting personal and being honest with ourselves.  It’s the beginning of the hard work but establishes a foundation for success.

Identifying Core Motivators

As you begin to think about your weight loss goals, consider “why.”  Going through this process helped me establish a foundation. Identify multiple reasons. As you go through the process, write them down and be specific. When you reach them, build on them slowly.

Lifestyle Motivators – Ask “Why” multiple times. 

Start with your initial reason for wanting to lose weight, then, keep asking why until you get to the core.  For instance, here is one of mine:

• “I want to lose weight” – Why
• “To feel more energized” – Why
• “To hike and see new places without feeling exhausted” – Why
• “To take pictures and share my experiences” – Why
• “To be a role model for students and enjoy/support nature”

Health-Based Motivations: How will weight loss impact you:

• Long-term health outlook
  • For me: I can be more active, avoid family history of heart disease and diabetes and hike further and longer.
• Daily energy levels
  • For me: I didn’t want to feel tired all the time. I wanted to be able to keep up with people when we walked and not run out of breath after walking short distances.
• Mobility and physical comfort
  • For me: My feet always hurt, my ankles were weak, and I struggled with cramping in my calves regularly. I wanted to get rid of some of the issues. I still have some issues with my feet, not as bad, my ankles aren’t nearly as bad, and my calves feel almost brand new.
• Medical conditions or risks
  • For me: I didn’t have many real issues, but as previously stated, I was concerned about heart issues and diabetes in the future.

Personal Growth Motivations: Where do you want to improve:

• Family relationships: People often put me down or commented about my health. I wanted to be looked at differently. Some relationships are better, and others are not. However, I feel better about myself.
• Social Confidence: I hated going to the gym because I would be stared at. This made me think people were talking about me. I wanted to walk into a gym and other spaces not worrying about what was being said. I finally broke that fear in late 2023 when I joined a gym and still maintain a daily gym regimen.  It was a huge step for me.
• Daily Activities: I wanted to make a routine of walking daily or doing some form of activity for at least an hour a day. I reached that and have built on that to 2-3 hours a day at least 4 days a week and 30-60 minutes on off days.
• Future opportunities: I was focused on hiking more, going farther and trying harder hikes. I also wanted to run long distance races. I have done both and keep growing with my goals for both.
• Professional Performance: I teach broadcasting, which requires moving equipment or being on the floor for setup. I wanted to feel like I wouldn’t be exhausted the rest of the day after setup and breakdown.

Creating Your Motivation Statement/List

Now that you know your deepest motivations, combine them into a personal statement or create a list.  Then place the statement or list somewhere where you will see it every day. I put the list on my fridge and the house door I used every day, so I would see it everyday.

In your statement include your deep personal reason.  Then identify specific life improvements.  Explain why it matters. What or who your success will impact and provide specific examples.

Another strategy, which I found more effective, is to list why it matters. Then I had specific examples for what I wanted to do. For instance: Visit and hike all the national parks in the US. Climb to the top of a mountain peak. Hike the Milford Track in New Zealand.  Some of these I have done, others I am still working toward for different reasons.

Setting SMART Weight Loss Goals

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound. When you’re creating your SMART goals, focus on the important results you want to achieve.  SMART weight loss goals help to define clear and understandable levels of expected performance to determine what is successful for you.

When you beginning setting your SMART goals, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Specific: exact actions and numbers
   • What do you want to accomplish? What actions will you take to reach those goals?
2. Measurable: Trackable metrics
   • How will you measure the goal or success?
3. Achievable: Realistic for your life
   • Is this doable for me? Do I have the skills or resources to do this?
4. Relevant: Aligned with your why
   • Why is the result important? Does it support my ultimate goals?
5. Time-Bound: Set clear deadlines.  If you don’t reach, them be good to yourself)
   • What is the time frame for achieving a particular goal? (Make this practical)

Breaking Down Your Journey

Now that you know what your SMART Goals are, you need to consider what your ideal future looks like. These should align with your motivations and are going to help you further define your SMART weight loss goals.  As you reach these goals, then set new goals.

First, transform your ultimate goal into manageable pieces:

1. Long-term vision (6-12 months)
   • Set your overall target
   • Make it specific and measurable
   • Include non-scale victories
   • For example, I want to lose at least 100 pounds within 12 months. I want to walk for 45 minutes without stopping. I want to lose 3 inches around my waste.
2. Medium-term Milestones (2-3 month)
   • Create checkpoint goals
   • Include behavioral changes
   • Set performance targets
   • For example: I want to walk a mile nonstop. I will get up by 6am each day and start the day with 30 minutes of exercise.  I want to be down 20-30 pounds.
3. Weekly action goals (These should change as you get healthier and more fit)
   • Daily habit targets
   • Weekly workout plans
   • Meal preparation goals
   • For example: Make your meal prep plans and have it based on the average calories for each container.  This will allow you to focus less on having to worry about calorie counting. Set up a plan for lifting and cardio each day. Every few weeks focus on a different habit to break, such as snacking after a certain time or set a specific bedtime and wake up time.

Process vs. Outcome Weight Loss Goals

Next, think about how to balance your goals between setting habits (process goals) and outcome goals.  Balancing these will help you create a plan because one supports the other. Again, these will adjust as your fitness level and appetite changes.

Process Goals (Examples of habits to focus on)

• Daily water intake (set a specific amount to hit, such as 8 glasses a day)
• Weekly meal prep sessions (Set a specific day and time. Create a plan and grocery list for the week)
• Regular exercise sessions (Set a schedule or calendar.  Record it and make it easy access)
• Sleep schedule (Decide on a time to target to go to bed and get up. Try for 7-9 hours.  Sleep is extremely important.)
• Stress management practices (Schedule different periods for you to do things that make you relax like reading a book, yoga or meditation.)

Outcome Goals (Use these as Guideposts throughout your Journey)

• Weight milestones (Make these safe and realistic. Most people lose 2-3 pounds a week.)
• Clothing sizes
• Fitness achievements (Set a time or distance that you would like to reach)
• Health markers (Do you want your knees to feel better, your resting heart rate to go down or blood pressure to drop)

Creating Environmental Triggers

• Set up visual reminders (Notes on mirrors or fridge. Put these in places where you will see them often)
• Organize spaces for success (Have your fridge organized where you can easily find healthy snacks or where you can easily grab meal prep meals.)
• Remove obstacles to good habits (Don’t remove all snack foods, but limit how much you get or put them in places that are not easy to see or access.  Make them a reward or something special.  Do not completely do away with them)

Put Motivational Weight Loss Goals into Practice

This provided you with a guide to start preparing for your weight loss journey.  Now it’s time to put this into practice.  Start by identifying your core motivators and writing your weight loss statement.  Then write out your SMART goals and make them specific.  Last identify triggers that will cause you to struggle, organize spaces and leave out visual reminders. Remember, this does not all have to be done at once.  Your weight loss journey is a process to build healthy habits. With any process, it takes time to build progress, especially when you are changing your mindset to change your life.

Creating lasting healthy habits requires support. Next, we’ll talk about creating your motivational support team.