Q: How
does a person stay motivated to continue on a weight loss path after working
the program for a few months?

A: This is an excellent question. Commonsense tells us that
working the program and losing the weight should be motivational enough. If you
are actually seeing results and usually the results are significant in the
early stages of a weight loss program, that should be enough to motivate you to
continue. Then, you will have people who will tell you that you have to reward
yourself when you achieve small successes. I am a proponent of rewarding
oneself, although I caution that it should be something unrelated to the
behavior you are attempting to change. For example, you wouldn’t reward
yourself with a hot fudge sundae after losing ten pounds!

However, I say the biggest reason people lose motivation is that they have
subconscious programming in their minds that tells them they weigh a certain
amount. This programming works like the thermostat you have in your home. You
have your thermostat set to a certain temperature. While there may be slight
variations in temperature, whenever it falls below or above what the set point
is, the heating/air conditioning system kicks in to regulate the temperature.
This is the same way your subconscious programming works. You may be able to
lose or gain a certain amount of weight but once you move beyond the allowed
variance determined by your programming, then your brain kicks in to bring your
weight back in line with its set point.

The best way to work on combating this issue is through
neural reconditioning. The three components include—meditation, affirmations
and visualizations. These routines are critical if you are attempting to make
changes that may be regulated by subconscious programming we have in our
psyches.

Please let us know what has worked for you to maintain your motivation for
weight loss over time.

Inside Out Central’s “Weight Loss from the Inside Out”
home study course provides you with email support with a professional counselor
to help you maintain your motivation. Check it out now!