Weight Loss Motivation: Short versus Long Term Success and Goal Setting Part 2

To continue on the idea that dieting does not have lasting results when really it is that we set our eyes on the short term effects rather than long term.  If you lost the weight then the diet worked for it’s original goal.  However did you have the lifestyle change and the long term desire for optimal health in mind when it was done.

See this is why diets in themselves don’t succeed for much more then 2 years.  Often times even less.  The goal to lose the weight was about solving the problem and not a long term outcome of being healthy.  Often people won’t even take it as far as reaching their ideal weight before they go back to the same habits that got them in a obesigenic  state in the first place.  Obesity will continue to plague them.

This manifests in the acceptance of poor habits being ok after you have been good for a while.  Motivation cannot come from a half hearted attempt to fix a problem.  It must be more outcome driven.  There needs to be a destination in mind to keep the journey going.  You build your habits around the outcome.  When you get to the top, you have a much clearer view to pick your next destination.  The journey continues from a better lookout point.

Now I am not saying that dieting is not important in the journey.  Having a phased approach where Phase 1 is reaching your ideal weight is essential to creating some form of destination structure.  It is one of the building blocks.  Or better yet it is like a runner’s starting blocks on the track.  It is where it all begins.  It is where the race begins.  But it is soon forgotten as they run around the track to the finish line.  Hopefully that will help you see that it is but one step of the journey to health.  It also from a coach’s point of view gives us an opportunity for a teachable moment.

Most people that come to us to lose weight are very much problem orientated.  They just want to feel better about themselves, lose some weight,  make a family member or friend happy, or make a medical issue better.  They want to solve a problem.  They really don’t have a fixed desired outcome in mind other than a short term problem of losing the weight.   They want it to work.  It does and the pressure is off either a little or a lot and then it comes time to talk about how good it can be now that they are moving in the right direction.

Next we can talk about how to keep motivated to go the distance to optimal health and longevity.  We will talk about how to set yourself up to feel better and live longer than just a short term goal.

More From CoachRick

• Weight Loss Motivation: Short versus Long Term Success and Goal Setting Part 1
• How to handle disappointment — Weight Loss or otherwise!
• Weight Loss and how it can change your life.

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