Remember why you started
It’s important to remember that the changes you are making are part of your new healthy lifestyle and are here to stay. When we first start making these changes, we often feel very motivated to carry on. It’s important to spend time thinking about your values and setting goals. If you haven’t already done so, you can read more about Motivation and Goal setting on this website.
As time goes by, we can begin to feel less motivated. It’s important to revisit your values and your goals, so you can remind yourself why you started in the first place.
Recognise your progress
Self-monitoring using diaries or other ways of recording your food, activity, feelings, or weight can help you track your progress and see how far you have come. Your goal might be to start making healthier food choices.
Keeping a food diary can be helpful to identify your eating habits. Often when we eat healthier options, we have more energy which makes us feel better in general. You may want to record how you feel in your diary or on your device along with the foods you eat to see your progress.
Alternatively, your goal might be to improve your activity and fitness, start with giving yourself a goal of 10 minutes of physical activity a day and each week add to that when you feel ready. Starting small will help you maintain your new habits and you will recognise your progress over time as you are able to do more which can help make you feel great and keep you motivated!
Celebrate your successes along the way
In addition to recognising how far you have come, self-monitoring can help to remind you to celebrate your wins! Celebrating your successes along the way is a great way to stay motivated. For example, if you started being active, for example walking for 10 minutes every day and now you’re walking for 30 minutes – do something to celebrate! When we celebrate our accomplishments along the way, we remind ourselves that we’re capable of making a change and reaching our goals. It’s a good idea to review your goals and schedule in some rewards to look forward to when you’re making progress.
Choosing the right reward
It can be tempting to reward ourselves with food and drink when we are trying to make healthier lifestyle choices, choosing healthier but enjoyable options are best.
You can find some ideas below for inspiration:
- Plan a film night at home with friends
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Take a bubble bath
- Ask a friend to baby sit so you can enjoy an evening off
- Arrange to visit a friend for a catch up
- Treat yourself to a new magazine or cook-book for some more healthy recipe inspiration
- Have an afternoon to yourself; read your book or watch your favourite TV show
- Enjoy a podcast with a coffee
- Explore a new park
- Go for a walk or hike in nature
- Try a visit to the Healthy Cooking course with BBC Good Food online
Continue your journey
Click on the next page Weight maintenance to continue your journey.
