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Getting Motivated to Diet and Exercise
By David Junno Psy.D.
Not having motivation is the most common response I get when I ask people what gets in the way of starting a diet or an exercise routine. This raises the question- what is motivation and how to do we get motivated? Motivation is actually a fairly complex process. This is the first in a series of articles on motivation.
The Carrot and the Stick
The two major factors influencing motivation can be boiled down to the carrot and the stick. The carrot is what we want, what we are going after. The stick is what we want to avoid. The stick is a powerful motivator. Fears about our health, bad feelings about our weight, all make us want to do something. Often times it is fear that gets us started. The problem is that fear alone cannot sustain our efforts. To sustain our efforts we need carrots. We need rewards. We do more of the things we get rewarded for. This is one of the fundamental findings of behavioral psychology.
But it gets complex when it comes to our making self-change. There has to be a balance of carrots and sticks for us to start and stick to something. If we are not seeing much bad in what we are doing we are not likely to change it. So one of the first things we need to do is open our eyes to the consequences of doing nothing.
The Sticks
The following questions can help us look at the consequences:
- What are the costs of not making changes to my diet, or physical activity level to my health?
- What are the costs to how I feel about myself?
- If I stay the same what will my life look like in the next five years?
Next we have to look at the carrots. Let’s face it, few of us are willing to face deprivation and physical discomfort unless there are some good reasons. What are we going to get out of dieting and exercising? For example let’s look at some of the things we might get out of losing weight:
- More energy.
- Better sleep.
- Decreased risk for a variety of medical conditions including: high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, etc.
- Decreased dependence on medications, even if we have a medical problem- this can be a life long savings.
- Fitting better in our clothes.
- Increase in self-esteem.
- Feeling more responsible.
- Increasing our attractiveness to others, both because of our appearance, but more importantly because we are feeling better about ourselves.
Action Step
Write your own list of carrots and sticks. If you are having trouble coming up with reasons to change chances are you not going to. To be on the safe side get some opinions from others on the potential risks of not making health related changes. Talk to your doctor, read up on the potential risks associated to a poor diet or lack of exercise.
If you are having trouble coming up with the rewards of making these changes ask other people. Get their ideas about potential rewards. If you know someone who’s made health related changes talk to them. Find out what they’ve gotten out of it.
Keep you list with you and add items as they come to you. Developing your personal list of carrots and sticks will be very important to starting to increase your motivation to diet and exercise.
SEND YOUR LIST TO ME.
If I get enough responses I will make a master list and share it with all of you. mailto: drjunno@drjunno.com
For continued motivation it doesn’t stop here. Next time we will look at daily rewards. ============================================================= Additional Resources: Are you ready to make changes to improve your health? Take the Readiness Quiz and find out about e-courses. http://www.1automationwiz.com/app/adtrack.asp?AdID=39718 Lowering High Cholesterol and Reducing Your Risk of Heart Disease- READY OR NOT! is an e-book program for living a healthier lifestyle. Go and download your copy at: http://www.lower-high-cholesterol-ready-or-not.com Get the information you need to begin reducing your health risks today. ============================================================= Remember, having the right diet and getting enough exercise will not only improve your health- IT WILL IMPROVE YOU LIFE. Until next time, Dave Junno Psy.D. ************************************************* Dave Junno Psy.D. is a psychologist, coach and author of Lowering High Cholesterol and Reducing Your Risk of Heart Disease- READY OR NOT! To contact him mail to: drjunno@drjunno.com or visit his website: http://www.lower-high-cholesterol-ready-or-not.com and sign-up for his free e-mail newsletter: Ready or Not. You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated. Dave Junno Psy.D. is a psychologist, coach and author of Lowering High Cholesterol and Reducing Your Risk of Heart Disease- READY OR NOT!
www.lower-high-cholesterol-ready-or-not.com
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Copyright 2003 David Junno
