How to keep motivated for fat loss when results aren’t showing

Training and looking after yourself can be a down-right bitch a lot of the time

You can pound the iron 6 days a week and eat like a sand-fly with barely a rumble in the belly fat let alone dropping a jean size.

All too often, we look at this as a sign of failure forcing us to go back to our old ways faster than you can say Jenny Craig Weight-Loss Centre. Maybe even faster.

I’ve written articles on shifting stubborn fat before, but what about the motivational side of things? What to do then? How to keep motivated for fat loss when results aren’t showing?

#1 Your results will take ‘time’ to show

Just because you’ve spent a month hitting it hard, doesn’t mean you’ll see visible results straight away. The other problem is, you spend a lot of time with yourself and probably catch a glimpse of your supposed belly in reflections and mirrors more often than you think.

This makes it very hard to gauge the incremental differences you are making to your physique over the course of a week or even a month.

#2 Set yourself some goals

Goals can be anything which contributes to you getting your butt out of bed in the morning and running your kilos into oblivion. Plan a holiday in 3 months time to a tropical island. Everyone wants to look their best in holiday snaps don’t they? If you’ve got one of these babies on the way, you’re more than likely going to stick to your exercise regimen.

#3 Make negative associations with ‘bad foods’

One of the BEST examples of this, is something I read over at T-Nation which made me laugh, but also has a ring of truth to it:

Every time you’re about to reach for that cookie, go to your closet, put on a tight fitting pair of jeans, then sit down on the end of your bed with your shirt off and look in the mirror. If you don’t like what you see, don’t eat the cookie.

#4 Control yourself at times when you think you’re hungry

Noone has ever been harmed from being a ‘little’ hungry every now and then. In fact, if you’re intermittently fasting you should be used to it. Here’s a neat trick — When you think of cookies (yes I know, cookies again) go and drink a glass of water. You’d be surprised as to how effected this can be to curb your hunger pangs.

Once you start curbing the calories in such a way, you can give yourself a mental ‘high-five’ which will keep you motivated for shizzle.

#5 Keep a training diary

Do you push yourself 100% each time you train? More importantly, do you keep a record of your lifts?

If you don’t you damn well should.

Knowing what you lifted for 5 reps last week means you can lift the same weight for 6 reps or heaven forbid, add on some extra weight this week. Stop reading this article now, and either download iFitness for your iPhone (which is awesome), or grab an old-school pad and paper.

Once you see your progress written down on paper, you’ll be like an unstoppable bull-at-a-gate who can’t WAIT to train each and every day.

#6 Make sure you’re doing effective exercises

If you aren’t losing fat or gaining muscle size week-to-week, it makes it mighty hard to stay motivated. If you don’t know what effective exercises are, have a read of this article and even this one. You don’t want to be doing leg-curls or any other time-wasting exercises. Big lifts equal big fat-loss, muscle gain or strength (even a combination of all three if you hit the nail on the head).

“I have one exercise that is 100% guaranteed to expedite your fat loss gains. I’m not kidding, guys and gals, this one’s foolproof. It works for EVERYONE. They’re called Table Pushaways. Push your fat ass away from the table more often, and it’s amazing what kind of progress you can see.” – Mike Robinson

#7 Ignore negative people

People dissing you or asking you “do you still workout anymore?” can be seriously demotivating. Forget them.

They are either jealous of the fact you are making positive changes to your lifestyle, or they honestly can’t tell the difference because you’ve only been training properly and following Reveal The Steel for about a month ;)

How to keep motivated when your fatloss results aren’t showing (in summary)

It’s a combination of many factors that will keep you motivated. Keep training hard, and eating right and you’ll reach your goals sooner than later.

Now put down that fork, and go for a walk.

You heard me.