This month I am coming up on the anniversary of my one year transformation. After giving birth to seven children and a thousand excuses for being overweight, I lost almost fifty pounds and went from a size 18/20 to a size eight. I’m not done yet, but I’ve kept going and stayed motivated. I am often asked for my secrets to keeping myself motivated.

The first thing to any weight loss program is to completely and totally commit 100%. You have to willing to do what it takes, otherwise your journey not last and your goals will not happen.

Here are my suggestions for staying motivated:

1) Take an honest look at your body in a mirror. What do you want to change that you can change by losing weight? Take a notebook and write it down. That’s the first thing I did when I started my journey. I used to have terrible rashes and skin problems. When I tried to scratch the itchy skin on my stomach, it wouldn’t hold still. It made me so frustrated that I decided right then and there that was it; I had it with being overweight and miserable. I knew I could change it. I knew I could get rid of the fat, and I knew I could get well. That morning I got up and worked out and haven’t stopped.

2) Get rid of ALL negative. Do not ever use words like “I can’t”, “I’m tired”, “It hurts.” Your body is obedient to your words. You will quit. You will defeat yourself with your words.

The book “Feelings Buried Alive Never Die” by Karol Truman explains how much of the time we don’t actually get rid of negative emotions, mostly because we don’t know how, and we just stuff them inside while trying to forget about them. They don’t just leave; the negative feelings stay inside our bodies on a cellular level and wreck havoc. Negative emotions that we experience can cause weight, health and even financial problems. (Ever heard of shopping therapy?). Karol teaches you HOW to get rid of these negative emotions and get rid of the emotions that cause the health and weight problems.

Excess weight is usually the symptom of buried negative feelings including, but not limited to:

· Using food as a substitute for affection
· Inability to admit to self or others what you desire
· Inability to express true feelings
· Seeking love
· Protecting the body
· Trying to fulfill the self
· Stuffed feelings
· Feelings of insecurity

(“Feelings Buried Alive Never Die” by Karol Truman)

3) Get rid of the guilt for spending time away from: (you name it) the job, the kids, the husband, and the “should be doings”. A wise friend pointed out to me that you will always take those two hours away even if you are at home, it’s only natural. If you need it, you will take it. You’ll get lost in a book, talk on the phone, play on the computer, watch a movie but you won’t feel guilty. The difference in taking this time away at the gym is you are getting healthy and have complete time away to zone out without interruptions at home. Once the guilt is gone, you can leave your house and be excited about what you are going to do!

4) Know there will be pain and it will be tough sometimes, but remember how great you will look if you keep going! Pain means the muscles are being used. Pain means you will see results. Of course, there is bad pain too, but I’m talking about the pain that makes most people quit. Everyone gets it when they start new things or push themselves a little harder. The best part of pushing past this point is that when you’ve built the muscles you need you’ll get to the point where you think you’re going to feel pain, but you realize you don’t feel pain, you just feel good! Really good! Energized good! A Physicians Assistant that I know once said, “Running is cocaine for the soul”. I am in complete agreement! Oh, and don’t forget to ice after working out. It will help you heal faster and feel less pain.

5) Change it up…don’t always go to the gym. Play tennis with friends or family, go running in your neighborhood, do a strip tease aerobics or belly dancing video. (My hubby loves that I learned those.) Take spin classes; add new weights to your training. I’ll take my kids to the track and my six year old autistic daughter will run two laps with me and then another kid changes places when she’s tired.

6) Every time I lose a little or reach milestones (take your inches) I reward myself with small things. When I went 300 miles I bought new shoes. I bought an iPod and then I bought some outfits to wear to the gym. I recently bought a pink water bottle. It’s part of my lifestyle now, so I need things for it.

7) Music is essential. I tried listening to classical music or books on tape while working out and bottom line –it doesn’t do it for me. It is exciting and energizing to listen to fun motivating music that makes you want to shake your butt. That has been ESSENTIAL for me. I am always changing it up too so it’s fresh and I don’t get bored. I share music tips on my blog. I also have compiled a separate list. Keep an eye out for that article.

8) Visualize. I get running magazines and in a recent issue I read that if you visualize your run before you do it, your body will fire off the muscles you will use thinking you are actually doing it. It not only gets your body prepped, but your mind as well. The morning of a run, I imagine myself running the route I mapped out. I then feel excited and motivated to do it.

9) Only compete against yourself. Write down every night what you did that day. You can see the progress, no matter how small. Progress is progress. Every day that you do not do something to make yourself stronger, you move backwards, with the exception of recovery days. We all need those. Everyone is at a different level. If other women are doing more, more power to them. Don’t allow yourself to feel intimidated by them or competitive. That is a recipe for disaster and a sure way to quitting before your goal. Be inspired by those who inspire, but if you feel those intimidation or competitive feelings creep in get rid of them before they do damage. You are your own person. You know where you’ve been in your life and what you can do right now. Keep going!

10) Read everything you can get your hands on or computer screen on about losing weight with diet and exercise. Find blogs that uplift and motivate you. Subscribe to sports and running magazines. Sign up for weight loss or exercise ezines that send inspiration, motivation or new exercise tips. Reading about weight loss on a regular basis keeps it fresh in your mind.

One final thought. Get to know people at the gym or friends who want to join you in your journey. There is nothing more energizing that seeing familiar faces and chatting with people who have a common goal. Also, take a before picture no matter how humiliating you think it will be. That will motivate you when you feel like you haven’t progressed. When I get to feeling down I’ll just pull out the old pictures and realize how far I’ve come. You can do it too!