Goals And Motivation

Some definitions:

• 'Goal' the endpoint one strives to reach.
• 'Motivation' - our inner drive to succeed in reaching our goals.

Weight and health goals

Managing weight for health requires living a healthy balance between:

• Energy input (our food and drink). 
• Energy output (our exercise and activity).

For long term weight maintenance you need to: 

• Be motivated towards health.
• Understand the requirements for a healthy lifestyle, especially energy input / output balance.
• Bring your lifestyle into line with these requirements.
• Regularly monitor your progress.
• Periodically evaluate the need for change.

Realistic goal setting

Simply writing down our goals can help us to achieve them.

People are motivated by different goals, such as praise, self-esteem, a feeling of well-being, recognition, and competitive success.  It's helpful to understand what really motivates you (or your child). 

Monitoring and measuring

Monitoring and measuring are essential for achieving weight and health goals, by contributing to realistic goal setting, as well as tracking progress toward goals.

Beliefs shape behaviour

We all have our own beliefs and behaviours surrounding food, exercise, body shape and weight. 

Many of these beliefs and behaviours formed when we were children, and we may not be aware of their influence over how we live today.

If you have persistent difficulty putting your healthy eating and exercise goals into practice, you may need to identify the unhelpful beliefs and behaviours that are stopping you. Seeking help to do this can be very worthwhile.