Build Your Motivation

These warm days remind us that Spring is not far away.  What is on your to do list?  Do you want to plant a garden, get in better shape, or just eat better?  Whatever you decide you want to do, you will need motivation to get started and to keep going.

Nurture your motivation by creating a Motivation Kit when you're feeling most ready to get out there and meet your goals. Gather things that remind you of the importance of your efforts, so that you can refer back to them later. In a box or a notebook, you can collect photos, a list of reasons to get healthier, magazine articles, motivational sayings – anything and everything that pumps you up. When you can’t remember why you need to keep up your efforts, it’s time to dig through that Motivation Kit and get inspired all over again.

So, are you ready to build your Motivation Kit? Check out these ideas for what you can use...

• List of reasons to lose weight, including better blood glucose control, making your family proud, maybe taking less medicine for diabetes, blood pressure, and cholesterol, etc.
• Wedding picture
• Photos of your children or grandchildren
• Magazine article about people in the National Weight Control Registry
• People magazine issue about losing half your body weight
• Progress report including things like being able to cross your legs, sleep better, get compliments, etc
• Exercise is more fun
• Motivational saying such as "We can do anything we want as long as we stick to it long enough" (Helen Keller)
• Lab reports about your health

The above is not an actual kit, but a compilation of several. The key is that it must be personalized.
By Jill Weisenberger, MS, RD, CDE.  From Tuffs Health and Nutrition Newsletter