Many people never obtain their goal of losing weight because they are lacking the motivation to see it through. As weird as it may seem, many times we don’t really know the reason why we want to lose weight because the answer is barried deep inside ourselves. All we know is that we want to lose weight and we want to lose it now. Finding the reason why you want to lose weight and keeping it constantly in focus will give you the strength and motivation to truly harness your weight loss desires. Follow the guidelines below and you can have the body that you’ve always wanted.

To start out, take out a blank sheet of paper and write out at the top “The reasons I want to lose weight.” Now, just like you would during a brainstorming session, write anything that comes to mind, whether you think the reason is “stupid” or not. When you are done you should have a list of reasons such as “I want to be more attractive to the opposite sex,” “I want to impress my classmates at my upcoming high school reunion,” “I want to show my ex that he made a big mistake” or “I want to show a good example to my kids.” Now look over the list for a few minutes while thinking about each reason. After a few moments pick the one that truly feels right from your heart.

As the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” meaning an image can provoke great emotions and inspiration. For example, if the reason you want to lose weight is to show your ex that they made the biggest mistake of their life, you might want to carry a picture of them where ever you go and view their picture often. Or if the reason is to set a good example for your kids look at a photo of them.

Now decide how many pounds you would like to weigh. If you currently weight 140 and would like to lose 20 pounds, affirm to yourself while you look at the photo of your kids, “I weigh 120 pounds, Joe and Sue.” But don’t just say it meaninglessly over and over. Say it with feeling like you really believe it. Continue to say this affirmation whenever you can throughout the day. Doing this will provoke emotions in you so that you always have the motivation to continue on your journey to lose weight.

Now that you have the key to losing weight you can focus on the part that will produce weight loss: exercise. The more convenient you make exercising the more likely you will be to maintain it. Getting an electric treadmill that you can use at home will work wonders. Being able to easily jump on your treadmill at home versus having to drive to the gym can make the difference between making or breaking an exercise routine. It can also be fun for some since you can watch your favorite shows. For those that get bored running in place, a great alternative is a GPS watch which are very convenient as they will keep track of your distance, speed, calories burned and heart rate for you and you can get out in the fresh air.