Self Motivation for Weight Loss and Exercise

If you've made the decision to get some weight off - congratulations! For many people, committing to their own fitness is the most difficult step. But in spite of self-motivation, many people discover they don't know what exercises to incorporate for rapid weight loss.

There are three major sorts of exercise: aerobic exercise, such as jogging; flexibility exercises, such as yoga and other forms of stretching; and strength training, including resistance exercises and weight lifting.

Aerobic and strength training will help you work off the most calories. Because weight loss is dependent on either burning more calories or consuming less, it is best to concentrate on these initially to guarantee your self motivation lasts as you drop pounds.

Generally, thirty minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week is suggested. Increase the duration and frequency as you progress.

But many people whose self-motivation has gotten them to begin an exercise for weight loss program overlook the importance of strength training. Aerobic exercise burns more calories at first, but weight lifting increases muscle mass, and muscle burns more calories than fat. A pound of muscle burns 35 calories a day to function at rest; a pound of fat burns only two calories for the same function.

The fitness consensus used to say that to "build" muscle, you should perform fewer reps (3-5) with heavier weights, and to simply "tone," higher reps (12-15) at lower weights was the best way. But there is no such thing as "toning." Definition that happens with what is incorrectly called toning occurs because you have lost the layer of fat on top of the muscle, making it more visible. The size of the muscle underneath depends on how actively you train.

You must "tear down" the muscle so it can rebuild itself afterward. In fact, you don't build muscle while lifting weights but you do in the days afterward when it's "resting." The general guideline for strength training is beginning with three sets of 8-12 reps at a weight that leaves you nearly incapable of executing the entire set. Then, rest for 30-60 seconds before attempting your next set.

Don't be discouraged if you're unable to do all of the reps on every set. In fact, use that to gauge when to add weight. If you are doing each set without any muscle strain, you will want to add weight.

Self-motivation got you to start, but most have a difficult time maintaining the pace. It helps to know that the source of our motivations is a belief. Think about it: If you didn't believe the gnawing sensation in your stomach meant you were hungry, you would not feel motivated to eat.

Understanding what ideas motivate you is essential to losing weight, because when you feel powerfully motivated, you will exercise consistently. NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) is a form of self-hypnosis. And there are NLP methods that can build exercise motivation because, over time, desire to exercise for weight loss alone likely will not be enough to keep you going. Exercise hypnosis motivation therapy can help.

Your initial task is identifying the most important things in your life. We call these things your highly valued criteria. Highly valued criteria are usually intangibles: money would not be highly valued criteria, but the freedom, fun, or security that money can buy would be.

Next, establish what you need to believe to feel motivated to exercise. It's vital to keep in mind that logic has nothing to do with belief. Things don’t have to be logical to believe them. You may find you already have a belief that opposes this new idea. That’s okay.

While understanding what motivates us is valuable, hypnosis exercise motivation therapy can put these ideas to work by ensuring self motivation lasts. Hypnosis for motivation does this by changing the computer codes in your brain, so you accept motivational ideas.

Belief systems are based in our unconscious mind, which is like a computer. Computers don't have the ability to reason. The input controls the output. The methods used in exercise hypnosis motivation therapy can make you believe almost anything, as long as you are willing to believe.

You begin by making a picture in your mind's eye that illustrates something you already believe, such as, "I love my children." Then you learn to calibrate the elements or 'Submodalities' of that mental belief picture.

Next, you make a mental movie that illustrates your motivational idea. Let's say your motivational idea is, "If I exercise, then I'll look great and my marriage will get better." Then you learn how to adjust the Submodalities of this mental image to correspond with the Submodalities in your calibrated belief picture. On the other hand, if a belief is holding you back, the same technique can change that belief to doubt.

Self hypnosis for motivation that uses NLP can provide you with something of an internal personal motivator. Using an exercise hypnosis motivation program ensures that the zeal you began with persists until reaching your objective, and then helps you maintain that objective.