Stay Motivated 6: Eat and exercise efficiently.

6. Eat and exercise efficiently.  I don’t know about you but I want to know if I am inconveniencing myself I want to know it’s for something that’s going to work.  When I changed my eating and exercise habits I did some homework to make sure I wouldn’t just be spinning my wheels.  If you’re on some diet or doing some kind of exercise that you’re not absolutely convinced will work – you’re not going to stick with it.  You need to have the confidence that you will benefit from the sacrifices you are making. 

Do whatever you need to do to learn about and convince yourself that what you’re doing is going to work.  If you think you’re just doing another gimmick diet or workout that will not help you succeed in the end, then you’re probably going to give up.  You need to be able to shut that voice up inside of you that says “what’s the point, this isn’t going to work” when you’re pushing yourself during a workout or choosing to eat healthy instead of crappy.  Be confident that the way you’re eating is going to be effective.  Be confident that the exercise you’re doing is actually helping you.  Do some homework and be smart about it – it will give you an extra boost when you’re looking for excuses to give up.

Note: this means you do actually have to do homework.  I don’t mean you should just pick some diet and then tell yourself over and over that it will work until you believe it completely.  There are bad diets out there, there is bad information, there are bad fads.  It’s possible to bust your butt working out and eating a certain way and end up wasting your time.  So do your homework and make sure that’s not you.  Decide what you want and then figure out the best way to make it happen.