How Do I Stay Motivated?
This is one of the most asked questions I get (after "How do I get started"), but the answer may not be what you're expecting to hear.
No matter where you are on your fasting journey, this question about motivation can apply to you and your situation.
To this question, I am going to answer with another question back to you.
What is your reason for wanting to utilize a fasting lifestyle?
If your answer is something like, "I want to be healthy and lose weight," I again am going to ask you, why?
As I have mentioned before, this journey with fasting is a marathon, NOT a sprint! This lifestyle will be the most successful endeavor in your health and wellness when you let yourself challenge and refute all you previously have known about traditionally losing weight.
But it goes deeper than that.
What are your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs when it comes to "losing weight?"
If you were like me, your mind may immediately recall marketing slogans, ads for products, fitness influencers, restrictive lifestyles, and risky elective surgeries.
The global weight loss industry value currently, is more than 175 billion as of 2022, yet 13% of adults in the world are obese. 39% of adults in the world are overweight. One-in-five children and adolescents, globally, are overweight. (Ritchie, Moser, 2017)
Yet, the startling reality of this data doesn't seem to surprise us or motivate us that much. The truth is, most of us do not feel truly compelled to take action to improve our health until we are faced with a harsh realization or frightening diagnosis of our own.
Why?
I personally feel that the culture that we live in fosters conveniences, quick fixes, and instant gratification in almost every aspect of our lives, especially our health. This way of life essentially detaches us from the belief, understanding, and application of this natural method of homeostatic balance that is within each and every one of us already:
Fasting.
It's not sexy, flashy, glamorous, gimmicky, or something that can be packaged and sold to you. And that's why it's often met with lots of negative societal stigmas, rules, and restrictions from the global diet culture industry.
While there are many folks, and professionals who advocate for fasting, the lifestyle is still very often paired with unnecessary rigid rules or parameters in order to be successful. I personally feel this takes away from the beautiful, simple, and instinctual effectiveness of this process, and overcomplicates it significantly.
When I started fasting, I had full intentions, right from the start, that this was going to be my story, my journey, my healing, on MY terms!
I had no desire to buy into any company, product, or fad. I had the realization that my prior actions, lifestyle, behavior, mindset, etc., had brought me to where I was. I acknowledged very early on that I needed to take responsibility for what led me here, and nothing I could buy was going to "fix me."
I had to fix myself.
This is where I knew I had to dig deep into my past, but many of you are still a little apprehensive or unable to dig deep to bring light, attention, and love to those inner broken parts of us that continue to negatively affect our best efforts and intentions when on a health improvement journey. This is where you need to stop and give yourself grace, compassion, and lots of love and forgiveness.
We are a product of our environment. So while we can't control the constant barrage of ads, fads, and gimmicks thrown at us, we CAN control the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs we hold towards improving our health for us personally.
Unsubscribe, unfollow, limit, or remove those factors in your environment that negatively affect your unmotivated headspace. Think of your "future self" and how proud you will feel when you're able to clear out, recalibrate, and, refine your environment bit by bit to where your lifestyle fosters healthy living and healing from within!
This journey can be truly transformational, not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually as well.
I know you can do this, but you don't need to do this alone! I am ready to help!
I Believe In You, Even If You Don't!
If you are needing support, I am only running my subscriber promotion for the rest of this month:
And for those who need support, but don't quite need the full consultation services, I am still running a subscriber promotional sale on my handbook: "The Fasting Focused Lifestyle Official Handbook" Sale: (Originally $34.95) now only $19.95 (*must be a subscriber to my email list to get promotional code!)
Big virtual hugs to you! You got this!
References:
https://www.expertmarketresearch.com/reports/weight-loss-and-weight-management-diet-market
Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser (2017) - "Obesity". Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: 'https://ourworldindata.org/obesity' [Online Resource] https://ourworldindata.org/obesity#:~:text=13%25%20of%20adults%20in%20the,of%20energy%20intake%20and%20expenditure.