How To Stay Motivated Throughout Winter & Into The New Year

Winter can be a wonderful time of the year. Hot cocoa, sledding, present shopping, everything merry and bright! But it isn’t always jolly and filled with holiday games. Winter can also be a time of gloomy, cold, un-motivating weather, where some might say weight loss dreams go to die. 

If you’re wondering how to stay motivated this winter season so you can ring in the New Year with your skinny jeans pulled up high and proud, I’m here to congratulate you on taking the first step—reading this blog!

These motivation tips are here for you and your diet, and for New Year motivation that’ll help you hit those weight loss goals once and for all!

Signs You’re Stuck In A Rut

Weight loss ruts are no joke, and can take a serious toll on our confidence, energy, and feelings of self-worth. Knowing how to stay motivated to hit your health and wellness goals might seem like a large feat, but figuring out how to stay motivated in winter can seem impossible at times. The cold winter weather can make us feel tired, sluggish, and, you guessed it, unmotivated.

Here’s are some signs that may tell you if the winter weight loss blues have blown your way:

• Eating healthy has gone out the window—fruits and veggies that once used to get you excited, and make you feel good after you ate them, now turn you off, and seem almost unpalatable. Not to mention the never-ending assortment of carb-heavy and sugar-filled holiday treats that emerge this time of year.
• Workouts? Where?—A fitness routine that used to be five days a week has now turned into one, or maybe even none.
• You’ve “rearranged” your weight loss goals—You’ve adjusted your goals to become easier, or even non-existent. You may have even forgotten the goals you set in the first place.

If you feel that you’re still experiencing these signs or anything similar to these, but they aren’t necessarily pertaining to weight loss, check out this blog post to learn how to get your groove back! It brilliantly covers all aspects of being stuck in a rut, and what you can do to get up and get going again! 

7 New Year Motivation Tips

Here are seven awesome New Year motivation tips, or any time of year tips, to get you out of that weight loss rut and give the scale what you’ve been asking for!

1. Set your why

Learning how to stay motivated starts with knowing your why. Name your specific reasons for why you want to lose weight and write them down. Re-visit them daily to remind yourself what is motivating you to reach your goal. A “why” can be anything from fitting into an old pair of skinny jeans or keeping up with your kids, to preventing diabetes or heart disease. No matter your reasoning, any reason is a good reason to get healthy! 

2. Keep a journal

Writing down your daily progress is a great way to hold yourself accountable and help you lose weight. In fact, a study done with 1,700 participants found that those who kept a food diary lost twice as much weight as those who did not. [1] Writing down what you eat each day helps you understand your eating habits and patterns. This will help you see what not-so-healthy habits keep appearing in your journal, and what you might need to change. Write down what you eat, how much you are eating, and when you are eating. After each week, look at your journal. Look for trends, patterns, or habits, and make the necessary changes based on your findings. Answering my “how to stay motivated in winter” is also best answered when I write my emotions in addition to what I’m eating. This gives you the opportunity to reflect on your feelings, and what alternative feelings you are striving to reach. 

3. Get social with it

Going at it alone, especially when it comes to weight loss, is never easy. There are tons of support groups, forums, and social media channels where women just like you are trying to keep up with their New Year motivation. Even simply letting your family or friends know you are on this weight loss journey will help. They can help hold you accountable and be your own personal cheer squad when motivation seems to be lacking. If you haven’t already, check out the SkinnyFit Community. It’s an incredible place where women in all stages of their weight loss journey share their success stories, unexpected setbacks, and motivate each other to keep moving forward. If you’re wondering how to stay motivated, this is a great place to start!

4. Commit, and stick to it

Setting goals can be exciting at first, but after a while, they can tend to fall off. It’s easy to make excuses for yourself about meeting your weight loss goals, especially when progress has been slower than you expected. We get busy, life gets in the way, or we’re simply bored with what we’ve been doing. Set your goals and stick to them! When it comes to weight loss, commitment can be difficult, but practicing self-control and re-visiting your goals on a daily basis will help keep you on track. 

5. Talk positively to yourself

Far too often I’ve doubted myself, felt ashamed, or talked down to myself when looking in the mirror. Maybe I didn’t reach my goal that month, or the way I was expecting to look in my new bikini didn’t pan out. But all of these things are okay. Make sure the expectations you set for yourself are realistic, and appreciate the fact that you are doing this for yourself in the first place. Don’t workout or start a diet because you hate your body, do it because you love it!

6. Make a plan for setbacks

Look, setbacks are going to happen, and that’s okay. The sooner you expect and plan for setbacks during your weight loss journey, the more positive impact that will have on your mental health. This is because stress, either stress due to setbacks, or any type of stress, can actually cause weight gain. [2] Birthdays, holidays, and social events are going to be part of your life. Plan for what you are going to do when these types of things occur. Pack a healthy salad for your uncle’s birthday party and skip the pizza, or plan an extra day of exercise for the week you know you have a lunch outing for work. Planning and staying ahead of these types of things will help keep your stress at bay, and keep you on track for your weight loss goals.

7. Celebrate success

Okay, I’ve saved the best for last on this one! It’s time to celebrate YOU. Whether you’re just beginning your weight loss journey, or you’ve been at it for months, cheers to YOU! Simply getting started is the first step, and arguably the most difficult, and now that you’ve read this blog, you’re well on your way there, so congrats! No matter what goal you’ve hit, big or small, always remember to take time and reflect. Reflect on the work you’ve put in and be proud. Learning how to stay motivated, especially how to stay motivated in winter, can sometimes seem impossible. But don’t let winter’s cold touch keep you from being your best you! Celebrate the little wins, and you’ll be determined to keep going. And I personally give you permission to absolutely scream your successes at the top of your lungs whenever you have one of those, “omg I did it!” moments!

The Bottom Line

So whether you read this for New Year motivation, or simply wanted to know how to stay motivated in general, I hope that hitting your weight loss goals seems that much easier, even if it’s just a little bit. I encourage you to reflect back on this blog whenever you’re feeling a little unmotivated, or any of the other helpful and uplifting blogs I mentioned within this one. And please, always remember, YOU’VE GOT THIS!