How Do I Stay Motivated When Progress Slows?
I used to dread weeks when I’d only lost half a pound. Isn’t that ridiculous? Half a pound. I found it difficult to stay motivated and felt like a failure.
I’d walk into Slimming World feeling hopeful, trying to convince myself not to get my hopes up while secretly imagining everyone clapping because I’d had a brilliant week. I’d step on the scales, watch the consultant write the number down, and immediately start doing the maths in my head.
Half a pound. Or sometimes nothing at all. I’d smile, say thank you, collect my little book and go and sit down pretending I wasn’t bothered.
Inside, though? I was absolutely gutted. The worst part wasn’t even the number itself.
How a small loss or maintain makes you feel
It was the little voice in my head that immediately started whispering…
“See? You’re never going to get there.”
“What’s the point of saying no to cake if this is all you lose?”
“You may as well enjoy yourself because this obviously isn’t working.”
It’s funny how quickly your own brain can turn against you. I don’t think anyone else in that room knew what was going through my head. They probably just saw someone who’d lost half a pound. I saw someone who was failing.
Looking back now, I wish I could go and sit next to that version of me and tell her to stop being so hard on herself and stay motivated. Because do you know what else happened that week?
The non-scale victories I forgot
I’d walked further than I’d managed the month before without having to stop for a rest.
I’d cooked every evening instead of living on takeaways because I was too tired to think.
One of my tops had started feeling a bit looser.
I was sleeping better.
I wasn’t getting so out of breath walking upstairs.
But none of that counted. Not to me, anyway. Because I’d somehow convinced myself that the scales were the only thing that mattered. This made it hard to stay motivated.
How we talk to ourselves and our friends
It’s strange really, because if a friend had told me she’d lost half a pound I’d have probably said, “Well done!”
I’d have reminded her that half a pound is still moving in the right direction. I’d have told her weight naturally goes up and down. I’d have pointed out everything she’d achieved and to stay motivated.
I just couldn’t say those things to myself. I think that’s something a lot of us are guilty of. We’re incredibly kind to everyone else.
Then we stand on the scales ourselves and suddenly become our own worst critic. When I was losing weight with Slimming World, I honestly thought motivation was something people either had or they didn’t.
Is Motivation a myth?
I imagined there were people who bounced out of bed excited to eat porridge, couldn’t wait to go for a run, and never once looked longingly at the biscuit tin.
I’d love to meet these people because I’m fairly sure they don’t exist. I certainly wasn’t one of them. Some mornings I’d wake up feeling ready to take on the world.
Other mornings, I’d already be planning the takeaway before I’d even had breakfast.
Motivation came and went depending on how much sleep I’d had, how stressed I was, whether work had been busy, what was happening with my family or simply because I was having one of those days where everything felt harder it was difficult to stay motivated.
Stay motivated when progress is slow
The mistake I made was believing I needed motivation before I could keep going. Actually, it was usually the other way round. Some of my proudest moments didn’t happen on weeks when I’d lost loads of weight.
They happened on weeks when I wanted to pack it all in… and didn’t. The week I gained a pound but still went back the following Tuesday. The week I stayed the same and carried on anyway.
The week I had a rubbish weekend, drew a line under it and made myself breakfast on Monday instead of deciding I’d “start again next month.”
Nobody claps for those weeks where you only just stay motivated. Nobody posts them on Facebook. They’re not the weeks people remember when they tell your weight loss story.
But honestly?
I think they’re the weeks that matter most. They’re the weeks that quietly teach you that this isn’t about having perfect motivation. It’s about refusing to let one disappointing week decide the next one.
Now, when people ask me how I stayed motivated long enough to lose 10 stone, I always feel like I’m about to disappoint them because there wasn’t a secret.
I didn’t stay motivated all the time. Sometimes I was fed up. Sometimes I was jealous of people who seemed to lose weight more quickly. Sometimes I questioned whether it was worth it.
Sometimes I stood in front of the mirror convinced nothing had changed, even though everyone else could see it. I just kept coming back again and again.
Not because I was disciplined.
Not because I loved healthy eating every day.
Not because I enjoyed watching the scales crawl down at what felt like the slowest pace imaginable.
But because every time I thought about giving up, I asked myself one question.
“If I stop now, where will I be this time next year?”
The answer was always the same.
Exactly where I was.
Or probably heavier.
So I kept going. I made myself stay motivated.
When you look back
When I look back now, I don’t actually remember how many half-pound losses I had. I don’t remember the weeks I stayed the same. I certainly don’t remember every gain that upset me so much at the time. What I remember is walking into clothes shops without feeling embarrassed. Fastening aeroplane seatbelts without panicking. Crossing my legs comfortably.
I loved walking for miles on holiday without looking for somewhere to sit down and feeling healthier than I had in years. None of those things happened because of one brilliant weigh-in. They happened because I didn’t let the disappointing ones stop me.
Motivation when you are losing again after regaining
Of course, my story didn’t end with losing 10 stone. I didn’t stay motivated and keep the weight off. Like many of you I had a lot of ups and downs.
If you’ve read much of Just Average Jen, you’ll know that I regained some of that weight over the years. For a long time, I felt as though that somehow erased everything I’d achieved. It was embarrassing to admit, especially when so many people knew me as “the woman who lost 10 stone.”
Every pound I regained felt like a step backwards. I wasn’t just carrying extra weight again. I was carrying shame.
There were times when I’d look at the scales and realise I was back at a weight I’d celebrated reaching years before. I can remember thinking, “How can I possibly celebrate losing a pound this week when I’ve already celebrated getting to this weight once before?”
It almost felt pointless. I’d already had the certificates. I’d already had people telling me how well I’d done. This time, all I could think was, “I shouldn’t even be here.” That’s a very lonely place to be.
It took me a long time to realise that losing those pounds again wasn’t a sign I’d failed. It was a sign I’d chosen not to give up, because the alternative would have been to keep gaining.
Nobody congratulates you for losing the same stone twice. In fact, sometimes it feels as though people expect you to be quietly ashamed that you had to. But every pound lost still takes effort. Every healthy meal still takes planning. Every walk still counts.
The work doesn’t become any easier simply because you’ve done it before. If anything, I think it can be even harder to stay motivated, because this time you’re not just fighting your habits. You’re also fighting the little voice in your head that keeps saying, “You’ve done this before… and look what happened.”
These days, I try to look at it differently. Yes, I’d love to have never regained weight. Of course I would.
But I refuse to believe that regaining some weight means the years I spent healthier, fitter and happier somehow didn’t happen. It doesn’t erase what I learned, the confidence I gained, or the person I became. And it certainly doesn’t mean I’m not worth cheering on now.
Whether it’s the first time you’ve lost a pound or the second, third or even fourth time, you’ve still made a choice to keep looking after yourself today.
I think that’s something worth celebrating every single time.
