E11 - Motivation, Willpower, and the Scale

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Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I am recording this episode on a Monday, and I find it a little

funny that I chose the topic of motivation today because that's something that a lot of us are

struggling in different areas of life, usually at the start of a new week. But it is also one of the

most common words that are thrown around when talking about weight loss. This lack of motivation.

And it actually makes total sense because if you think about something that you really, really want

to do and you almost feel like it will change everything about your life, yet you aren't doing

yet. The most obvious culprit is motivation or the lack of motivation. This is what I am lacking,

since I'm looking at the evidence and I can clearly see that I'm not taking any action,

so therefore that's what I'm missing. And that thing is almost part of our identity.

I speak with women who want to make a change in their life and the one thing that they all have

in common is I am not consistent. I am not motivated. I don't have willpower.

They identify themselves as having or not having it, almost like it is something

that you're either born with or not like, I don't know, the color of your hair for

example. So today I want to talk about staying motivated even when we don't see

any progress happening or when our brain offers us that our progress is not

enough, not fast enough, not noticeable enough and all these other tricky little

lies that we tend to believe. So let's get to it. What are these forces that drive

us that fuel our determination day in and day out? Let's take a closer look at

motivation and its cousin "well power."

These are two bodies that we often tend to refer to in our journey towards our goals.

Motivation is that inner spark and desire that propels us towards our goals.

Imagine it as almost like a cheerleader who encourages you, standing on the side and reminding

you of the promise that lie ahead.

Imagine your favorite meal is being cooked in the kitchen.

You walked into the house and someone is making a delicious dinner that smells so good.

I know, you're probably shocked by my choice of example, but bear with me here.

This sense of anticipation, this genuine desire and the craving for something yummy is what

we refer to as motivation.

It is that pull factor that draws us towards our goal and ultimately encourages us to take

steps towards whatever it is that we are trying to achieve with excitement.

This is the definition of motivation.

Willpower, on the other hand, is our internal compass.

I thought about this this morning because it does start to feel a little cooler in the

mornings here, especially when you try to get out of the cozy bed.

Willpower is what helps you gather that energy to get up and start your day.

This inner strength that helps you stick to your commitment, to what you were planning

to do, what you know you need to do, even when it's hard, even when a part of you really

wants to just take the easy route.

That's willpower.

Is the push factor a kind of internal dialogue where we gently tell ourselves, "Come on,

we can do this, you just have to do the next thing."

So while motivation is the magnetic force that pulls you towards your desires with some

kind of anticipation, willpower is that hand that guides you and helps you stay true to

your path.

spend during times that you feel like you don't want to do it or it feels too hard.

As we reflect on motivation and willpower, a critical stop on this journey is addressing

a tool that many of us have this love-hate relationship with, and that is the scale.

So when we talk about the scale, it is the most commonly used tool to get some kind of

feedback on how we are doing as far as weight loss goes.

It gives us a single snapshot of a moment in time and it tells us a number.

It just spits out a number.

But I want to offer you an open-ended question.

Does it really narrate the full story of your progress?

Does this number that you just observed on the scale, does it really tell you how you're

doing?

And I wanted to give you some examples that I wrote down from conversations with clients

in the last couple of years.

I'm curious if any of this sound familiar.

So one way would be thinking, "Oh no, I knew that I shouldn't have had that dessert last

night."

Or maybe it sounds like, "I've been working so hard, why isn't the scale moving?"

Another thing that I've heard women say is, "This can't be right.

I've been eating well, I've been exercising regularly and it's not working.

Or it may sound like this is hopeless, I will never reach my goal weight.

Or it can even go entirely in the opposite direction and you may think I lost a pound,

I can eat whatever I want for the rest of the day.

If any of these sound familiar, I want you to take a step back for a minute and look

at the broader picture.

What do you see?

Your weight can fluctuate daily because of a variety of factors.

It can be hydration levels, maybe hormonal changes, muscle gain or even just sodium content

in your last meal.

This is why a single reading on the scale does not really define your progress and it

doesn't really give you the true picture of how you're doing.

But I do know that it is so easy to get caught up in the number game.

I've been there for many years.

I used to let that number literally dictate my mood for the rest of the day, my self-worth

and even my motivation to continue doing the things I was already doing, the things that

already were working for me.

This is why I want to invite you to open up to a space of inquiry.

What if you could shift your perspective and see the scale as just one of the many tools

in your toolkit and not the judge holding the gavel?

We tend to believe that the scale is the only one indicator to tell us how we're doing when

the truth is we have so many other ways of doing it, so many other ways of measuring

our success.

So what if we could turn our focus inward, turning more into our bodies signals and recognizing

that non-skill victories exist and that they're equally, if not more, important.

So I want to give you a few possible new ways to assess that progress.

These are all ways that women who have worked with me in Path to Balance chose to track

And I want to share that with you so that you have at least a perspective of knowing

that there are other ways to measure success.

The most common one is the feeling of just comfortably fitting into a piece of clothing.

Other women track energy levels or even their level of happiness.

sleep, being able to run or walk for longer, or even just feeling a little

stronger each day. As you work on your relationship with the skill, it's

important to understand how this tool can interplay with our motivation and

willpower, the two mental forces that we discussed earlier. And here's the problem,

When you only focus on the skill, it can really sometimes feel like you are on some kind of

roller coaster.

The number goes down and our motivation skyrockets.

But then the number doesn't move or even just stay the same for a couple of weeks and suddenly,

that motivation is gone.

If this sounds familiar, then you need to hear this.

You can learn to generate your own motivation and your own willpower.

Imagine waking up each day and setting an intention that is aligned not just with a

number but with how you want to feel.

Think about how empowering it would feel to be able to use your brain to create that excitement

towards taking the next step instead of giving all the power on how your day would be to a bunch of,

I call it, screws and metals. Because that is the truth. The truth is that the scale is a bunch of

screws and metal on the floor. Motivation that is created from within will always allow you to keep

going not through force and kind of white-knuckling, but through a deep connection with your desires

and your needs.

When you foster this gentle, let's call it, ecosystem of motivation and willpower, you're

no longer a person who has or doesn't have the motivation, or a person who passively

waits for motivation to come to her, like it is some kind of magic power that we have

no idea when and if it will even come to us.

You take control of your life and you make it work.

You bring the magic with you to the transformation.

As we come to the close of this conversation, I really wanted to share the sense of deep

gratitude for you listening to this podcast and allowing me to share my thoughts.

I hope that you find this helpful and that it helps you take a step forward with the

understanding of motivation and willpower and how the scale affects them.

I also want to remind you that it is perfectly okay to have days when motivation seems to

be gone.

I, for sure, experienced that this morning.

It's on these days that we can lean on willpower.

We can reach out to a friend or just your support system to help us keep going.

Take the route of curiosity with a heart that is open, kind and ready to experience both

the fun and comfort but also the growth and the challenges because that's real.

That's what real life is made out of.

Even if just for the next minute you hold space for yourself and you give a gentle thank you to

your body for being your home, your sanctuary, you showed up today and that says a lot about you.

Until we meet again, take care, talk to you soon. Bye.

Thank you for tuning in to the Mindful Balance podcast today.

I hope you enjoyed our conversation and find inspiration to find your unique

balance and confidence. Remember that the journey continues on Instagram.

You can find me @rachelemmanutrition.

That is one word where I share daily

nuggets of wisdom to help you reach your goals with ease.

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Until next time, take care and stay mindful.

Bye!

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The Mindful Balance is brought to you by Rachel Emma Nutrition.

Our editing and mixing engineer is Michael Plawner.

Our theme song is "Good Feelings" by Bo DeLiseans.

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