I want you to consider the following questions:

Why do you shower every day?

Why do you put on clean clothes before going out?

If you get sick, why do you bother with getting rest at home, or taking a day off if you can, or taking cold medicine?

Forget eating healthy for a moment – why do you even eat at all?

These questions will seem silly to most of us. The general accurate answer to all of these is, “because I love and value myself enough to not treat myself like garbage”. As it should be! We don’t even think about it, and we consider these things to be automatic.

Whenever we are dirty, or hungry, or sick, something triggers inside us and we immediately go about correcting it. No questions are asked. The thought of even questioning it is ridiculous.

This brings me to the main point of this post: This is how exactly people who are in shape feel about taking care of themselves the way they do.

When it comes to how to motivate yourself to exercise and lose weight, the key is to value yourself to the point where you’re absolutely not okay with being out of shape, in the same way you are not okay with being dirty or hungry.

If I woke up tomorrow weighing as much as I did in 2013, around 310 lbs (today I weigh 245 or so) but everything else remained the same, do you think I would say “well, this is just who I am and how my body is, so I’m going to just accept it”? ABSOLUTELY NOT. I would know, on both a conscious and subconscious level, that this new body fat needs to go because it’s not who I am.

It’s the same exact scenario as if you did an intense workout late at night, went to bed without showering, and woke up sweaty and smelly. Would you think to yourself “Well, I stink now, so that’s the way my life is going to go from now on”? Probably not. You know that that is not who you are, so you immediately take action to clean yourself (at least before going somewhere where someone can smell you :)).

It is the same with my weight. If I woke up heavy again, I would continue to exercise, eat, and behave like my 245lb self -and I would be back to that weight in no time flat. Because I know, with every fiber of my being, that I am not a 310lb person. That might be the number on the scale, but it is not who I am.

So, how do you do begin to do this? It’s very simple.You need to imagine a person that is a version of you at your absolute best, then begin thinking and acting like that person. That’s it.

Picture a person that is exactly like you, except that is the best version of you -in top shape, great diet, and a healthy mentality about themselves and life – then ask yourself: What would this person do? What kind of exercises would this person be doing? What foods would they eat? How would they feel about being sedentary or eating sugary foods? How would they talk to themselves on a daily basis? Then, start behaving and thinking like this person, the best version of you – and watch how your body catches up! Along with your feelings about yourself, and life in general.

Hormones do not predict behavior, they follow behavior. There is a lot of research beyond this post that you can do on this, but suffice to say for now: if you think, feel, and behave like the best version of yourself, your body’s biological composition will change, and you will become that person.

Once your thought process, emotional state, and behaviors all reflect that of a fit and healthy person, you will become one on a very deep level. And it will be the only motivation you ever need.