Tips on keeping motivation high – Interview with Jill Weisenberger, MS, RD, CDE

Jill Weisenberger – author of  Diabetes Weight Loss: Week by Week: A Safe, Effective Method for Losing Weight and Improving Your Health in conjunction with the American Diabetes Association – talks to Neily on Nutrition about keeping motivation with diabetes and/or weight management. Jill is a registered dietitian and a certified diabetes educator. (To watch interview on YouTube, scroll to the bottom.)

Neily:	So, what are some of the challenges? There is a lot of great information in the book (Diabetes Weight Loss Week by Week) but what are the take home messages that you would like people to know?
Jill:	Diabetes Weight loss Week by Week’ is a very practical book. It is not a prescriptive diet so it will work with anybody using strategies: skills, strategies, planning – not will power. Will power never works for more than a short period of time. One of the things that I have right at the outset of the book is for preparing to be successful.  So you know how people when they start on a plan are very very motivated? Motivation is up there but it doesn’t stay. Very normal for motivation to wax and wane.So, one of the things I suggest is while you are very motivated, gather what I call a motivation kit. Get a box or notebook and put everything in there that motivates you. Because when your motivation is high, you put things in there and when your motivation is down, you can go back to it. So maybe it is magazine articles, maybe it is photographs, affirmations, a list of the reasons that you want to lose weight, a list of the benefits that you will get by losing weight and controlling blood glucose. All those things, keep them all in one spot where it is easy to reach because you want to add to it often and you want to go and get motivation from it often.
Neily:	Great idea! A motivation box. Excellent. That’s a great idea not just for anyone with diabetes but for weight loss in general!
Jill:	Yes
Neily:	Thanks. This is Neily on Nutrition and Jill’s book Diabetes Weight Loss: Week by Week: A Safe, Effective Method for Losing Weight and Improving Your Health.