The formula for successful weight loss is pretty simple. All you have to do is eat less and move more. Yet millions of people ditch diet and exercise programs despite a deep desire to look and feel better.

The missing link: motivation.

It doesn’t help that we’re fighting against human nature. According to an article from the WebMD Weight Loss Clinic, consumers flit between periods of indulgent and healthy behavior throughout the course of a week and even the same day, making it easy to understand why so many veer off the path of a weight-loss program so often. It’s bound to happen, even to the best of us. But getting back on track is key.

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Jillian Michaels

The star trainer from TV's The Biggest Loser has created a customized online weight-loss program that provides all the tools and motivation you need to reach your health and fitness goals. And you can try it free for seven days*, after which it's only $14.95 per month.

Jillian will help you:

• overcome personal obstacles
• jumpstart your metabolism
• burn fat and build muscle
• lose weight and transform your body

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Personal trainers offer a treasure trove of tips to remove the roadblocks to motivation when it comes to weight-loss efforts.

“The problem is not so much that people don’t want to work out. It’s more that they are daunted by the serious challenge of actually starting and maintaining an exercise program,” writes Amanda Adams in an article on the topic published by the IDEA Health & Fitness Association. “Many people start a new behavior, such as an exercise program or new diet, for extrinsic reasons, such as wanting to look better. However ... it is doomed to fail because extrinsic motivation is usually insufficient to get people over the hurdles of being too busy or tired to make it to the gym every day. The key to long-term (and even short-term) success lies in developing multiple sources of motivation.”

Finding Your Passion

Online fitness programs offer several ideas for staying motivated, such as enlisting friends and family to support your efforts, breaking big fitness goals down into smaller targets and rewarding yourself for accomplishments.

Others suggest changing routines to evade boredom and, therefore, retain motivation. Varying the time of day, location and type of activity can help. For example, take a break from the typical gym workout and go for a long walk or swim on the weekend.

Staying informed about the risks of being unfit and/or overweight can help, too. And, sometimes, scaling efforts back a bit might be in order. According to one online program, one of the main reasons people give up on fitness programs is that they try to do too much too soon.

Life coach and personal trainer Ruth McCullen says motivation isn’t one-size-fits-all.

“Pointing at someone saying ‘you should exercise’ never works,” she says. “There’s definitely a mental aspect. It’s the stories behind those lives on The Biggest Loser. It’s about capturing that.”

McCullen has her own story, too. Much like that show’s star trainer, Jillian Michaels, who fought her own weight-loss battles long before she was on TV, McCullen combines her personal experience with the ability to enthusiastically motivate her clients. Having once weighed close to 300 lbs, she now runs marathons and coaches others in meeting their own fitness goals.

“It’s about finding one’s passion,” she says. “One person’s passion might be running marathons while another is playing with their children. One of my clients wanted to be a good example for her children. And that became her motivation.”

A Personal Touch

For some, hiring a personal trainer is the answer. The act of paying someone for a service alone can be all the motivation you need to stick with a weight-loss program. They also provide the motivation that’s missing when going it alone by way of encouragement and positive feedback.

In fact, The Biggest Loser candidates likely wouldn’t achieve their transformations without motivation from personal trainers such as Michaels. Still, Cindy Brotherston points out that many might dismiss the idea of hiring her because of pride or shame. But they might be missing a big opportunity to blow past lack of motivation, once and for all.

“Perhaps the single, biggest benefit of hiring a trainer is motivation,” the personal trainer writes on her web site, BusyWomensFitness.com. “On their own, people lose motivation to stick with a consistent exercise program. A certified fitness trainer can provide structure, direction, accountability and a friend who is interested in helping you succeed.”

– Deanna Glick