What are your Whys?

Soybeaner

Jillian mentions several times in the work outs "What is your Why. Remember your Why. You can tolerate anything if you remember your Why." I also read an article on her in Good Housekeeping last month. She talked about motivation and how to maintain momentum when making life changes. She talked about making a goal pyramid and a list of your "Whys".

I took a picture of the example pyramid in the Good Housekeeping article. All excited I made my pyramid and listed my Whys. I was going to do this! I am unstoppable! I had a plan!

Then week 2 hit. Both of my girls had horrible colds. My youngest was up 4 to 6 times every night for 4 nights straight. I kept at it but wanted to quit. I was so tired. Every morning I had to show up at work and pretend to be a professional. Really really really wanted to sleep in the extra 30 minutes instead of working out.

Today I about did not do the workout. I was cleaning off the kitchen counter and came across my list of Whys. I took a deep breathe, hauled my sorry self downstairs, and did my work out. Jillian was right. I had to remember Why. Now I'm pumped up! I remember Why! I did my work out! I am riding an adrenaline high

Here are my Whys
1. Be a positive example for my girls
2. Feel attractive (come on, several of you are thinking this as well)
3. Boost my confidence
4. I like a challenge
5. Improve my health
6. Minimize the aging process (What is up with the wrinkles I keep getting every year?!)
7. Maximize my energy

Also I think there should be a picture of the goal pyramid from the Good Housekeeping article.

What are your Whys?

erinp523

Here are my whys:
1. Set a positive example for my family, especially my daughter. (I did not grow up in a household where healthy eating and exercise occurred)
2. Increase my energy and mood.
3. To feel more confident.
4. To fit into a couple of tops that have been hanging in my closet since my skinnier college days and even skinnier high school days.
4. To not follow in my moms footsteps and become diabetic and diagnosed with cancer before age 45.
5. Overall become a very healthy person.

miriams76

My parents have both been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in the past year. With my mum, it is a side effect of the medication she takes for a congenital kidney condition she was born with and had a transplant for over a decade ago now. She's naturally very thin so it didn't have that much to do with her diet although I wouldn't say either of them had a great diet (not too much food, just not enough nutrition) . With my dad, well, he was overweight, particularly around the middle. He's managed to check that and get it to a pre-diabetes condition which I'm really proud of him about.

I guess I'm approaching the age (40s) where people can start having a lot of problems if they don't pay attention to these things. One of my daughter's good school friends had her dad die of a heart attack last year ... he was only 43. That also affected us a lot.

My high about six years ago was 180lbs and I'm not that tall so it definitely didn't carry well. Bodyfat % was in the upper 30's and, like my dad, concentrated around my middle which is the most dangerous distribution. This was at least 18 months after the birth of my son... I put on weight after both pregnancies, not so much during.

My 'why' is I never want to feel like that again and whilst I obviously can't predict the future with regards to my health, don't want to be in a situation where I feel I put my health at risk just through my own negligence. If I ever did get sick, I would want to feel that at least I did whatever I could to prevent it.

Mellie289

I have a few similar whys to the posts above... definitely there are clothes hanging in my closet that I want to wear again and I want to improve my health, attractiveness and confidence.

My biggest motivator right now is boosting my energy and endurance by becoming fitter and stronger to undo the damage that chemotherapy did to me. I also hope that being healthier and thinner will reduce my chances of breast cancer recurrence. I don't want to go through that again, but if I have to, I will be starting out strong and ready to fight again.

slehmann49

Mellie, that is a great "why". Mine are pretty normal, there are a bunch of clothes in my closet I want to wear again AND feel good in them. I feel better when I am eating right and working out, why does that seem to be something I forget as I fall off the healthy wagon?? I need to find a way to remember that "why".

Soybeaner

slehmann49 wrote: »

Mellie, that is a great "why". Mine are pretty normal, there are a bunch of clothes in my closet I want to wear again AND feel good in them. I feel better when I am eating right and working out, why does that seem to be something I forget as I fall off the healthy wagon?? I need to find a way to remember that "why".

I wrote them down and left them on the kitchen counter. I also put them in my phone. And have the quote "Don't forget to be awesome" taped to the side of the bathroom mirror. Whatever works!