what motivates you?

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Replies

  • A_Fit_Mom
    A_Fit_Mom Posts: 602 Member
    I was motivated to begin with by old pics of me. I was fit before my second pregnancy, and I always looked and wished I could look like that again.


    Now I am motivated by looking at my old pics from before March of this year. I never want to be at that weight again. It keeps me going knowing how far I have come, and I am so close to goal...I am not stopping anytime soon.
  • Ejourneys
    Ejourneys Posts: 1,603 Member
    Copying from my post at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/991119-where-do-you-find-your-motivation-what-is-your-why

    My motivation has several parts but everything boils down to health.

    1. I am a caregiver and have been for over a decade. That in itself creates all kinds of stress. If I don't feel well, I am far less able to handle that stress and then it becomes a vicious cycle. I need to take good care of myself in order to take good care of my partner. I need that energy, those endorphins, and that endurance.

    2. I have a family history of diabetes and heart disease. My mother died within a month of turning 57; I am 54. I'm in much better shape than she had been (she suffered her first heart attack at age 44; I am currently disease-free, knock on wood). But watching her health deteriorate from the time I was 10 and losing her when I was 23 forms part of what I call my "background radiation."

    3. I've been a lifelong yo-yo. My main motivation is not so much losing weight (been there, done that, time and time again) as it is establishing good, sustainable eating and exercise habits, which had not been part of my upbringing. Maintaining will be my main challenge, especially maintaining through stressful periods. I've been working on developing and implementing healthier stress responses.
  • katy_trail
    katy_trail Posts: 1,992 Member
    it's really not about a daily motivation. it's about an inner drive. if you don't want it enough, you won't do it.

    you need the habits in place to keep going on those days when you feel 'meh' or don't want to
    make the healthy choices.
    make it as easy and simple as possible.
    do what you already like doing. foods you like. workouts you like. and nothing that's too time consuming for your schedule.