What Motivates You?

zuriank

Hello everyone, Zuri here just wanting to know what motivates you!

This last spring I have exercised of and on. Some weeks I'd work out every day, and some weeks I might go for a jog once! I always struggle with the question of "Why do I want to loose weight?" Do I want to loose it for me, or for the world? Why can't I just be okay in my own body, why must I change? Well, 22 and at the weight of 181 (which I don't think is bad) I feel like I need to loose weight. I don't like looking at my tummy. I want my but to be more smooth and nice and I would love to be able to fit into some pants from high school (but don't we all.) The plus side about being a woman who is now 181 is that my chest size is ideal. Its perfect, actually...but we all know what weight loss does...sometimes you gain some, and sometimes you loose some I guess....

I keep this picture of myself by my bedside of me with my arms outstretched in front of the Atlantic ocean. I am 135 in this photo. When I think back to those days of having an almost flat tummy and a probably really nice tush, all I can remember is how awful I felt about my body anyways...at 135!! ay ay ay.

I want to be able to jog 5 miles without having to stop. I want to be able to look the way I feel. I want that nice tush, and man, I just want my tummy to be a little less jiggly from my perspective.

What motivates YOU to achieve your goals?
How do you relate to me? Please tell me I am not alone!

JJS1979

For me, it comes down to how I feel on a daily basis. Of course I wish I was stronger or had a flatter stomach but overall I feel really good and strong on most days. That is what keeps me motivated, feeling healthy. The thought of being really overweight and tired all the time, getting winded walking up stairs makes me realize what I dont want to go back to.

Change your perspective, being healthy and fit is not a goal but rather a way of living your life. Everytime I set a weight goal and achieved it, within 6 months I was back to being my old weight again. Anyway, you are not alone, we all question why this is important to us and for each of us it is different. Goodluck.

everher

You sound a lot like I did at 22 before the weight really got out of control.

It started out I was 170 lbs and I was like "okay, I've put on some weight it's okay not everyone can be thin" yada yada. Then I was 180 lbs and I wasn't exactly happy, but I wasn't exactly unhappy either. At 190 lbs I tried to lose the weight several times and sometimes did for a bit, but would gain all I had lost back and more. Last year I reached my all time high of 214 lbs which at 5'5 put me into class II obesity.

What I'm trying to get at is it's unlikely you'll stay at 181 lbs. Most likely if you don't change your habits, you will only increasingly put on weight over the years. I wish I had done something about it at 180 lbs before I woke up one day and was over 210 lbs and had all the more to lose.

I wasn't happy when I was a normal weight either. But that's sort of a different issue than being overweight/obese. Yes, I had to get to a place where I loved myself and I loved my body, but loving myself and loving my body doesn't mean being okay with being overweight. I think a lot of people mix up these ideals in their head (I know I did), but one doesn't equal the other.

Overall, I'm doing this for my health. Yes, I would like to be smaller, but this is primarily about my health. I was saying to my SO the other day how it's funny when you're 18 and you think you're invincible you can give two figs about your health, but then you age and you realize if you keep going the way you're going you are going to die young.

acbraswell

The jogging is an excellent goal AND motivator! There's nothing like hitting new running milestones. And the lighter you are, the easier jogging is and the faster you can go.