What is YOUR WHY?

flippy1234

Why are you trying to lose weight? Work out? Eat well? What is driving you?

Mine is to be healthy. I just want to feel good, have energy and sleep well. Looking better comes with all of that. Oh, and look decent in a bathing suit when we go to Maui.

Ainadan

I graduate from a very hard Ph.D program next May. I don't want to look fat in my graduation pictures. Also I just want to be healthier and see what my body can do.

grimendale

My blood pressure had started creeping up to a problematic level, and I was reaching the point where I was getting uncomfortable in my own skin. Bending down to put on my shoes had become a chore. And, of course, to just like the way I looked better.
As an aside, Maui is awesome. Make sure you do sunset at Mt. Haleakala. It's a twisty drive to get up there, but the views of the sunset and the stars after are breathtaking. It's one of my favorite spots on Earth.

LyndaBSS

I want to take control of my health, as much as that's possible.

Bottom line. I'm doing it for me because I'm worth it.

KristiRTT

To lose the weigh I gained from months of medications, to feel good with my body again, and to not feel ginormous next to my brothers girlfriend when we go to Florida in 2 months! She is slim as a pancake- I’ll never get there- but at least comfortable in a bathing suit. Yes petty I know, but I’m being real

JessicaLThomas0316

First and foremost, to be in control of my fibromyalgia. But a close runner up is to NOT be the fat grandma when my first granddaughter is born next month. And a very superficial reason is I also want to feel sexy about myself, maybe for the first time.
I was doing pretty well back in 2017, following a modified keto way of eating, but it wasn't sustainable, and it was a drain on me emotionally and mentally, and I ended up gaining back the 45lbs I lost. So I'm restarting this merry-go-round with a totally different mindset, and would love to get some additional support!

Mcwi3681

I've watched both of my parents go steeply downhill after age 55. I won't allow that to happen to me.

floofyschmoofer

Commenting a placeholder so I can remember to come back here after I clock out.

sfsoccermom2

Taking control of my diabetes and getting healthy.

carlaringuette

Beach vacation coming up, my son is getting married in January & I want to make him proud but mainly to get my biometric screening numbers in the right range in November. I am 57. The age my Dad was when he had a heart attack. Within one year after the heart attack the doctors said they couldn't even tell he'd had one. He did it with diet and exercise.

My journey started after my first child was born. She will be 30 next year. I've lost it 3 times and maintained for 3 years when I thought I'd finally made it a lifestyle but it's mostly been a roller coaster.

My husband is VERY thin. We saw a nutritionist last Friday because I wasn't getting the results I thought I should for all the time I am putting in at the gym and the trainer recommended looking at the food. So we were looking for someone to help him gain weight and me loose weight. Well the nutritionist called me back after the weekend and said she didn't have the expertise to help us. She said she could help me loose easily but she didn't know how to help him gain. So frustrating!

He needs to gain about as much as I need to loose. If we could just do that Freaky Friday thing and both level out. Lol

floofyschmoofer

So, my why is really a lot of things piled up, but at the base of the pile is the fact that my Dad had his future stolen from him by cancer. He is my foundation. I was 28 when he died-- he was only 56. He had just gotten re-married and was deliriously happy. What presented as a potential gallbladder issue turned out to be pancreatic cancer and was already in his liver and kidneys when they found it.

At age 55, he was told he would get maybe a year-- more realistically, months-- and that's with aggressive chemo that turned his final months of "living" into agony. I do not know what made him more miserable-- the cancer or the cancer medicine.

I miss him. He will never get to meet my s/o, who he would love dearly. My s/o will never get to ask Dad for my hand, outdated a tradition as that may be. I'll never be able to announce to him that I'm gonna make him a granddaddy. And those are MY selfish reasons. There are so many things HE didn't get to do that he deserved. He didn't deserve cancer. Nobody does.

After he died, we started a pay-it-forward initiative and started using the hashtag #doitforbuddy when we found ways to help others, or did things we know he would have loved to do.

One of the last earnest conversations we had was about him wanting me to take better care of myself and live a long, happy life. It was unspoken that he wouldn't get the chance.

He's my why. When my feet hit the floor in the morning, he's my why. I laid around a long time in bed after he died with crippling depression but finally I decided not to squander whatever time I have, 'cause none of us knows how long we have. So no matter how much I don't want to, I get up, and I do my best to cherish the opportunity I have to make the best of things.

I'm gonna #doitforbuddy 'til I can't anymore.

Ldenzel

My main reason is for my health. I'm only 34 and was always tired and sluggish. I didn't want to live the rest of my life feeling that way.

My fun reason is that I'm going to Universal Orlando in November. I've been in the past and wasn't able to fit on quite a few of the rides. I really want to ride every ride in the park this year, especially all 3 Harry Potter rides!

jenilla1

I'm getting older and I want to maintain my awesomeness. (I've been in maintenance since 2011.) Many of the people I know who are my age (and younger) are really starting to fall apart. I'm grateful to still be healthy and fit, and I don't want to waste this gift by sitting around and letting myself go. As the poster above stated, "...none of us knows how long we have..." Make the best of what you've got, while you can!

I find exercise to be therapeutic and anxiety-reducing - especially when outdoors. Plus, I'm also one of those lucky people who gets a distinct "high" from doing vigorous physical activity, so that's a bonus! I'll admit that sometimes the warm-up period of a workout is a bit grueling, but once I'm warmed up, I feel amazing!

In spring and summer I actually crave lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, so eating healthy comes pretty easily. The only challenge I tend to have is making sure I eat an appropriate amount of food. And, in the colder months I struggle with sugar cravings, so logging here on MFP keeps me on track during those challenging times!

I'm capable of sticking to my calorie goals when everything is all organized for me, but I feel I need help keeping track, so that's why I'm here!

flippy1234

Wow, amazing Why's. I love it.

anitacuzzman

My why is to be healthy, I have fibromyalgia and my eating habits and weight have become out of control, which makes some of my fibromyalgia symptoms worse, I also want to be a good role model for my 5 and 6 year old girls, they already comment on how mummy is much bigger than other mummies and that I rest alot 😏 I've finally started to love myself no matter what I look like but I don't like the way I feel at this weight. 105kgs

ducttapebowtie

I've been engaged for two years, but don't want to hate my wedding pictures, so we haven't even started planning. It wasn't until I nearly hit the next "milestone" on the scale that I was actually determined enough to make the change.

dlbohl1991

I want to help and inspire people. I am in recovery and have a passion for driving others. Also I want to be a good steward of what god has given me and to be a leader by example for my wife and kids

EliseTK1

I have multiple why's. It started last year when I realized I was just a few pounds away from being classified as obese. I was having stomach problems, getting injured easily, and unable to comfortably wear almost anything in my closet. I was stressed, not sleeping well, and my running performance was going downhill despite my sporadic training efforts.

This journey has prompted me to make a big job change so I have the time to prioritize my health and happiness, and I'm not about to throw away the opportunity I created. Now that I'm halfway to my goal weight, I'm able to keep up with my husband in weight training, and I feel fantastic.

My why now is more about pushing my own limits and accomplishing something I never have before. I've never been slim and muscular, but I'm finally getting there. I've never been able to wear little summer dresses, and now I do. I've never planned a vacation specifically around physical activity, but in October we're going to hike part of the Appalachian trail. I'm becoming one of those "fit" people, and it's wonderful. That keeps me going.

OooohToast

My health markers went zooming through pre-diabetic and were just nudging T2 - now reversed but still an unhealthy BMI. The first phase has got me into some good habits, bought me here and has given me the confidence and momentum to continue.

manicdaisy

A couple of years ago nearing rock-bottom with my anxiety and depression, I decided to make an attempt to turn things around by going to therapy. (Luckily, I'm in a position completely surrounded by people de-stigmatizing mental health that regularly present therapy as a normal and viable option for feeling better.) Through a year of regularly attending therapy (about Fall 2017-2018), I began to realize I'm not the terribly weak person I thought I was, but full of value and worth; just like successful/happy people, I could take control of my life.

At that time, I was obese and in denial about it. It's hard to explain exactly how feeling well mentally meant I was ready to take control and feel well physically, but it did. My therapist kept saying how after I felt more confident and believed in my self-worth it would be easier to lose the weight, and it was. I realize it's not magic, but somehow when I decided to start counting calories in Fall 2019, everything just clicked. Clearly I must have been using food as a coping mechanism that I simply don't need much anymore. I have a resiliency built through therapy that my anxiety and depression didn't let me have before, and weight loss journeys definitely take resiliency!

I hit a normal BMI this week - for the first time since about 2013. I feel amazing.

So, long story short, my "why" was - continuing on my journey to wellness of mind and body. They 100% go in hand and hand, and each one requires the other.