What’s your reason?
MegABCrunning
Posts: 31 Member
We all know a part of losing weight and getting fit is for the aesthetic byproduct but aside from that, what’s your reason? Why is it so important to you to be fit and what do you tell yourself to get motivated? We’re all fallen off the wagon then gotten back up so I just want to know what pushed you to get after it again.
One of my favorite quotes to motivate me is “The difference between want and need is self control”
One of my favorite quotes to motivate me is “The difference between want and need is self control”
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I love that quote!
My reason, is to live. be earth side with my son, he gives me the motivation to push my workouts every day - to be able to be more active and do the fun things he wants to do (he's just 4-so being able to run around and keep up with him is extra important) On the days I don't want to workout, a look at his face is enough to make me push play..4 -
Completely agree. Doing this to be a better mom and so that I have the energy, strength, and stamina to fully enjoy all the moments with my son.2
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My reason is my Health!
Body, mind and spirit
My body was aging to fast, yes im in my 50’s, with complications from neck and shoulder issues, however i know its a slippery path and i was slding fast.
The mental health benefits from losing weight are astounding, something id never considered.
My spirit is soaring as im fitter, energized and more self confident than i have been in 15 years.
Ive lost 17 kilos ✨5 -
My reason is selfish! 😂 It’s totally for me. I’ve given the best to my children to make sure they have the best life my husband and I could possibly give them so they will have a standard and be motivated to live the best life they can as adults. Now they are grown adults and it’s time for Me to give Me the best life I can.4
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To be satisfied with how I look and not take my health for granted2
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ashleymolyneau wrote: »I love that quote!
My reason, is to live. be earth side with my son, he gives me the motivation to push my workouts every day - to be able to be more active and do the fun things he wants to do (he's just 4-so being able to run around and keep up with him is extra important) On the days I don't want to workout, a look at his face is enough to make me push play..
Girl you made me tear up!! That’s so beautiful and so sweet!! I wish you the absolute best of luck and one awesome part is that your son is watching you do all this so you know he’s going to learn to be HIS best self and healthiest!
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Completely agree. Doing this to be a better mom and so that I have the energy, strength, and stamina to fully enjoy all the moments with my son.
Like I said to Ashley, you are teaching your son such amazing lessons. Taking care of yourself is a lesson he’s going absorb! Good for you and best of luck!!!0 -
I was tired of being tired.
I found new motivation I never knew I had. Did things I never thought I could (half marathon).
I did it because I get one shot at this life.
Not going to finish it as a slug.
You’re a runner then!? I used to be a runner and I’m trying to get back into it. Have you ever heard of pace coaches?? I really wish I could pay someone to run with me and push me to maintain whatever pace they have figured would be best for me. I don’t know if I articulated that correctly! Haha!
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stophiding wrote: »My reason is my Health!
Body, mind and spirit
My body was aging to fast, yes im in my 50’s, with complications from neck and shoulder issues, however i know its a slippery path and i was slding fast.
The mental health benefits from losing weight are astounding, something id never considered.
My spirit is soaring as im fitter, energized and more self confident than i have been in 15 years.
Ive lost 17 kilos ✨
That makes me so happy! And also, I’m 36 and already have lower back problems and a SLAP tear in my shoulder. Still not letting it stop me and I LOVE when I see people older then me KILLING it like you!! It inspires me and makes me realize that my age has nothing to do with my fitness level, only my passion and my efforts! Thanks for sharing!0 -
alabastermama wrote: »My reason is selfish! 😂 It’s totally for me. I’ve given the best to my children to make sure they have the best life my husband and I could possibly give them so they will have a standard and be motivated to live the best life they can as adults. Now they are grown adults and it’s time for Me to give Me the best life I can.
YYYAAASSS!!! How can that be selfish at all?! You raised your kids and now it’s time for YOU! I love it!! I wish you the best of luck!!! You deserve the me time and you deserve to invest in yourself! We all support you!
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msdersarkissian wrote: »I was tired of being tired.
I found new motivation I never knew I had. Did things I never thought I could (half marathon).
I did it because I get one shot at this life.
Not going to finish it as a slug.
You’re a runner then!? I used to be a runner and I’m trying to get back into it. Have you ever heard of pace coaches?? I really wish I could pay someone to run with me and push me to maintain whatever pace they have figured would be best for me. I don’t know if I articulated that correctly! Haha!
I’m a runner, per se. Yes I’ve heard of pace coaches, but never used one.
You articulate just fine!!!
I use a garmin watch to keep my pace.
There’s lotsa choices!!
Once this quarantine is over, I need to find one! What’s your next big running goal? I did a half marathon in Clearwater, FL and it was sooo beautiful!0 -
Appearance doesn't enter into it, for me, really. (Relevant: I'm a 64-year-old, widowed, post-bilateral-mastectomy very independent woman.)
Two reasons:
1. When I was obese, I was already active, and had been for a decade.
I Started being active in my mid-40s, after cancer treatment, because I realized I needed to do so if I wanted ever to feel strong, energetic and generally good ever again, after surgery/chemo/radiation. I gradually ramped up, starting with yoga and some other classes, then joined a breast cancer survivors rowing team. Seriously addicted to rowing, I joined the local club, and even competed in races, both machine and on-water. I was working out reasonably intensely, most days of the week. I had good cardiovascular fitness, low resting heart rate, all that good stuff.
But I stayed fat (class 1 obese), telling myself that exercise was the bigger part of being healthier. After about a decade, it - duh - finally sunk in that my high blood pressure and bad blood lipids were really a problem I needed to address. I was already vegetarian, and eating lots of healthy foods (among others
). I tried more eating changes, without much positive result. On top of that, my long-term knee pain got worse, kind of suddenly, and I was diagnosed with a torn meniscus on top of pre-existing osteoarthritis.
With all of that going on, I decided I darned well better lose some weight. I was getting a good start on that when my sudden-onset heartburn and reflux was diagnosed as due to gallbladder adenomyomatosis, an inflammatory/cholesterol-related condition that can be associated with gallbladder cancer, of which obesity is a cause. When it was removed, it was thankfully not cancerous, but it was a very degraded piece of tissue, with thickening, holes, etc. Bad news. That sealed my commitment to lose weight.
That weight loss made significant improvements in the frequency and severity of my knee pain, put my blood pressure in the low normal range, and made my blood lipids solidly and consistently normal. Those are changes worth hanging onto.
2. I hang out mostly with rowers, and with mixed-media artists. Across the two, there's big diversity in bodyweight and fitness levels. Looking around at others women around my age (+/- 10 years, say), those that are a healthy weight and active tend to:
* be healthier (sick less often, for less time; need fewer surgeries, recover faster from those they do have, with fewer complications);
* have more discretionary income (don't have as high medical expenses, don't need to hire as many services because they can easily do the things themselves);
* are able to eat and drink a wider range of things (choices not so limited by health conditions or prescription drug contraindications);
* can do most leisure things they want to (the obese/inactive are limited in doing things that involve lots of walking/standing, like art fairs or music festivals; and may need to limit stairs so avoid sporting events or concerts);
* are generally able to be more independent, not requiring as much help with daily life chores and such.
Don't get me wrong: I value people in both the artists and rowers communities, regardless of body size/fitness or capabilities, enjoy their company, and appreciate their diverse talents. But when it comes to thinking about whose daily life I'd prefer to live, it's easy to see that a healthy weight and general basic fitness are things that greatly enhance quality of life among older women.
Consequently, I want to stay at a healthy weight, and stay active, so I can have an enjoyable, independent life for as long as possible, ideally another couple of decades, and to avoid the permanent move to assisted living for as long as I can.
Most folks here are younger than I am. It still might provide some motivation to look around at (say) 60+ year-old people you know, think about which ones are best able to enjoy life because of choices they've made when younger. Maybe not, though. I wasn't smart enough to do that, when I was 30.:flowerforyou: 2 -
Appearance doesn't enter into it, for me, really. (Relevant: I'm a 64-year-old, widowed, post-bilateral-mastectomy very independent woman.)
Two reasons:
1. When I was obese, I was already active, and had been for a decade.
I Started being active in my mid-40s, after cancer treatment, because I realized I needed to do so if I wanted ever to feel strong, energetic and generally good ever again, after surgery/chemo/radiation. I gradually ramped up, starting with yoga and some other classes, then joined a breast cancer survivors rowing team. Seriously addicted to rowing, I joined the local club, and even competed in races, both machine and on-water. I was working out reasonably intensely, most days of the week. I had good cardiovascular fitness, low resting heart rate, all that good stuff.
But I stayed fat (class 1 obese), telling myself that exercise was the bigger part of being healthier. After about a decade, it - duh - finally sunk in that my high blood pressure and bad blood lipids were really a problem I needed to address. I was already vegetarian, and eating lots of healthy foods (among others ). I tried more eating changes, without much positive result. On top of that, my long-term knee pain got worse, kind of suddenly, and I was diagnosed with a torn meniscus on top of pre-existing osteoarthritis.
With all of that going on, I decided I darned well better lose some weight. I was getting a good start on that when my sudden-onset heartburn and reflux was diagnosed as due to gallbladder adenomyomatosis, an inflammatory/cholesterol-related condition that can be associated with gallbladder cancer, of which obesity is a cause. When it was removed, it was thankfully not cancerous, but it was a very degraded piece of tissue, with thickening, holes, etc. Bad news. That sealed my commitment to lose weight.
That weight loss made significant improvements in the frequency and severity of my knee pain, put my blood pressure in the low normal range, and made my blood lipids solidly and consistently normal. Those are changes worth hanging onto.
2. I hang out mostly with rowers, and with mixed-media artists. Across the two, there's big diversity in bodyweight and fitness levels. Looking around at others women around my age (+/- 10 years, say), those that are a healthy weight and active tend to:
* be healthier (sick less often, for less time; need fewer surgeries, recover faster from those they do have, with fewer complications);
* have more discretionary income (don't have as high medical expenses, don't need to hire as many services because they can easily do the things themselves);
* are able to eat and drink a wider range of things (choices not so limited by health conditions or prescription drug contraindications);
* can do most leisure things they want to (the obese/inactive are limited in doing things that involve lots of walking/standing, like art fairs or music festivals; and may need to limit stairs so avoid sporting events or concerts);
* are generally able to be more independent, not requiring as much help with daily life chores and such.
Don't get me wrong: I value people in both the artists and rowers communities, regardless of body size/fitness or capabilities, enjoy their company, and appreciate their diverse talents. But when it comes to thinking about whose daily life I'd prefer to live, it's easy to see that a healthy weight and general basic fitness are things that greatly enhance quality of life among older women.
Consequently, I want to stay at a healthy weight, and stay active, so I can have an enjoyable, independent life for as long as possible, ideally another couple of decades, and to avoid the permanent move to assisted living for as long as I can.
Most folks here are younger than I am. It still might provide some motivation to look around at (say) 60+ year-old people you know, think about which ones are best able to enjoy life because of choices they've made when younger. Maybe not, though. I wasn't smart enough to do that, when I was 30.:flowerforyou:
Ann, I can’t thank you enough for posting this. I’ve sent you a private message. You are the type of person everyone should look up to. I know I want to!
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It’s important to me to lose weight because I don’t like how I look. When I look in the mirror, or when I try to take a selfie, when I step on the scale, or when I’m trying on clothes, I’m always reminded that I’m fat. And being fat makes me feel ugly and not good enough. Ironically people try to tell me I’m not fat, but it doesn’t matter how many times they say it or who says it, because when I look in the mirror or when I look down at my stomach, I see fat. So that’s why I want to lose weight.1
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For me it's about a few things the #1 reason for losing weight is for mental health. I know the more I exercise and and eat healthy the better I feel. #2 to be an example for my kids so they see me being healthy. I'd hate for them to feel about themselves the way i felt growing up! And 3 i just want to fit into my clothes and be able to fine ones hat fit!0
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