What motivates you?

Nichole195

I have been over weight my whole life. My family is not healthy at all when it comes to eating heathly. So I am constantly around junk food and unhealthy food. I have been going on and off diets but I lose motivation then quit. I'm tired of quitting I WANT to be comfortable in my own skin. So my question to you is how do you keep motivated?

cuinboston2014

It's different for everyone - but mine is my goals.

When I first lost weight (100 lbs) I was motivated by purely not wanting to be fat and get diabetes. So I ate less and moved more. No science, nothing.

Now, When I have 10-15 pounds left to lose that I've been poo-pooing around waiting to lose for some reason I'm motivated by:
1. Finally getting the body I want
2. Being able to wear the clothes I want to fit the body I want
3. Not wanting to increase my risk for diseases - particularly cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer. I carry most of my fat around my abdomen which is an increased risk factor for those.
4. I LOVE working out. I love the way my body feels when I treat it well.
5. I HATE sitting on the couch doing nothing and I can't stand the way I feel after I have (unintentionally) eaten too much. Holidays, special occassions I eat too much because I want to. Fine. But just sitting around being unhealthy is not fun.

I want to live a long healthy life and be around for my daughter. I also want to have another child. It's much easier to do these things at a healthy weight.

You have to WANT to lose weight and be healthy and you have to believe that you deserve it.

WendyTerry420

I don't want to be fat.

fireytiger

Whenever I would go on diets in the past, I used to say my grandma losing 100+ pounds was my inspiration, and not wanting to look like the rest of my family (morbidly obese), fear of diabetes and other health problems were my motivation, but honestly I've found it's not really any of those things (although they are important). In the past they haven't motivated me enough to stop eating badly, or stick with anything. The things that have really gotten me into gear this time are:

-Having friends on MPF that encourage me (including my few IRL friends who are on here, one has lost 60 pounds and been going for 335 days so far! I stay to try and see if I can have that kind of success)
-Going back to taekwondo, which I have to say has made a HUGE change in me. I'm currently a blue belt and about to get my purple belt, and having exercise that I LOVE, that's important to me, and that I want to improve in, has made a huge difference.
-deciding that I am determined to see it through to the end, no matter how much it sucks, no matter if I lose my motivating factors, etc. That determination has seen me through to a longer stretch of healthy living than I've ever done before (almost 65 days now).
-Writing blog posts for myself, just to keep a log of where I was at the time, what I was planning on doing, what was working, what wasn't, what was going on in my life, etc. I don't care if others read it, it's mostly my own prattling, but when I hit 60 days and thought I hadn't seen much progress in the prior month, I looked at my 30 day post and found I'd made just about the same amount of progress. It actually re-inspired me to continue sticking with it.

Sorry this is a bit long, but it's accurate.

WriterPatrick

We can all come up with the same list of motivations: look good on the beach, improve our wellbeing, reduce the chances of illness and disease, live longer, less anxiety, a clearer mind free of weight concerns, etc.

I suppose what counts is the motivation we can use on any given day to help us stick to a diet. For me, I like the feeling of being lean and sharp and even a little hungry. Whether I am at my ideal weight or not, I just feel better and less anxious. But when I eat to the point of being full (and then some), man oh man, I feel insecure and bloated. Being very familiar with those two feelings always helps me hold back on taking that extra cookie or holding to a lighter meal instead of a heavier one.

ZOOpergal

Looming zombie apocalypse. No fat people ever survive.

deup

LMAO @ carrietcwr i love that response lol. . but for me health and wellness i was put on heart meds and my body was showing signs for more illnesses. since i started i am now off the meds and things are coming back into norm. but it definitely helps when the household is pitching in and being supportive and not bringing stuff into the house that shouldn't be here. however one of the biggest helps is having people backing you and kicking you when you need it

Eric_DeCastro

I'm in constant competition with myself. how much further can I run, how much faster can I run it. Can I run when I don't feel like it. I tell you what, I always win so if you are in constant competition with yourself, that is all the motivation you will ever need.


on the other side of the house, I eat better to ensure i beat my yesterday self. always move forward. be the best you can be and good things will come out of it.

lemurcat12

I've found focusing on small goals where I can see progress helps. If I have something vague, like "get in shape," or overwhelming, like my current "lose 70 lbs," then that's hard to maintain for as long as it takes. It was especially hard when for years I wasn't weighing myself and thus couldn't see progress (not saying everyone has to and it doesn't sound like that's your issue), as I'd feel like it was going to be forever before anything was accomplished, so why not put it off another night or two and have a pint of Ben & Jerry's for dinner.

The times I've been able to maintain extended motivation, I've focused on specific things that could be achieved within a reasonable amount of time. Get a good routine together for cooking and eating a healthy diet overall, for example, or work myself up to running regularly or go to the gym 3 nights a week, etc. For weight, it's not thinking about it as being 120 (or whatever), and how long that would take, but how nice it would be to fit into my favorite recently-outgrown jeans or be under 200 or overweight vs. obese or down 10 lbs or lose 10% of my bodyweight (but again don't focus just on scale numbers, since there are other things you can control more). Once you start getting the positive reinforcement of those accomplishments, it gets easier to keep going, IME.

Another thing is to try and appreciate how much you've accomplished, which the mini-goals can help with, and also just eating well (not some extreme thing where you cut out all the food you love) and getting exercise can make you feel really good and that can be its own motivation too. IMO it's important NOT to make it just about deprivation, about eating less or giving up time, but to try and make it a positive new thing you are doing in your head.

Chezzie84

I have been over weight my whole life. My family is not healthy at all when it comes to eating heathly. So I am constantly around junk food and unhealthy food. I have been going on and off diets but I lose motivation then quit. I'm tired of quitting I WANT to be comfortable in my own skin. So my question to you is how do you keep motivated?

I have a little notepad that I carry around with me everywhere.

I started it off by writing down all the reasons I wanted to lose weight - EVERYTHING!! I was brutally honest with myself because nobody else has to see it if I dont want them to.
You have to find just 1 thing that you want most and everytime you read it, it will spur you on - I will share mine with you so you understand what I mean...
My partner and I are talking about trying for a baby later this year, I want my baby to have a healthy, strong body to grow in. I dont want the fact that I am fat complicate my pregnancy or put my baby at risk. (I researched on the internet and what I saw scared me).
I want to be a mum that can run around and play with her child, not sit it out because I cant get on the floor or I am too out of breath to join in.
When I read this in my book, I get an instant boost because it is not just about me, its about my partner and my future baby.

Anyway... I then flipped it over and wrote down all my NSV (no scale victories) as they happen.
Everytime I feel defeated, weary or tempted , I take a look at my little notepad and read how far I have come and it makes me smile.

You can do this, it is possible. Read some of the sucess stories on the board and see how many people have succeeded. If they can, so can you.

jpolinisse

I don't want to be fat.

This.

pawoodhull

I live with a husband who is not really into healthy eating, so I get the difficulty of being around food that isn't really good for you. But I started this whole thing for me, and my motivation is to not go back to where I started. My mobility was reduced to the point where I was watching everyone else do things, go places and have fun. My weight was controlling my life and my choices, so it had to go.

Motivation has to be from within you and about you. Getting healthy is all about you. Yes the people in our lives benefit indirectly, but really, you are the one who suffers poor health or good health depending on your choices.

And for carrietcwr, zombies?! Really?

Eric_DeCastro

I don't want to be fat.

This.

for some people it stops there. they say i don't want to be fat but don't do anything about it. i did it for about 10 years. i finally got up and did something about it. just like everyone here on MFP. we are fed up with it. with the millions of over weight people in the world you would think MFP would just be flooded but people just don't want to do anything about it.

nicoleschembari

It's funny this question was posed, because I was going to ask a similar question. My reserve was very low today, as I have been very tempted, my father-in-law did not know I was dieting and brought me fresh bakery apple fritters. I must say I took a bite, literally a bite. Then thought about what I was doing. It was NOT worth it! Thanks for all the new ways to motive myself

Nichole195

Thank you everyone for the reply's :-}

FindingAmy77

well to start with: my mom had a massive stroke at the age of 57 back in 2009. She was overweight and went up and down and back up.. all her life. She now is in a nursing home, paralised and cant talk or take care of herself. THat is my daily motivation to not follow in her footsteps. I have to make myself do it on a daily basis but it has gotten a lot easier and I love the way I feel when I am walking or swimming, etc and I love it when I make good food choices and creations in the kitchen to eat. Probably my biggest and daily motivators is getting on my mfp page and seeing everyone's encouraging comments, the days posts. I come on these message boards and read and comment on things. I am part of accountablilty groups on facebook. And I make video blogs on youtube and have followers who comment on them and who also post videos. It is a whole weightloss community on youtube.

I think my biggest motivators are all that and the fact that I am doing good and am starting to like what I see in the mirror and how I feel. Everyday is a personal choice to "get to work, and just do it"

bcattoes

The mirror, my jeans, and my fear of medications.

KaelaLee88

We want to have Children and so far, no luck. Aiming for a BMI of 30 so that we are able to start fertility treatments or adopt x

WendyTerry420

I don't want to be fat.

This.

for some people it stops there. they say i don't want to be fat but don't do anything about it. i did it for about 10 years. i finally got up and did something about it. just like everyone here on MFP. we are fed up with it. with the millions of over weight people in the world you would think MFP would just be flooded but people just don't want to do anything about it.

They may not want to be fat, but their desire to overeat is greater than there desire to not be fat. Priorities.

JesterMFP

To begin with - I didn't want to be fat any more. That was my main motivation to make the changes. I also wanted to be healthy - physically and mentally. Losing the weight was part of a series of major changes I made to that end. I was finally ready to start taking care of myself.

As I've gone on, I've become more aware of other people's health problems, especially as they get older, and my own potential future health problems. Diabetes, cardiovascular problems, digestive problems, depression, bad backs etc are all rife in my family, and I see how these conditions can affect people. I really want to be as fit and healthy as I can for as long as I can.

As I've made exercise a regular part of my life, I've realised how important it is to managing my moods & mental well being, so that definitely gets me out of the door when I can't really be bothered going to exercise.

Now I'm a healthy weight, I love feeling more comfortable with the way I look and the fact that I can fit into nice clothes, shop in shops that aren't plus sized etc. The self-esteem boost is great, but ultimately what keeps me going is the health stuff. Plus, the fact that I've changed my lifestyle to one that I can live with and enjoy - I still eat all the foods I love, and I do exercise that I enjoy. It's not always easy to make the healthiest choices, but it's not a lifestyle that makes me want to "fall off the wagon". That helps too.

Psychedelicately

We can all come up with the same list of motivations: look good on the beach, improve our wellbeing, reduce the chances of illness and disease, live longer, less anxiety, a clearer mind free of weight concerns, etc.

I suppose what counts is the motivation we can use on any given day to help us stick to a diet. For me, I like the feeling of being lean and sharp and even a little hungry. Whether I am at my ideal weight or not, I just feel better and less anxious. But when I eat to the point of being full (and then some), man oh man, I feel insecure and bloated. Being very familiar with those two feelings always helps me hold back on taking that extra cookie or holding to a lighter meal instead of a heavier one.

This is what helps me on a daily basis. ^^^^

I also weigh myself every day - works for some people, and not so much for others. I like to know where I'm at. Whether I'm up or down, I find it motivates me either way.

_KitKat_

Probably won't help much....but for me it is my closet of skinny clothes, I really miss my clothes and want to fit them again and buy new also.

Eric_DeCastro

my exercise is running. at this point I don't call it an obsession. It feels like a drug and I need it. I have to have it. no matter what mood I'm in, no matter how I tired I am, or how lazy I feel. so the motivation is just pure obsession with running. I can't stop won't stop.

phred_52

Originally it was when the scale read 199 vs my norm of low 160's. Have to admit it was very difficult giving up all fatty/junk foods. I did manage to get back to weight. Stopped for a while, went back to my love of ruffles, gained again, now I'm where I want to be.

I reckon' like what others said, it's just a matter of priorities or wanting it, no matter who eats what, or when shopping.

Just joking, but hoping my average of 10hrs cardio a/week will clear my lungs of 36yrs of smoking :noway: . Doc did say on recent physical my heart and lungs sounder good

DeterminedFee201426

i motivate myself with my own bodily results thats
it