Where do I find the long term motivation?

Nicki_101

My motivation is me.....
Your health is like a retirement fund, save now for a better future.

Love_flowers

It's never funny paying of debts. Nobody enjoys it. But it has to be dealt with. The sooner the better. Motivation has to be renewed every single day. :-)

JesterMFP

Thanks for all of this as far as health goes: every doctor I've ever been to has all said I'm incredibly healthy. There's nothing wrong with me, I just need to lose a few pounds.

What are some good reward ideas for meeting goals?

You're 23 years old. That has a lot to do with your current health. If you still need to lose 75 lbs when you're 33, or 43, chances are you'll find that you have accumulated at least a few health problems. You want to have a family, right? Even if you are lucky enough that your weight doesn't adversely affect your fertility, I'm sure you would want to be as healthy and energetic as possible for your children, and to be able to set them a good example.

The truth is that whatever the reason(s), they need to come from inside you. External reasons are only motivating for so long, before they wear off. For me, it was a combination of:

-looking at my family and the health problems they have, and not wanting to have the same problems
-not wanting to be controlled by food and my emotional eating problems any more
-I'd never been able to wear clothes that suited me, that I liked, and I really wanted to have that opportunity

Now, I've also got these reasons:
-wanting to be stronger
-wanting to do things (like running 5k) that I'd never thought I'd be able to do
-liking what I see in the mirror, and wanting to like it even more

The health reasons are the most motivating for me, but there are days when none of them matter that much, and what keeps me going is simply the habits I've created. Sometimes I really don't care about losing weight, but I just keep logging my calories and just get out there and exercise, because I'm just used to it now. Having other goals helps too. I decided to start running, and completing the Couch 2 5 k programme has been a massive motivation to get out there and run, when I really don't feel like it. I didn't want to quit the programme, so that kept me going even when weight loss wasn't on my mind.

stljam

as far as health goes: every doctor I've ever been to has all said I'm incredibly healthy. There's nothing wrong with me, I just need to lose a few pounds.

As someone older than you whose weight has fluctuated by around 20-25%, I would caution you on accepting this line of thinking. For me, that statement sure seems to take test results in a vacuum and as I got older I finally stopped doing that. Sure, I may have been still in the normal/healthy range of the tests but what was the liklihood of that continuing if I contined to gain weight or stay overweight. In my experience, the older I got and/or the more overweight I was, the worse some of my test results got. I also started really thinking along the lines of if I am still at this weight in 20 years, are these tests likely to still show me as healthy? etc.

I look at tests like the scale. It gives me certain information about that point in time but it is really dangerous to rely on it by itself. it just doesn't give a full picture of the situation.

As far as motivation, each person's motivation and more importantly determination lies within them. It's the finding it part that can be so difficult and often very unique to each person. I'm rooting for you to find yours.