What is your motivation?

I'm having all kinds of trouble coming up with the motivation to lose weight, you know other than looking at my gut and the scale. Too often I find myself with the chance to eat sweets and saying "screw it" and just eating them. I don't really have anything that is forcing me to eat right and focus on making the sacrifices you have to in order to lose and maintain that lost weight. I'm just wondering what others use to motivate themselves hoping I might be able to steal some ideas.
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Replies

  • seena511
    seena511 Posts: 685 Member
    www.stickk.com
  • xF7x
    xF7x Posts: 143
    There are many that eat all kinds of food... but also the thing is to work hard and keep your caloric deficit going to loose weight.

    In other words, a good motivation could be to keep enjoying food and loose weight too... :)

    In other words... when you have that piece of sweet or many... you need to think too... there is a good run or elliptical or whatever cardio you prefer coming..

    Of course.. you still need to track it.. and try to not go crazy..
  • Okay, other than my health, I ghuess it's vanity. When I was engaged to my childhood bf, he and I broke up then he saw me about 90#s heavier than he had known me@...he remarked how I let myself go. It stung bad but i went away w/ it only to beef up over another 100. Yikes, I just added to a bad enough amount. So here I am many years later w/ his words in my mind...the ridicule he directed @ me is helping motivate me. I did however marry a man while I was 316#. He loved me then but is loving my recovering a thinner version from before.
  • Vansy
    Vansy Posts: 419 Member
    That was my problem last year. I got way off-track and would just indulge any chance I got. But the past month committing myself to training for a half-marathon again has really motivated my eating habits as well -- I'm eating less food and eating healthier foods. So for me, it was all about getting back to my normal exercise regime that motivated me to also eat better/less food.
  • ValerieMomof2
    ValerieMomof2 Posts: 530 Member
    My motivation for exercise is feeling better--my mood is always so much better when I work out, I have more energy and just overall feel better. There are times when I have taken a break and I always walk around in a funk and quickly, I get moving again. Eating wise, I still struggle. I cannot give up things so I just have to log my calories and made my food diary public so that I would really question my choices. I don't eat perfectly by any means, but when I don't log, I tend to go crazy!
  • gwenmf
    gwenmf Posts: 888 Member
    Okay, other than my health, I ghuess it's vanity. When I was engaged to my childhood bf, he and I broke up then he saw me about 90#s heavier than he had known me@...he remarked how I let myself go. It stung bad but i went away w/ it only to beef up over another 100. Yikes, I just added to a bad enough amount. So here I am many years later w/ his words in my mind...the ridicule he directed @ me is helping motivate me. I did however marry a man while I was 316#. He loved me then but is loving my recovering a thinner version from before.

    That's awesome! you want someone who treasures you - in any physicial form -- sounds like you hit the gold with your hubby. I know the ex's words hurt and if that motivates you, that's wonderful. But too often we place too much emphasis on the scale and not enough on the traits of the person. Know what I mean?
  • Okay, other than my health, I ghuess it's vanity. When I was engaged to my childhood bf, he and I broke up then he saw me about 90#s heavier than he had known me@...he remarked how I let myself go. It stung bad but i went away w/ it only to beef up over another 100. Yikes, I just added to a bad enough amount. So here I am many years later w/ his words in my mind...the ridicule he directed @ me is helping motivate me. I did however marry a man while I was 316#. He loved me then but is loving my recovering a thinner version from before.

    That's awesome! you want someone who treasures you - in any physicial form -- sounds like you hit the gold with your hubby. I know the ex's words hurt and if that motivates you, that's wonderful. But too often we place too much emphasis on the scale and not enough on the traits of the person. Know what I mean?
    Thank you. =) I believe he is the most wonderful guy. Those words from my ex are carrying me farther in motivation than I can even articulate.I so get what you mean. People are unkind a lot and many too superficial. We are more than just our bodies but being fit is important so I do prefer the better image than the sickly one. I did so much health damage so I'm happy to be making these changes.
  • This may sound a bit morbid, but in my instance one of my motivating factors is death. My father died at age 55, his father at 43, and I'm about to turn 38. I'd like to live more than 10 or 15 years. I'd like to be around to see my nephew grow up, get married have children of his own. I'd like to see my younger sister graduate college. I'd like to not be a burden to my partner by being so big that I can't take care of myself. On a less morbid and more practicle reason, let's face it we're guys and a good motivation is sexual attraction. By passing on the sweet and spending that extra 5 min on the treadmill, you'll begin to feel better about yourself, look better, and have more self confidence. And well that's a whole heck of a lot more sexy then being a lump on the log.
  • islandgirldl76
    islandgirldl76 Posts: 47 Member
    Well I just came out of a bad relationship and actually have time! Relationships are exhausting and take up so much energy even when they are going well. So working on a few things in my life and want to loose the weight just so I have more energy. I love my curves but the energy isn't there.
  • fbmandy55
    fbmandy55 Posts: 5,263 Member
    I've been on here two year, lost 50lbs right off the bat and then got into a happy relationship. A year later of being in a happy relationship and all my 'skinny' pants are skin tight!

    Motivated AGAIN so I don't have to buy bigger clothes!!!
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    1. Health, energy
    2. Stress relief
    3. Self-image
  • Alisha_countrymama
    Alisha_countrymama Posts: 821 Member
    wanting to meet someone and get remarried one day.
  • Twylyght
    Twylyght Posts: 224 Member
    My motivation is my end goal, getting my tattoo. But on a daily basis, my motivation to workout is so I can have a treat, a piece of cake or a couple pieces of candy. I do not cut anything out of my diet, I just have to make sure that I have room for the sweets or high calorie foods or drinks. It helps me to workout and sweat it out every day!
  • vicrandom
    vicrandom Posts: 80 Member
    I have some normal motivators and some weird motivators.

    1) Belly fat is a potential sign of insulin resistance, and you probably don't want to be diabetic when you're older. If you are experiencing some insulin resistance, there might be other changes going on in your body that could limit your health and mobility later in life. Personally don't care much when I die, but I want to be able to go for a walk until my dying day.

    2) Thinking about sweets: On the one hand, I think desserts are a nice way to pass the time. Make them, share them, enjoy them in moderation, what's the problem? But on the other hand, processed food. Many packaged candies and desserts aren't even especially delicious, they just have a balance of salt, sugars, and gross binding agents that make your brain demand more. Just like I hate advertisers trying to snow me into buying something I can't use, I hate it when processed food is designed to bypass my decisionmaking and activate addictive processes. Damn the Man and his crappy boxed cookies.

    3)... I'm trying to come up with motivators that would work for someone of any weight, but most of my other good ones are specific to me. One good one is having one's clothes fit well. That's not always about size - proportion is a big factor - but a belly bulge (or a random bulge nearly anywhere) usually means that inexpensive clothes will never really flatter you. If that matters to you? I confess it's not a big one for me.
  • hollyk57
    hollyk57 Posts: 520 Member
    My husband - I want to feel as beautiful outside as I know he thinks I am inside.

    My Health - Tired of feeling weak and out-of-shape. I want to get rid of my high blood pressure. I don't EVER want to get diabetes. I plan to live forever, so being fat doesn't fit in that equation. I have watched my own mother's terrible struggle with the self-inflicted disease and I won't let that happen to me.

    My family - Or the prospect of having one... If I have kids one day, I don't want to be 'the fat mom'

    My Life - I'd like to have a better quality of life - increase my self-confidence and self-worth and stop the fat from holding me back

    My Potential Hotness (lol) - Wanting to look good and wear the clothes that I love, instead of shopping in the plus size department. Just transforming into the total hottie I know I could be if I shed the extra person I'm carrying.
  • gimmegimmemoar
    gimmegimmemoar Posts: 213 Member
    I donno personally I have always wanted to be able to go out with my friends and feel like I look good. I have gorgeous friends, and I always wanted to be up to par with them.... So I finally decided to stick with it cause I don't know what the heck I'm waiting for!
  • I want to get a tattoo eventually. That's one of them. I'm also tired of looking in the mirror and hating what I see. For once, I'd like to not avoid seeing myself naked in the mirror.

    Also, I want to be healthy. I used to just go CRAZY with the fast food and candy and all that crap.
  • deb3129
    deb3129 Posts: 1,294 Member
    My motivation is to be as healthy as possible, for as long as possible. I want to be around to see every one of my kids grow up, and I still want to be active and healthy when they have moved out so I can enjoy life!
  • jennifer_a00
    jennifer_a00 Posts: 186 Member
    my motivations: energy levels, my kids (goes along with energy), the way I feel about myself, and that I don't want to die young. I have too much to live for!
  • _crafty_
    _crafty_ Posts: 1,682 Member
    Not being fat is pretty much all the motivation I need . . . but looking good naked has quite a few benefits.
  • Tiffany0688
    Tiffany0688 Posts: 8 Member
    My motivation is to continue being able to keep up with my 6 year old son. I don't want to go back the days of "hang on bub, Mommy needs to catch her breath"
  • oregonzoo
    oregonzoo Posts: 4,251 Member
    Me. Me being healthy and fit and happy for the people I love.
  • askcupid117
    askcupid117 Posts: 126 Member
    bump! This is a great thred!
  • Donica_Marie
    Donica_Marie Posts: 64 Member
    Friendly Competetion motivates me or an upcoming event (birthdays , graduation , ect.) those 2 things usually keeps me motivated and focused
    :)
  • determined2lose89
    determined2lose89 Posts: 342 Member
    Wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding....good health, great body. Wedding!
  • bsuew
    bsuew Posts: 628 Member
    I had to come to the place that I wanted to loose weight because and for me. I had to know that I am the only one that is and was going to change my life style. My knee's and ankles hurt all the time. I felt horrible about myself & was ashamed to even admit I was at 260 lbs. Even to myself. I love this site and the encouragement that is found here. The energy that I have now is amazing. Myself is encourage enough for me. And knowing I'm soooooo close to seeing my numbers start with a new number!!!
  • mltdown
    mltdown Posts: 311 Member
    For me it was when I hit 360lbs before I was 21 and simple daily tasks become hard, I couldn't wear the seat belts in most of my friends cars and I could barely go up and down stairs at work. After I got to 199 it's purely vainity I wanna be a hot biznitch and prove to myself I can be as awesome as I have always been in my head. Now not only will I have a kick *kitten* personality from being fat and only having that to make friends but I will have
    A hot bod. ;)
  • WrenStory
    WrenStory Posts: 103
    Feeling good, looking good, living longer... the typical.

    But what actually made it work was weighing my food on a scale (at first) and really paying attention to everything I ate, making a lot of friends (on my previous account) and keeping myself publicly accountable... learning how to lift weights at home and doing it. Asking questions when I needed answers. Becoming a runner. Pretty much sticking with this for over a year until it felt like a new habit.
  • farmboyphotography
    farmboyphotography Posts: 181 Member
    Three main motivations for me:

    1) My three sons are full of energy and I couldn't keep up. Then.... it happened.... my daughter was born. LIFE CHANGER.

    2) My second motivation is tied to my first. I want to be around to walk my daughter down the aisle (in about 30 years! No hurry!) and I started having health problems that many out of shape people experience: insulin resistance, hypertension, lack of energy, neuropathy, joint and knee pain, constantly needing to update my wardrobe since I was gaining all the time, feeling bad about myself, clearly too short for my weight (before I started working out, I would have been perfectly proportioned if I was 10 feet tall!)

    3) I am a professional photographer. Models who work with me have to look great, be in peak physical form, and here I was so out of shape and getting worse. Seems awfully hypocritical to me!

    I don't know about all of you, but 2013 is going to be a kick *kitten* year. Before this year is through, I WILL be in the best shape of my life! And yes, I am always open to friends on MFP who share that enthusiasm!