finding your motivation

sura987

I can't pretend that I'm a weightloss/fitness professional because I'm clearly not. But over the years, being a woman, and obseving other women, I wanted to write this post to discuss my observations, as well as what we can use and pull out of ourselves to help motivate us to keep going.
I've observed many women who are super competitive about everything, including weightloss. They have to keep wearing a certain size clothing, they have to be the "skinny" friend, if one woman loses weight in the group, this particular woman will stop at nothing to lose more (even secretly going to weight-loss clinics, joining nutrisystem, etc.) If she knows that you workout, she has to top you, there...too. She is also the friend who sabotages the other friends by pushing food on them. She uses competition (in a not healthy way) to motivate herself to keep slim. I feel there is a healthy way to use competition to motivate ourselves, and that's to compete with ourselves by say building our time walking by 5 more minutes, or using more healthy substitutes, etc. Challege ourselves to do a little more, improving our fitness level.
I've seen alot of women who lose weight for an event or they want to lose weight for a particular outfit. They use this type of motivation. This is what I'm trying to do right now. There is a photo on my ticker progress tape of a woman in a bathing suit on a vacation, somewhere. I really want to go on a vacation somewhere with my husband, a sunny, beach destination, where I can feel comfortable in a swimsuit. Our whole married life, we hardly went on any vacations, whenever we had the financial means to go, I held us back because I was too ashamed of myself...to appear in public in a swimsuit. Life's too short, and if I have a dream, I have to make it happen!
The super best reason to lose weight, gain fitness is for better health. That is the absolute best motivation. Time and time again I've seen on these T.V. shows (Dr. OZ, Biggest Loser, etc.) people who have normalized their high blood pressure, minimize the chance for heart disease, normalize high blood sugar/diabetes, improve their physical endurance, improve their moods and general outlook on life. It's not easy, it takes a lot of effort, and it is not a temporary thing, but it's really a lifestyle change....and a real gift...the gift of good health!!
I've seen a lot of women use products like Herbal life, Ideal Protein, Isogenix, Body by Vi to lose weight/get in shape. Some use it temporarily to jump-start their weightloss, some stay on it to reach their goal weight. They use these products to help motivate themselves. And it sure works while they are on them. Some use them for maintenance when they start regaining their weight, they go back on. The plus side is that they do work for alot of people while you're on it, the down side is they are expensive and realistically it's better to use natural food and learn to eat healthy for your body then live off of shakes and premade/premixed food.

mrudick74

that was well said! i have had freinds like that all my life. thing i've learned their not always as happy on the inside as they seem on the outside. don't compare yourself to anyone. you be the most awesome you, you can be. from where i sit your pretty awesome! remember too, not only are those products expensive, they are also unhealthy and can cause health problems. you were right the best way to lose weight and keep it off is a healthy diet and excerise. this next month im starting classes for health and nutrition so i can help my family, freinds and others get healthy and hopefully i can show by example. the best way to get on a healthy diet is to eat lots of fresh vegetables and fruits. with spring and summer around the corner its perfect to start a garden, find where your local farmers market is or find a berry farm where you can get excerise and find a better buy then at the grocery store chain thats been on a truck for weeks. if you can think of more healthy ideas pease share.

sura987

Thank you for your reply. I think that's really awesome you're taking the health and nutrition class. I'm sure you'll learn alot of very useful ways to increase your family's health and nutrition. It's also a great motivator for you to put into practice!! That's so great!! You're exactly right about eating the most healthy foods to increase nutrition and therefore good health. My post was just to examine some ways that I have observed women motivate themselves to lose weight/get in shape. I'm trying to think up more ways to motivate myself. This just doesn't come natural to me, eating healthy and 'exercising"...I'll probably always hate it...but at least hopefully in the future it will become easier. or less like torture !! (yikes)

mrudick74

i feel the same way about the YIKES! factor. but, thankfully there are a lot more healthy choices that taste great now then, there used to be. i did like what you wrote about the motivating yourself. im not even scared about being put on a high fiber diet today. lol

sura987

It's really important that you don't feel deprived, you might not be able to have exactly what you crave, but maybe you can have a healthier version of it. Fiber is fantastic!! Fiber is our friend!! yes indeed....fiber is very healthy for our digestive systems to function and it keeps us full longer. You may have to let your body get used to it, but I'm sure you'll do fine. Just feel really good about yourself, about these changes you're making and how much better health you'll be in. Be proud of yourself!! you're going to set such a good example of better nutrition and health for your son and husband, and probably for others in your life. And once people start noticing changes in you, you're going to be happy!