Why can't I get motivated?

I think everyone gets to their "aha" moment. Before that, it is just an idle wish. For me, I was on a girls' weekend in the mountains. My friend took my iPad and snapped a photo of me with my dog. I took the iPad pad and looked at that woman sitting there with bulges waving out of a really cute Banana Republic tee-shirt. Five minutes later, I joined MFP and logged the banana I had just eaten for breakfast. That was 50 days ago and I still have plenty of motivation every time I think of that photo.

I would love to have you as a friend, but i have to say that if you arent doing it, its because you dont truly want it enough. Been that route... BUT hearing that should motivate you some! We can totally do this!!

I knew I needed it like forever -- even before my doctor started telling me so. But I am more of a mental action than physical action person and I'm OK with that. I never had --and still don't -- have any great desire or need to "prove myself" through sports or great physical challenges. It just doesn't interest me in the least. It wasn't until I realized that my doctor (and the surgeon who did my knee surgery last year) wasn't going to pay much attention to me saying that there was still something not quite right about it even if it's better than it was. But it still hurts sometimes and I can't run or jump or anything that causes a sudden impact or jarring or I will crash land in enormous pain. But when his answer to my sudden-onset NSAID stomach upset was to put me on an addictive opiate that was supposed to be "total pain relief" but instead put me in constant agonizing pain and gave me a rash on my arms (this after having the pain almost totally under control on the acetaminophen and naproxen. I just couldn't stop taking them without triggering great pain and the NSAID was upsetting my stomach after prolonged use. So it was totally UNACCEPTABLE to go to constant excruciating pain to where I could not function!) But as they keep saying they can't find anything else wrong and just kept pointing at weight loss as the magic answer, I finally said, fine, I hate it, but I'll do it and we'll find out who is right. I mean I know that could be PART of the problem but I am pretty sure that it isn't the whole story as the first time I remember having joint issues was 23 years ago at 120 pounds in college. At 5'2", that is definitely in the healthy weight range so it wasn't an overweight problem back then, that is for sure and certain!! But when it came to a choice of addictive, pain producing medication, debilitating stomach upset or get over my lifelong aversion to exercise, I finally found something I hate worse than exercise. I still don't love it .... but I got my sights on a higher goal that is more important to me than my present comfort. With exercise, I am able to cut the naproxen down to 500 mg once a day instead of two and the acetaminophen I can get by with two to three 500 mg tabs per day instead of four; and if I eat whole wheat bread, fiber bars and Fiber One cereal and Darigold cottage cheese and Lucerne or Western Family yogurt (all of which has acidophilus and bifidus probiotics --actually more than the brands such as Activia that bill themselves as probiotic yogurts), then I keep the stomach upset under control so it's all good. I think I am going to prove them wrong and they will have to take a more serious look at what's going on when they see I am doing my part and losing weight like they want. But if I happen to be wrong and this does solve it, I still win cause the pain will be gone. So it's a win-win....either way we find a way to make the pain go away for good and THAT is worth the effort no matter how much I hate physical exertion. So it's like everyone else says -- you just have to find that one thing that drives you to transcend your reluctance and hesitation and pursue a goal higher than your resignation or pseudo-satisfaction with the status quo and make a lifestyle change. My husband is diabetic and when he was diagnosed, we took a nutrition class at the hospital to help us get started on his diet plan. I learned alot, but the thing that really stuck out the most is that it isn't so much about depriving yourself or cutting anything out entirely or following a "diet plan" per se as it is about being aware of how much your body actually needs (ALOT less than fast food supersizing and misleading package labels lead us to believe!) and to fill up those requirements with healthy choices in a good general balance of carbs/proteins/fats. All the advice we got doesn't just apply to diabetics -- it's really just eating healthy, in moderate portions, the way everyone really should eat. We can all follow the diabetic "diet" these days because it's not like it used to be where they totally cut out everything that tastes good....it's simply choosing to eat healthy as a lifestyle. So I hope that helps give you some ideas to think about to fuel your motivation.