so, what was the REAL motivation?

At first my motivation was to lose weight and look good. As I started losing weight that was a motivation, but now I look forward to the things I can now do. When I first got under 200 lbs. I was doing my happy dance. I was sitting in the car one day and had to tie my shoe and i just pulled my leg up and tied my shoe. I wasn't able to do that before because of my stomach being in the way. Then as more weight came off I was able to ride roller coasters again without being self conscious about whether i would be able to fit. Now I have finished a 5k and a 10K and am looking forward to beating my time on the 10K in April. That is what keeps me going. Finding new goals is very important and can keep you in the gym and eating right.


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My feet were constantly swollen and hurting, and I retained water very easily. It was uncomfortable and a bit scary. I changed the diet to try to get rid of all that water, and then the weight started to just come off! Now, almost 7 kilos later and 1 kilo away from the original (but not serious) goal I am still losing weight. I fit back into my good clothes, the love-handles are greatly reduced, and my Pilates-trainer is telling me I look good! The women running the studio are really stunning, elegant, healthy-slim - them telling me I look good is a victory!

Most important though: I hold much less water, and my skin has cleared up to the point that my hairdresser told me my scalp is free of the red, flaky dry skin. I am obviously much healthier.

So - sorry to say, but it was really the pretty, politically correct reason. But if I manage to go beyond the original goal and down to my new goal (normal BMI), it will be because I am vain enough to want to fit into a more fashionable line of jeans, without the "muffin-top" effect. ;-)

When my boyfriend would poke and squeeze me as playful teasing to get me to pin him down or start a tickle fight or something. Always great fun but some days if I wasn't in a good mood it reminded me of my fat and how much I hated carrying around the extra weight. I'm glad he loves me for me but I just want to feel comfortable in my own skin so I can be the sexy woman on the outside that I am on the inside.

Then there's the fact that he's ultra-athletic and I'm ultra-competitive and I would love to be on the same level or surpass him :P I also have many goals in my mind that will require me to lose weight and become athletic...running longer and longer distances, maybe do some ski racing, mountain biking, triathlon...the list goes on and on.

A few things:

I needed new pants, my husband, daughter, and I went to the store. The pants I had on were the fake size that Lane Bryant makes to make us feel better (you know, 1 is a 14, 2 is a 16...) I think they were a size 3 (so 18). I tried on a pair of 18s, didn't fit, 20, didn't fit....yep, 22 finally fit. I broke down into tears. We went home that night and ordered a treadmill and Jillian Michael's Ifit program for an incline trainer. (June 2010)
We were also trying to get pregnant with our second baby. With our first, it was two weeks and pregnant. This time, it took over eight months.....(Born May 2011)
I was eating more than my very hungry husband....at every meal.

Oh it was a few things.

1) Went to see a doctor for the first time in six years because I needed a physical. With no blood work yet, and no knowledge of me other than what she sees on the scale, she starts harping on my weight. I'm tired of that. (See item two.)

2) I have an endocrine disorder. I have it now, I had it when I was 135 lbs and walked five to six miles a day and was eating <1,000 calories a day on average in college. So it's NOT weight related. But all any doctor ever tells me to do is lose weight.

3) Having a conversation with my partner where I realized that he'd put on 30 pounds since he started dating me because he wants to do things with me, but my bum knee means it hurts me too much to walk as much as he used to, so his activity level was dropping too, to match mine, even if it wasn't intentional. I feel a little bad about this.

4) I'm flying for the first time in 10+ years in November. In Canada, we don't make you buy a second ticket, but I'm terrified the belt may not fit, and I don't want to drop the money on my own extender. *sheepish look*

5) A very pretty friend of mine, who weighs less than I do, had the band surgery. This was something of a wake-up call, and partly, I didn't want anyone to ever suggest to me that I should do the same, as the idea of the surgery is not something I'm comfortable with, although I know it does work for some people.

6) My mother, who seems to think she has some sort of moral authority over my weight, constantly rags on me about it. She hit menopause and easily lost a boatload of weight and seems to be of the opinion that I'm just not trying hard enough. :P

=Betty=

Two things for me really- The first was my mum going on a major diet, and she's now a dress size lower than me!!! I'm really proud of her (But a bit jealous)

The second thing is just looking through photos on Facebook on days/nights out with friends. I seem to be 'The Fat One' in every single photo

My husband and I want kids, so now that I'm almost to goal we're trying to get pregnant
And I want the cute pregnant girl that is all belly

Ok, my motivator was actually not a positive one, it was more of revenge. LOL My sister-in-law (Which I despise) got pregnant 3 months after me. It was a constant comparison of "Baby Weight" from her the entire time we were pregnant. She's a hateful woman let me add. So after our boys were born, she posted an AWFUL picture of me looking extremely fat on Facebook. It burned me up! Even though she hadn't lost all her baby weight either she was trying to make ME look bad! So I took that as motivation and I literally worked my *kitten* off! Now I'm down to 120 and everytime we are at a family function and somebody mentions how good I look or how much weight i've lost she leaves the room. Haha!! I can't help but laugh inside every time it happens! The kicker is she said behind my back I must be losing weight b/c i'm having an affair! Really?!? Jealous much!?!? lol

That was my REAL motivation.

My good friend was getting married in Puerto Rico and had asked my husband to be the Best Man. We had to go but I considered just having him go and staying behind because I was having so much anxiety about possibly being "too fat to fly". Once I got started with eating well and exercising, I did not want to stop.

I was already on this fitness and health journey. But when I started losing my hair, along with other signs of agering, I kicked it into a higher gear. If I'm going to be bald I want to look as good as I can. And even though I'm a married middle aged guy with kids who drives a minivan, I don't want to be invisible to women. Even if I have no intention of talking or flirting with them.