What is your motivation?

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Zraigy7
Zraigy7 Posts: 12
in Motivation and Support
Hi everyone, I know there re many topics like this, but many people say that their motivation to keep exercising and eating right is because they want a healthier lifestyle or something of that matter. I am wndering what other factors keep you going? For example, mine is the military. I have wanted to join the military since middle school. Now i have one year left and it is now or never to begin preparing, and i know that if i push through and push past my limits i will enjoy it even more in the end. So what is your reason to keep on going?

Replies

  • AMOMONAJOURNEYTOCHANGEHERLIFE
    AMOMONAJOURNEYTOCHANGEHERLIFE Posts: 170 Member
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    Mine is just to feel better. I'm 31 and have felt like I have one foot in the grave. I shouldn't feel that way yet. I want to be more active with my kids and not just sit on the side lines. My oldest daughters are graduating elementary school this year and it's tradition to have a kickball game the kids vrs the adults. I want to be able to do that with out killing myself.
  • balfonso
    balfonso Posts: 370 Member
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    My heart rate monitor motivates me. And seeing how much I've burnt after each workout motivates me to push harder in my next workout :D
  • coopgo
    coopgo Posts: 5 Member
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    My Lord Jesus is my motivation, he tells me in his word that I am beautiful and wonderfully made, so I do not want to put anything in or on my body that is harmful. I want to be as healthy as I can be for him, because of everything he did for me.
  • Sherry1979
    Sherry1979 Posts: 457
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    My biggest reason is just to be happy with myself. . .because if I'm not happy with myself it trickles down to everything else in my life. I also want to be healthy and feel good. . .I hate the way I feel when I'm not eating right and exercising so why on earth is it so hard for me to stick with it??? :wink: Also I want to be in the best health possible so I can live a long, healthy life with my family. And last but certainly not least, I want my daughter to grow up seeing a healthy example so hopefully she won't have the same struggles with her weight that I have had all my teenage & adult life!!
  • Vanessa1977
    Vanessa1977 Posts: 101
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    My motivation is a better quality of life. Not feel so tired, lethargic, out of breathe when I am physically active, being able to keep up with my daughter.

    I am not sure what my optimal weight is therefor I do not have a target weight I am trying to acheive, I am just trying to find that place physically were I feel my best.
  • lulabellewoowoo
    lulabellewoowoo Posts: 3,125 Member
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    My motivation is my DAUGHTER!. She is nine and has the baby fat and is becoming self-conscious. I don't want her to feel like she has to starve herself or take pills the way my mom made her feel. Apparently its working because to her "skinny" is a dirty word and equals "unhealthy". Her stepmom is "skinny". But she says she likes that I'm "healthy" and "muscular" (bless her little heart). She has even started cutting back on her nervous snacking and has refused desserts or not finished them because she is just not hungry. We started doing the gym together. She is by far my biggest motivation to be a better EVERYTHING.
  • Holton
    Holton Posts: 1,018
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    In a twisted sort of way, my mother was my inspiration to start my weight loss/lifestyle change. She has been overweight/obese all of my life, making no effort to change, and is now sitting in a wheelchair in a nursing home because her joints can't support her weight. My sisters and I have been providing weekend care for her and my Dad for over 4 years now and it became real apparent last fall that I did NOT want to end up like her; but the way I was living my life that is exactly where I was headed! While losing the weight, my biggest motivating factor was all the compliments and recognition I started receiving as people were really noticing the weight coming off. Now that I am in maintenance phase, I do find staying motivated harder, but log my weigh-ins on my bathroom mirror so that when I gain 2-3 pounds it is in my face and I become aware that I am on an upward trend and need to adjust my eating and workout mode. MFP helps also as I see the pics that people post and their testimonies about it has changed their life!
  • Holton
    Holton Posts: 1,018
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    P.S. Thanks for wanting to serve our country! Good luck to you!
  • pinkandloopy
    pinkandloopy Posts: 77
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    would it be awful to say I think it comes down to vanity? :blushing: I've never eaten bad food so always been very healthy, but I love clothes, all my friends are really slim, my flatmate is full on Kylie sized and I hate having to wear what looks the "least awful". I wan to be able to wear clothes I love, not just what's the most flattering .
  • summersk
    summersk Posts: 59
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    My biggest motivation is my Daughter. She has been fighting leukemia for over a year now and is still going strong. She is currently in remission and if all stays well will be labeled cured August of next year, however as a side effect of one of her Chemo treatments she walks on her toes constantly. The doctors have already told me that if she can't come back down to flat footed walking within four years after treatments she will have to have a surgery to cut her Achilles tendon and let it grow back in longer. I can't in good conscious sit around over weight and unhealthy because exercise "hurts: or its "too hard" and tell her to stretch her legs and walk on her heels even though it hurts. I feel that if I'm pushing through the pain and hard work to lose close to a hundred extra pounds, then I can ask her to push through the pain of stretching out those tendons to walk flat footed! My husband also helps keep me motivated. He has lost around 40 lbs himself and is still working to get those last few pounds off. We try to workout together and he encourages me to try things I wouldn't have thought to try by myself, he really keeps me going when I'm frustrated or discouraged for some reason. And my final motivation is of course my health and well being. I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer about a year after my daughter's diagnosis. When the surgeon took it out he told me later that from the size and other factors associated with it from his best estimate I had had the cancer for around 6 years, that puts it developing right around my daughter's birth! Really scary that no one noticed it because I was over weight and we all just thought I had "fat neck", it wasn't until it was big enough for someone to actually "feel" it before it was caught! The good news is that it's gone and I shouldn't ever have to worry about it again. Of course I have to take a thyroid replacement pill for the rest of my life, but hey I can handle that in lieu of the consequences!

    Oh and by the way, I am a Navy Wife and former sailor myself. Thanks for wanting to do your part to keep us free! We all have to make sacrifices in order to serve or support those that serve. I have to lose weight before I could join the Navy, and then I lost more once in boot camp. And now my entire family will sacrifice 430 of our lives together next year when my husband is shipped overseas to serve. But as it's been said many a time, " What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!" I have proven this to be true many times to myself, so to you I give this advice:

    1) It will make you stronger.
    2) Boot Camp is a mind game!
    3) be proud of yourself no matter what!

    Good luck in your endeavors, and if you need military advice please don't hesitate to find me and ask! :happy:
  • pinkandloopy
    pinkandloopy Posts: 77
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    My biggest motivation is my Daughter. She has been fighting leukemia for over a year now and is still going strong. She is currently in remission and if all stays well will be labeled cured August of next year, however as a side effect of one of her Chemo treatments she walks on her toes constantly. The doctors have already told me that if she can't come back down to flat footed walking within four years after treatments she will have to have a surgery to cut her Achilles tendon and let it grow back in longer. I can't in good conscious sit around over weight and unhealthy because exercise "hurts: or its "too hard" and tell her to stretch her legs and walk on her heels even though it hurts. I feel that if I'm pushing through the pain and hard work to lose close to a hundred extra pounds, then I can ask her to push through the pain of stretching out those tendons to walk flat footed! My husband also helps keep me motivated. He has lost around 40 lbs himself and is still working to get those last few pounds off. We try to workout together and he encourages me to try things I wouldn't have thought to try by myself, he really keeps me going when I'm frustrated or discouraged for some reason. And my final motivation is of course my health and well being. I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer about a year after my daughter's diagnosis. When the surgeon took it out he told me later that from the size and other factors associated with it from his best estimate I had had the cancer for around 6 years, that puts it developing right around my daughter's birth! Really scary that no one noticed it because I was over weight and we all just thought I had "fat neck", it wasn't until it was big enough for someone to actually "feel" it before it was caught! The good news is that it's gone and I shouldn't ever have to worry about it again. Of course I have to take a thyroid replacement pill for the rest of my life, but hey I can handle that in lieu of the consequences!

    Oh and by the way, I am a Navy Wife and former sailor myself. Thanks for wanting to do your part to keep us free! We all have to make sacrifices in order to serve or support those that serve. I have to lose weight before I could join the Navy, and then I lost more once in boot camp. And now my entire family will sacrifice 430 of our lives together next year when my husband is shipped overseas to serve. But as it's been said many a time, " What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!" I have proven this to be true many times to myself, so to you I give this advice:

    1) It will make you stronger.
    2) Boot Camp is a mind game!
    3) be proud of yourself no matter what!

    Good luck in your endeavors, and if you need military advice please don't hesitate to find me and ask! :happy:

    feel completely humbled now :blushing: I wish you all the best...let us know when you and your very brave daughter are racing each other in the park1
  • timbotina
    timbotina Posts: 1,130 Member
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    My Kids #1, and finally feeling healthy-like I can do anything #2...
  • mysi019
    mysi019 Posts: 55
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    Honestly my biggest motivation is my boyfriend. I want a better relationship with him. I feel like my weight has a negative impact on our relationship cuz it causes me to be very self consious at times. We have talked about marriage and i dont want to spend the rest of my life not feeling good enough. And belive me by no means does he make me feel like that, its all me. He is my biggest supporter and would do anything for me, and i feel like because of my weight i cant do the same for him.

    And honestly vanity is probably the second motivator in my life. I want to look hot one day in my wedding dress.

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