What's your "WHY"??

Cayjominara
Cayjominara Posts: 270 Member
in Getting Started
I have been reading various posts throughout the site. There are a great number of individuals that are entirely motivated, and there are those who need help with their motivation. I have found that the people that experience any degree of success in pursuing a goal, do so because they are DRIVEN! They are driven by something quite often greater than themselves. They have a reason for why they work so hard, or push themselves to intensely. They are committed to reaching the goal because they look in the mirror every morning and remind themselves WHY they are in the fight, and WHY they MUST stick with it until the matter is done. I would like to challenge each us to consider our WHY. Sure, we want to lose weight. We want to be fit. We want to be healthy in mind, body and spirit. But the real motivating factor behind us getting there is WHY! WHY do we want it and WHAT IS IT THAT WILL DRIVE US TO get where we want to be?

Dig deep...
The WHY has to be something that will keep you moving even when you feel like giving up. The WHY will make you put up one more rep in the gym. The WHY will make you push away that plate or turn your back to the unhealthy choice. The WHY will get you up off the couch an out on the track or out for a walk. The WHY will make you ignore the critics and push like you've never pushed in your life.
Dig DEEP...

What's your WHY?
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Replies

  • elleloch
    elleloch Posts: 739 Member
    I have a few.

    1- I am vain
    2- I want the huz to have a hot wife
    3- I want to feel good all the time
    4- I want to help others
  • goodnamegone
    goodnamegone Posts: 237
    I want my body back. I want to feel good about my body. I want to like what I see when I look in the mirror. It's not a big "WHY" but it's big enough to keep me going. Being a normal weight, having a toned body makes me feel proud of myself and powerful.

    I also love the feeling from eating well and want to keep that. I feel like a fraud writing this because I ate crappy food tonight but I will do better tomorrow. Thanks for your post.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    My "why" started out by the realization that I was fat and out of shape. I quite simply did not like it and I wanted to do something about it.

    At some point, seeing the changes and seeing the efforts pay off became very rewarding.

    Eventually, I grew a passion of sorts for the training aspect of it. I think it probably stemmed from using progressive overload and actually treating that metric as a goal oriented focus. "I'm going to get another rep today" or "I'm going to add another 10lbs today".

    As of now, it's no longer a question of motivation or drive. It's just a way of life now.
  • katalinax87
    katalinax87 Posts: 146 Member
    Because my daughter deserves a mummy she can be proud of, my partner deserves a girlfriend who isn't whining all the time and I deserve a body that functions, looks beautiful and can do everything that I want

    (Just starting my journey)
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
    Love.

    I love lifting weights - I love the feeling of strength, the challenge of it, the discipline, the focus.

    I love cycling - I love the sense of freedom, the meditative quality, the ability to endure.

    I am not driven, not in the slightest.

    Why would I need to be when I love my life and the things I do in it? Life's too short to be unhappy.
  • benum21121
    benum21121 Posts: 200
    Because nobody else is gonna do this FOR me. It's 'Do it', or don't. I deserve it. I deserve to look good, accomplish my goals, and have pride in myself for the first time ever. THAT'S my 'why'.
  • Bownzi
    Bownzi Posts: 423 Member
    In my struggle to recover from my neck injury I put on more weight than would have thought possible...My why is that i want to be able to run again and climb.. I can't do that if the weight is on me... my shoulders went away and so did most of my muscle..so another of my WHY's is to rebuild my broken body..
  • Cranquistador
    Cranquistador Posts: 39,744 Member
    to reach my potential.
  • pauldix
    pauldix Posts: 35 Member
    I really don't think you have to be 'driven'. I'm not. As for motivation, I heard there was such a thing as BMI and to my surprise discovered I was in the over-weight category. I decided, then, to get a grip on my daily diet.

    I certainly don't push the exercise routine very hard. I stick to the calorie limit mfp recomends, plan menus fairly carefully - but then I've been doing that for years anyway.

    If 'digging deep' 'feeling the burn' etc works for you then do it.
  • ChangingforgoodUK
    ChangingforgoodUK Posts: 19
    First of my reason is too look good, as vain as that sounds it's true. I hate looking in my wardrobe and seeing my clothes that used to fit me but now barely fit around my thighs.

    Secondly I want me and my family have a healthy lifestyle and be a good role model to my little girl.

    Thirdly which could probably be the biggest reason why is proving people wrong. So many people think you've tried dieting before but never succeeded this time. However this time it's not a 'diet' its a lifestyle that I have chosen, I'm motivated and ready to do anything to succeed!
  • blankney94
    blankney94 Posts: 95
    Why am I doing this?

    - For me - no one else. It's not going to work if I put in all this effort just to impress other people. It has to be for me. I want to feel comfortable in my clothes. I want more energy, and I want to push myself. I'm quite driven, but wouldn't be so driven if I was doing this for other people.
  • Aeramis13
    Aeramis13 Posts: 135 Member
    I turned 30 and realized that I'm probably half way through my life and I've spent it missing out on things. While i'd say i'm overall happy with how my life has gone so far (awesome husband, great family, acceptable job, etc.), I wish I had LIVED more and I very much blame my weight & the way I perceive my fat self.

    I've missed feeling good, both physically and mentally about my physical appearance. I've avoided pretty much all physical activity for about 15 years, which means I've turned down events, games, even long shopping trips, due to not wanting everyone to see me sweaty and out of breath. I've missed feeling like I've conquered something (I get to do it all the time now in the gym - got a new fastest mile time 3 times this week so far, for example!) I've missed being just acceptably annoyed with photo takers - and definitely plain old turned down being in photos, thus missing a million opportunities for good memories.

    It became time for me to stop making choices that take things away from me. And I'm loving it.
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
    My mother was diagnosed as pre diabetic (she's only 20 lbs overweight) and she has severe prolapse. I want to avoid both of these issues if I can. Therefore I'm losing weight (for the diabetic part) and lifting heavy (please let them be right about it strengthening the pelvic floor).
  • ryry_
    ryry_ Posts: 4,966 Member
    Well I guess it all started the first time I went through the second grade. I caught my reflection in a spoon while I was eating my cereal, and I remember thinking "wow, you're ridiculously good looking, maybe you could do that for a career."

    On a serious note, my "WHY" is mostly for vanity to look good. I like walking past the mirror and feeling proud rather than face feelings of regret and unrealized potential. Also, The drive of progressive overload gives me the drive in my life to keep improving, and mood enhancement I get from excercise and sports is so strong it cannot be ignored.
  • rlmetz23
    rlmetz23 Posts: 6
    I want to be healthy agin!

    I was put on a very high dose steroid last year for a rare diasease I was diagnosed with, while it helped the problem, it didnt help my weight! I gained 60 lbs in less then a year and am officially the heaviest I have ever been! I am now fianlly off my steroids and ready to get the "Steroid weight" off!

    Add me!!! I could always use extra encouragment and motivation!!!!
  • Rockstar_JILL
    Rockstar_JILL Posts: 514 Member
    I need to feel healthy, be healthy and keep this weight off. I lost over 80 lbs. There is NO way I am going to let myself go backwards now. I love the changes in my attitude, my body and my spirit. I will continue this fight and keep on working even though my body likes to not cooperate. I WILL succeed!!
  • bvincentelp
    bvincentelp Posts: 36 Member
    Strictly vanity, just want to look absolutely stunning naked.
  • kdjfalkj
    kdjfalkj Posts: 8 Member
    It's really not about what I see in the mirror, more about how I feel living in this body. I can remember clearly just how sick, I mean literally SICK, I felt every day back when I mostly ate and drank a bunch of junk. Stomachaches, lethargy, headaches, all that good stuff. :sick:

    After I started eating much healthier and drinking only water, I felt so wonderful that now I don't even crave stuff like soda and chips. My "why" is simply because I love myself enough not to do things that make me feel crappy...and eating junk food on a daily basis was one of those things. Besides that, I just miss having a much lighter body like I used to when I was younger. :)
  • Adc7225
    Adc7225 Posts: 1,318 Member
    Good question, because I think the why changes for some of us as we go along!

    I started with just wanting to feel better - tired of being tired (too tired for hanky panky :ohwell: ) and to get off high blood pressure medication.

    Then after losing some weight, my then current became my ex . . . I then wanted that "Revenge Dress" moment!

    Now, I just want to be comfortable in my skin, I plan to reach my goal hopefully by August of 2014 (or at a minimum, my doctor set goal of 175) and hopefully have a healthier, active lifestyle - never letting my weight keep my doing things.

    I have started doing things that I never realized my weight was keeping me from doing - I live in San Francisco, and 2014 I plan to participate in the Bay to Breakers for the 1st time :bigsmile:

    Walking not Running!!
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
    I was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired.
  • greattimes
    greattimes Posts: 123 Member
    Had severe reactions to every medication they put me on for blood pressure and diabetes. Decided I had to take matters in my own hands . I succeeded no more medication no more extra weight plus now I am doing it because I enjoy the exercising and the results.
  • losing210lbs
    losing210lbs Posts: 3
    To get my life back.
  • MysteriousMerlin
    MysteriousMerlin Posts: 2,270 Member
    I want a baby. What I've been doing up to this point hasn't helped, so I decided to do the opposite.
  • Hauntinglyfit
    Hauntinglyfit Posts: 5,537 Member
    I was 1 pound away from "overweight". That might seem like nothing but that realization hit me like a ton of bricks.

    I am vain. I like attention, I like turning heads when I go somewhere.
    I also like being strong. Yeah, it feels good when i lift more than some of the guys at the gym.
    I am aware of the fact that being in shape now and staying in shape will help me stay healthy long term.
    I get a high from working out. When i leave the gym and my legs almost give up going down the stairs I have the biggest smile on my face.
  • majess1022
    majess1022 Posts: 70 Member
    For the past couple of years, every time I see a picture of myself, I think "oh! what an unflattering picture." After about a year of that, I realized it's not a bad angle, it's my weight and lack of fitness.... So, reality began to set in.

    What made me get serious is wanting to look decent in my sister's upcoming wedding photos.
  • Katie0174
    Katie0174 Posts: 33 Member
    I gained a lot of weight while I was pregnant and now I want to lose it and get in shape so that, when the time comes, I will be able to play with my daughter and not get too tired. I want to be a good role model for her and, even though she's only 8 weeks old, I want to start now.
  • RuthRW
    RuthRW Posts: 247 Member
    It started out as a way to prove to myself that relationship problems with my husband weren't secretly about my weight.

    I was also sick of being red faced, sweaty and out of breath playing with my kids in the summer. I loathed shopping in the plus size clothing section. I hated seeing my photos and reflection in store windows. I was never fat as a kid, I am not big boned and I knew deep down I wasn't supposed to live my life as an overweight woman. I had used quitting smoking and having two kids as an excuse in my head but it was a lie.

    Now everything has changed - even though I still have another 20 lbs to lose before goal I am much more confident about my appearance. It helps getting so many compliments from extended family and friends about how healthy and happy I look! I have strong, defined shoulders and my legs look great. I am proud of my body, not just how it looks but what I can DO with it.
  • daniflems
    daniflems Posts: 69 Member
    My WHY has changed through the past 5 or 6 years...at first it was something as simple as wanting to put on a bikini and not put a t-shirt over it...now it has transformed into wanting to be a good role model to my sweet baby girl.

    I am certainly vain and like to look good. I enjoy getting attention from other people...I think everyone does to a certain extent. When you start losing weight and the compliments and comments start rolling in that is usually enough to keep you going.

    But it is a bigger picture now. Being active has become part of my lifestyle and I most definitely want to pass that idea onto my daughter. It is much more fun to climb a tree than to stand at the bottom and look up...
  • jackielou867
    jackielou867 Posts: 422 Member
    Because I cant think of a genuine or valid reason why not.
    Because one day I realized I was more worried about not feeding the dog stuff that I knew was bad for him than I was myself.
    Because I looked in a mirror.
    Because I saw a photo of myself.
    Because I cried in the shop changing room.
    Because I only have one body, no exchange, no return.
    Because I felt old.
    Because I felt tired.
    Because I felt broken.
    Because I could no longer ignore the truth.
    Because I want to be strong and healthy when I am old.
    Because I deserve it.
    Because I am worth it.

    Because it feels even better than it looks :-)
  • APBTMOMMY130
    APBTMOMMY130 Posts: 1
    My mom had a heart attack about 5 years ago and was also told she had diabetes and it all runs in the family, so I am doing what I can to try to make myself healthier to fight those problems while I am in my 30's. I also started feeling sick ALL the time, headaches, body aches, ETC didn't want to do nothing when I got home from work ( although I did anyways) but I just really didn't want to do nothing. I also started noticing that I could just be sitting here and have a hard time breathing and I know it was all do to my weight. So I am doing something to change myself now before it gets any worse. I also much like anyone else would also just like to look good for a change and not be disgusted at what I see when I look in the mirror. Of course with seeing myself like this it keeps me in a depressed and moody mode and I wanna snap out of that mode and start to feel good about myself. That is my reason as to why I am so motivated to get up and start to lose weight.

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