What is your number one motivator?

Options
csontos
csontos Posts: 76 Member
in Motivation and Support
Pretty much self-explanatory. What is the number one thing that gets you motivated or keeps you motivated to make this lifestyle change?

For me, it was realizing that I was going to be starting my Master's program in public health in the fall and that I am obese. I realized that I was trying to be a "special snowflake" and trying to ignore everything that I had ever learned in my public health classes about the dangers of obesity. It just felt so hypocritical. So, here I am! Every time I feel discouraged or want to scarf down a cupcake, I open up my acceptance letters and read them instead.
«134

Replies

  • stormydestiny
    stormydestiny Posts: 24
    Options
    My biggest motivation is my health and my family, i am basically watching my mother disintegrate from being morbidly obese, and It was a HUGE wake up call for the family doctor to tell me i was following her footsteps. I want so much more for my life than to simply exist.
  • kellyskitties
    kellyskitties Posts: 475 Member
    Options
    All the people on "magic money sucking diet pills." I just get tired of hearing their diet blather and trying to sell it to me. It's not what started it - but it has kept me going. Trying to "show them" I guess. They are slowly cycling on and off those miracle diets - and I just keep going like a determined turtle. The more they tout the latest miracle the more I just keep on keeping on. I don't have any better explanation that that.
  • jackie_moo
    jackie_moo Posts: 73 Member
    Options
    My motivator is to be able to do things i couldn't do before just because i felt so tired and winded. I've never been fat, but i am very unfit... trying to change that, to be the person that i want to be :)
  • kmshred
    kmshred Posts: 393 Member
    Options
    the mirror!
  • thegreatcc1
    thegreatcc1 Posts: 22
    Options
    I wanna be able to do Hulk Hogan impressions. You know, rip my shirt off and tell people Hulkamania runs wild on them.
  • felicitykicksbutt
    felicitykicksbutt Posts: 16
    Options
    I have congenital heart disease, and since I was twelve, I've been hearing that if I'm even the slightest bit overweight, my heart is most likely not going to work to it's full potential. Most of my dad's family is overweight, and a few members on my mom's side are overweight. To prevent ending up overweight with the majority of family, I want to be able to lose weight to maximize my future health.
  • flatlndr
    flatlndr Posts: 713 Member
    Options
    My knee ... it was choice of losing 80+ lbs, or knee replacement surgery.
    At 50+ down, my knee is much happier now, and will be even more so once I've reached Onederland.
  • jackielou867
    jackielou867 Posts: 422 Member
    Options
    One simple photo was my biggest motivator. The straw that broke the proverbial camels back. Once I started the results were my motivator. The way I look and feel now, compared to this time last year. OMG!
  • csontos
    csontos Posts: 76 Member
    Options
    I have congenital heart disease, and since I was twelve, I've been hearing that if I'm even the slightest bit overweight, my heart is most likely not going to work to it's full potential. Most of my dad's family is overweight, and a few members on my mom's side are overweight. To prevent ending up overweight with the majority of family, I want to be able to lose weight to maximize my future health.
    That sounds a lot like my family! My father and his whole side of the family is very overweight. Also, my father turned 70 this year and is starting to have heart problems from being on high blood pressure medication his whole life. He went to the doctor once and his pulse was only 35. Plus, both my maternal grandmother died at 69 due to a heart attack. It's scary to think about.
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
    Options
    I came to the realization that I was fat back in the 6th grade.

    Even though I was never bullied, and rarely belittled, for my weight as a boy it always felt...wrong. It felt like some kind of horrible mistake, as it just didn't fit at all how I saw myself. Being fat was pretty detrimental to my self image, like being trapped in somebody else's body. I never lost that feeling.

    I lost a lot of weight over a decade ago as an older teen/young adult. My mind was so warped from the fat years that I eventually regained all the weight back, having never really adapted my mind to being in a fitter and leaner place. All I saw was the fat I still had, not how far I'd come. I ended up bigger than ever.

    My motivation is coming into myself, truly. It's FINALLY feeling like "me", in some areas for the first time ever. I am changing externally, but the real changes are in how I am seeing myself, the improved self image, the coming into my real, truthful self. It's a powerful change. There is no stronger motivator for me.
  • FoxyLifter
    FoxyLifter Posts: 965 Member
    Options
    My short term motivator is the vision of a slightly leaner me.

    My long term motivator is the "still able to squat +100lbs at the age of 60" me.

    :drinker:
  • firelight4321
    firelight4321 Posts: 60 Member
    Options
    Rubbing my success in my fat mother-in-law's face. :laugh:

    She thinks it's sooo hard to stick o a diet & lose real weight, but I'm showing her just how easy it is. c; She's gonna be so jealous when I'm at my weight goal & her weight hasn't budged.
  • csontos
    csontos Posts: 76 Member
    Options
    Rubbing my success in my fat mother-in-law's face. :laugh:

    She thinks it's sooo hard to stick o a diet & lose real weight, but I'm showing her just how easy it is. c; She's gonna be so jealous when I'm at my weight goal & her weight hasn't budged.
    Love it! My exboyfriend who I almost got engaged to told me that I would never lose this weight and keep gaining. Even though we aren't Facebook friends and I'm moving 7 hours away soon, I think of every single ounce lost as a kick to his smug little face.
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,089 Member
    Options
    I know it sounds vein, but I want to look awesome in a bikini! That's my motivation :-)
  • airangel59
    airangel59 Posts: 1,887 Member
    Options
    Pretty much self-explanatory. What is the number one thing that gets you motivated or keeps you motivated to make this lifestyle change?

    Right now my number one motivator is seeing what I look like now in the mirror.:bigsmile:
    I just got to my goal range last week.

    What motivated me to make this lifestyle change 647 days ago, was getting diagnosed with Type 2. BMI of 44% and of course not liking what I saw in the mirror.

    Other motivating factors for me right now are being off all my meds (2 for HTN, 2 for Chol and 1 for DM) and not carrying those diagnosis per my MD anymore.
  • SuePin02
    SuePin02 Posts: 29 Member
    Options
    I'm a nursing student in my 2nd semester of clinical and I have met allot of special people who are sick that say: ENJOY life and take care of your BODY. As a teen I never listened to my elders, I had to figure it out on my own, make the mistakes to finally learn and understand that they were right. As an adult I don't want to figure it out, I want to take the advice of the sickly I've met and take care of my body now, I don't want to wait until the health problems start rolling in to look back and have regret.

    So take care of your body, it is precious & sensitive.... And you only have one :flowerforyou:
  • letmerun
    letmerun Posts: 15
    Options
    I want abs basically.

    and an *kitten* which makes me/others cry
  • 1skinnysouthernchick
    1skinnysouthernchick Posts: 24 Member
    Options
    Looking in the mirror and liking what I see! We all know when we look good
  • enchantedgardener
    enchantedgardener Posts: 214 Member
    Options
    What kicked me into gear is when I realized that I wasn't simply overweight, but I was actually obese (BMI 30+).

    What keeps me motivated is the change I see in the mirror. Every week, I see progress and it is thrilling!

    My goal is to look good naked. I want to be able to look in the mirror and love the image I see reflected back at me.
    I was raised to believe it is vanity to care about one's appearance, but I know my heart is in the right place. For me, my desire to look good comes from wanting to care for and nurture my body, help it to be the healthiest it can be. I want to feel confident about my body, being able to wear a bathing suit and feeling good about it, not being bashful about getting changed in the locker room. I want to feel good simply being me.
  • BadAssBeast
    BadAssBeast Posts: 8
    Options
    What keeps me motivated:

    My BadAssBeautie, she's amazing, inspiring, and keeps me wanting to better myself :heart:
    Seeing the change in my appearance
    Seeing my strength and stamina build
    Knowing my health is improving by watching what I eat
    That good, sore feeling you get when you know you kicked serious *kitten*
    Becoming a BadAss

Categories