What is your WHY?

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  • raw_meal
    raw_meal Posts: 96 Member
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    for later
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,134 Member
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    My WHY isn't good enough. Most of what I do is out of habit.
  • MsMarlaJean
    MsMarlaJean Posts: 1,741 Member
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    This is an AMAZING thought provoking post! I want to think about it some more and come back to it and read it again and more of the replies...thanks for posting!
  • MikePXstream
    MikePXstream Posts: 965 Member
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    Great post!!!!

    The most important thing that keeps me going...My daughter. She conquers physical therapy daily... she's 5 now and has to work harder for skills than anyone I've ever met. "She was never going to be able to walk", but at 3.5 years old she took her first steps. It was like watching someone fly for the first time. I can't even describe how amazing it was/is. When I want to blow off the gym I think about how far she's come because of how hard she worked for it. She brings me perspective and hope.
    and...............I've got to make sure I can keep up with her and my other little ones. ;)

    I will admit though....Some of my why's are pretty vain. I'm not going to lie; I do want to look good in a bathing suit!

    That is a very powerful why. What a blessing that your daughter took her first steps. I can only imagine how excited you were.
  • DeterminedFee201426
    DeterminedFee201426 Posts: 859 Member
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    why did i start
    to feel comfortable in my skin
    to feel healthy
    all about me noone else

    basically to look good yea to look good haha
  • iPlatano
    iPlatano Posts: 487 Member
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    1-*I want to get the benefits of workout and look good.

    2-*I want to live for as long as possible and not take medications as I age.

    3-*Because were we're not born to be sedentary because you lose what you dont use, just like a muscle.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
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    Teeny, tiny bikinis. That's why.
  • RUNNING_AMOK_1958
    RUNNING_AMOK_1958 Posts: 268 Member
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    My mom died because she didn't take care of herself. Had she taken care of her body she could have had a chance against the cancer that killed her. I remember how I and all who loved her felt when she died. I vowed that I would become healthy to prevent disease in the first place, and to be strong enough to fight it if I got sick. I can control my health by doing the right things. I don't ever want those who love me to feel how I did after my mom died.
  • RachelSteeners
    RachelSteeners Posts: 249 Member
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    This is my first day on MFP. I found your post really inspiring and important.

    I've had too many fun years of eating and drinking, and not looking after my body. Now I'm paying the price. My WHY is to get healthy, lose weight (so I don't need to use the sleep apnea machine anymore) and to live a long healthy life with my partner and future children!
  • demonsheep
    demonsheep Posts: 69 Member
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    My why has two parts. A shallow part and then the more real part. The shallow why is that I don't want to end up like so many of the people I see everyday, or like some of the people in my family. I don't want to go up one flight of stairs slowly, breathing heavily. I don't want to have to shop in the plus size department. Hypothyroidism runs in my family and I want to avoid it. I was never truly overweight, if I was it was only ever by 5lb when I started exercising and eating better in the summer of 2013.

    My real why is that exercise and being healthy helps me mentally. I suffer from an anxiety and panic disorder, one that causes me to literally throw up. I've gotten comments on how "gross" that was, I've had people wonder if I'm bulimic or anorexic (I became so afraid of throwing up due to anxiety that even to do this day I just don't really eat in front of other people...) Not only did I have all of those comments, I was at a low point in my life spring 2013. I would starve myself through most of the day until I got home, then eat 1,000 calories all at once. I would never eat more than 1,500 calories, and probably less than that on most days. I'm proud to say that on days I work out, I haven't had a panic attack on the same day. In fact, I haven't thrown up due to a panic attack since August of 2013! I've been able to go out with friends, attend class, and have the energy to get through stressful challenges. Sure, the anxiety and panic attacks linger in the shadows- but I can run further, faster, and lift more away from them with each passing day. I'm hoping that I can make it to a year without throwing up! (But I'm leaving the country for a year in August, so that plane trip/travel might be enough to push me over the edge...here's to hoping not though!)

    Edit- Sorry this was such a long read! I didn't mean for it to be :ohwell:
  • suncluster
    suncluster Posts: 539 Member
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    To quote my toddler my why is "Because"

    :wink:
  • Nedra19455
    Nedra19455 Posts: 241 Member
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    I used to think that wanting to lose weight was a shameful thing. I thought "healthy people" just ate healthy food and exercised because they loved it -- not because they were counting calories or looking at the scale. I never really tried very hard because I figured I couldn't actually succeed. Sure, I could probably lose 5 lbs, but who would even notice? I didn't think I could even touch a big goal like 75-80 lbs of weight loss that would actually bring me to a "healthy" weight.

    It wasn't until I saw success stories that it made me realize that it is possible.

    So that's why I think I will be successful now -- because I know it's possible to set big goals.

    As far as why I want to do it at all?

    1. I want to have a healthier pregnancy with my next baby. I just have to believe that pregnancy, labor, and postpartum recovery is easier for people who are at a healthy weight to begin with than people who are sedentary and obese.

    2. I hate that my BMI categorizes me as "obese." I don't see an obese woman when I look in the mirror and I hate that that's what I am, objectively.

    3. I want to be able to feel more fit and energetic .

    4. I want to be able to enjoy shopping for clothes and not have to search and search for something that looks halfway decent. I want to be able to find "fun" clothes -- just just ones that are comfortable and do the job of covering me up.

    5. As shallow as it may seem, I just want to "keep up" with my family (in-laws, parents and sister). They are very active, work out every day, and eat healthy foods. I hate being the red-faced one at the back of the group, insisting that we take the easy trail when we're out hiking. I hate being the only one who is still hungry for seconds and gets up for a second plate. I hate that I can never borrow anyone's clothes because their shirts would literally rip if I tried to squeeze into them.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
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    I'm a life long dancer.

    I like feeling sexy.

    I like being strong.
  • MCarbary
    MCarbary Posts: 48 Member
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    My why is to finally lose my last 23 lbs and to finally feel confident with my body
  • bookworm_847
    bookworm_847 Posts: 1,903 Member
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    When I started out, my why was to get back to being skinny. Up until I got married, skinny is who I was. I put on 40 pounds after I got married, and if I wasn't skinny, who was I?

    Then things changed. As the scale was moving, I was trying new things to help me get into shape. After a while, I got greedy. I loved how I felt after a good workout, and I wanted more. I started out with some dvd's I bought back when I thought I could lose weight be exercising like a crazy person, but not changing the way I eat (thanks for the new knowledge, MFP!). I kept experimenting with different workouts and doing more, and people have told me that the change in my confidence is really starting to show.

    Three weeks ago, I started Les Mills Combat at home. It's incredible. I was diagnosed with clinical depression at the age of 14 and it's been part of me ever since... sometimes bringing me to lows I never knew existed. During and for a while after each Combat workout, the "depression monster" is gone... not reduced, but actually gone (for a while anyway). I'm tired, but my mind, body, and soul are at peace. So that's my new why... I want to combat my depression more myself rather than with drugs. I'll have to see where the road takes me.
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,932 Member
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    My why is because I truly enjoy it. For many years I thought that I could find joy in gourmet meals and expensive wines, and only later did I discover that wrapping my fingers around an oly bar and pounding the pavement (or better yet the beach sand) bring me far more joy. I am much simpler than I ever imagined, and I'm a hell of a lot happier than I've ever been.
  • LenoxJ
    LenoxJ Posts: 2 Member
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    My Why!

    I want to be around to see my Grand kids someday!
    I want to be able to play with them, go hiking, swimming,
    Skiing and play all day with them!

    I do not want to be that Grandpa that can not play and run
    And do things with them.

    I also do not want to DIE so young that I cannot be around
    To enjoy my grand kids! I'm only 49!

    And on a side note, I am sick of being fat… I became disabled
    In 2007 and put on 75lbs not being able to get around well
    O ya and the last why, I want to be able to get rid of this cane
    I walk around with!

    Ok thanks for listening to my ramble!
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,932 Member
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    "Now, imagine your child or loved one is in danger on that other side. I'm willing to bet that you are going to do everything you can to get to that side. "

    This is my WHY. Last week it was, literally. Now, not so literal, but still there.

    My now 10 month old niece was born with a defect that damaged her liver. By the time it was discovered, her liver was too damaged to be repaired and she was placed on a list to receive a liver transplant. The interesting thing about liver transplant, is that you can take part of the liver from a live donor and the donor will grow back most of what was taken. So we figured that with such a large family, she had better chances than most because there are so many of us that surely one of us would be able to donate. Right?

    Wrong. The very day that the living donor process was approved, we learned that you can't donate if your BMI is higher than 30. That made nearly my whole family ineligible (almost all of us are obese). So every one of us took up the task to lose weight as quickly and healthfully as we can. It was a race to save my niece. At the same time, praying that another donor will come available (it would have taken me at least a year to reach 30, others would have taken longer).

    This past weekend, a child died and his/her family donated his/her organs. My niece received the liver on Easter Sunday and by all reports she's doing fine. So the urgency to lose weight is gone, but the WHY is still there. There are other kids (and adults) that need liver transplants. I'm now losing weight so I can save somebody's life in thanks to the family that saved my niece.

    I can't find words here. :heart:
  • beaches61
    beaches61 Posts: 154 Member
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    My why is because I kept looking in the mirror and thinking: WHO IS THAT? I hated what I saw.

    I had a smaller vision of myself in my mind, one that had existed a few years ago, and my vision of myself never caught up with reality. Thus I hated it every time I looked in the mirror and saw an overweight middle-aged woman instead of the trimmer, fitter woman who lived in my mind.

    I also had some health indicators that jolted me into action, including borderline blood pressure.

    For most of my life, I have been relatively happy with how I look, but when I gained weight I was really unhappy with it. I didn't want to be that unahappy with myself.

    I wanted to like how I looked again.

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