What is your WHY?

Awesome post!

Great food for thought! I will be pondering and working toward better defining my WHY but right now, my WHY is that I want to feel comfortable enough in a swimsuit so that I can participate in the scuba lessons my husband bought me for mother's day this year.

Thanks again for the awesome post! (I was just thinking about indulging in a piece of chocolate cake that would most certainly put me over my calorie and sugar target for the day - so extra thanks for this!)

Because I want to free the healthy woman who is fighting to get out of this unhealthy body. I want to be strong and vibrant again.

my "why" started when I left a relationship behind that did a number on my body and my mind. I don't want to be a stranger to myself anymore. Sometimes it's really hard to keep going but I haven't given up yet and I don't plan to.

My Why is Multifactorial.

I had an evaluation at work that requires a peer review. I got excellant marks on all of the important areas but evaluation after evaluation I was marked down for appearance. Now I dress nicely, shower daily, all the important cleanliness issues are addressed. It really really hurt my feelings. Then not even a month later I was sought out by a headhunter for a job. She was a super sweet and motivated lady. But she gave me this advice..she said if you lose weight and tighten up you will be able to get any job you want in your field. As much as we hate to admit it, looks do matter. Now Im not ugly but I am overweight, I am very well aware of that. but professionalism is so often tied to personal care. I also have many other personal reasons I want to look good in my clothes and out of them, I want to be able to do all the things I used to be able to do before I gained this weight and I want to be able to be comfortable getting my picture taken and not cringe at the reality I see on the film. Most of all I want to be healthy and comfortable with who I am. I have many degrees, what I dont have is an outward appearance that I am comfortable presenting to the world. I think loosing this weight will help me feel free.

It wasnt that she was being nasty, she was really trying to help me, and is isnt like she was saying anything that I had not already heard from my peers in an indirect way. I wasnt mad, I was actually happy that someone said it outloud. She als told me that if I wanted the upper echelon jobs in my field I would need to do some personal branding..have headshots made, that sort of thing....it was positive, and the wakeup call that I needed.

Thanks for that post.

I think I've fallen into that trap of not having a well defined WHY and have let life distract me from my goals.

Time to re-evaluate the WHY and get back to the journey towards good health!

My WHY is:

I am a single mom...I want to be healthy and happy for my soon to be teenage daughter. I want to show her that yes, it is important to take care of yourself and be healthy. Breaking all the unhealthy habits now will keep me from wishing I had in the future. I have been putting myself on the back burner for years now and Im only 28! I want to be the girl that goes to the dr and gets told, see you next year! Not we need to work on your cholesterol or weight.

Let's face it, life is better enjoyed when you are healthy and happy, not scared to go shopping or afraid to put last years bathing suit on. I don't want to be super model thin or fly away with the summer breeze, I just want to know that when I leave my house I feel confident and comfortable and I want my daughter to do the same--the best way is to show her how to be healthier and confidence comes from within. I lost my confidence along the way.....I'm going to get it back!

My WHY for losing weight was that near the end of 2012, I felt I was at a crossroads. It was getting harder and harder to get myself moving, and it was all too easy to overeat. I figured, in another year I could be healthier and happier with my body, or I could continue my downward spiral and end up facing serious health issues associated with obesity. I decided to take the first road.

It was easier than I thought it would be.

Now, almost a year into maintenance, my WHY is a WHY NOT? I'm having fun doing things I never thought I'd be doing when I started out. I'm happy with the way I feel and the way I look. I have more energy and a better sense of how to use food. So why would I not want to keep pushing myself, keep making goals and smashing them, keep doing active things and having fun? Why do I lift weights and hit things and dance with a hula hoop and eat what I want within reason? Because I can. Why not?

I'm not a big believer in "motivation." If I sat around waiting to be "motivated," I'd still be sitting... and I'd weigh about 200 pounds now. I know that's true, because I used to tell myself that yeah, I knew how to lose weight and I would pretty soon... I just wasn't quite ready to do it yet. I didn't have a good enough reason to start.

Then one day, I said, OK... it's time. And I did it. And I kept doing it. Because I could.

We're always moving, always changing, always heading down one path or another. WHY NOT choose our direction with purpose and go where the awesome is? Because, you know, we can. :drinker:

My why is not necessarily strong enough, but I agree that it has to be strong to keep someone going. Maybe that's why I've had trouble in the past. To wear cute clothes wasn't strong enough. To battle my PCOS wasn't good enough because it was invisible, even though I eventually wound up winning. To show everyone that I could wasn't nearly enough, and just can't be enough for anyone. At the end of the day it was very simple- I just got too depressed. That's why I started exercising, it's why I'm working as hard as I can now. I've made room for it. Instead of it forcing me to lay in bed all day, forget to eat, and wind up being tired and flabby and hopeless, I've decided to let me get mad at myself when I work out. I can call myself all the names I want while I run, while I lift, while I squat, while I swim. That is the only time I will let myself hear it. I've battled major depression since I was a child. Nothing horrible ever happened to me, I just got very sad somehow and it never went away. It makes me sleepy, it makes me snappy towards others, it makes me unproductive, and it makes me afraid. Exercise DOES help. Every day for that half an hour to an hour that I kick myself around, I have managed to rescue myself a little bit. I don't sit around and cry or tell myself that I can't leave the house. I even get hungry sometimes. I feel like if I can make small goals for myself and hit them, I can be proud of myself, and that is one step towards maybe even being happy.

I'm 48, 5'9" 210, so a little back story is needed (warning, wall of text):

In my 20's I could eat 5,000 calories a day and never gain weight, I weighed 145 back then, too skinny IMO . I was very active and in awesome condition, turned 30 and still didn't gain any weight no matter how poor my diet was.

Hit 35 and gained a few pounds and got a bit if a spare tire, no big deal it was bound to happen with age, probably weighed 175 at the time.
40 came and the spare tire got bigger, probably weighed 190 or so, my energy levels dropped and I became less active, just age and stress is what I told myself.

Turned 44, weighed around 205 and started a new job that involves a lot of lifting, busy time of year I will lift 25,000 pounds of product in one day. This left me pretty exhausted at the end of my work day and no energy/motivation to do any cardio.

I have to do DOT physicals for my job every 2 years, weighed 210 in 2012 when I had it done.
April of this year was time for another DOT physical, still weighed 210 but my blood pressure was 170/100, time to freak out.
They gave me a 3 month medical card and my BP needs to be below 140/90 by July.

I don't have time to lower my BP with just exercise, so off to the doctor I went. Hadn't been to one in years, so did a full physical with blood work and started on BP meds.
Got the results of the blood work and I have hypothyroid, turns out I've had the symptoms for some years but dismissed them as just signs of getting older. That turned out to be great news, I've only been on levothyroxine for 1 and a half weeks but already feel much better not only physically/energy wise, but also mentally.

I've been wanting to get back into cardio workouts for sometime to lose weight and get in better condition. The high BP was the kick in the pants I needed. My knees can't handle the pounding of running and/or treadmill so my only real choice is elliptical. I hate gyms so I did tons of research and found an elliptical that felt good and met my budget. I got it 6 days ago and love it, hardest thing has been not over doing things. I've had to resist the temptation to use it twice a day.

Strange that finding out I have high BP was a good thing, got me motivated to work out, and led me to discover I have hypothyroid.

Truthfully my why is I want a baby.
But I want to provide a healthy strong body for my baby to grow in.
I want to be a fit mum not a fat mum.

This is my why as well, couldn't have put it better.

My why is my son. I want to be there for him as he grows up. I want to be able to run around with him. I don't want him being embarrassed for having the "fat mum" at school. I want to do it for myself so I can look and feel better.