What is YOUR motivation?

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Replies

  • Sparks_wife2013
    Sparks_wife2013 Posts: 26 Member
    First off my main reason has been my health and wanting to be around for my sons and be able to play with them, and doing family things. Secondly, this is going to sound terrible but I used to be over 200 pounds I found a picture that gave me the thought to change my life but the last final reason was the show my 600 pound life. I'm afraid to get that big and lose sight of who I am and my health.
  • tjsoccermom
    tjsoccermom Posts: 500 Member
    I'm motivated by my daughter's graduation next May. This is what got me started. But there's so many other things now, too. Actually wanting to be in pictures again, being able to bike faster than my teens, not snoring at night, buying size L clothes (sometimes even M in tops now), feeling confident again, not like I want to hide, being a role model for my kids...I can encourage them to work out and not be a hypocrite, preparing to bike in a JDRF fundraiser (daughter developed type 1 this year), not worried that I won't fit on a ride at an amusement park, and so much more. It really is so worth all the work that goes into losing weight and caring for your body. This is the only body we'll have, so we have to take care of it if we want to live as full a life as possible.
  • zenabby
    zenabby Posts: 24 Member
    Although I have been gaining weight slowly and consistently for the past 4 years (6-8 pounds a year) to about 30 pounds gain, I didn't really worry too much about it. I went from a office job to work from home job and looks and fitting into work clothes were not such a problem.

    1) However, when I met old family and friends this year, everyone was shocked at my weight gain. My best friends and mom asked me to watch my weight.
    2) My mom is not overweight but in her late sixties and is suffering from lifestyle problems - legs, bones, blood pressure, cholesterol etc. she can't walk that fast or play around with my kids (grand daughters)
    3) I read a really fabulous book about working out and weight loss and how one without the other does not make sense. We don't want to lose weight, but we want to lose fat and build muscle. The science helped me.
    4) I joined a interval training/boot camp like gym and saw these amazingly fit people who went through the whole boot camp with such ease. I am the worst there. I realized that I really can't run much or do most of the things I thought I could.
    5) I don't want to look thin anymore. I want to be really really fit and toned. I want to avoid hyper tension and similar lifestyle issues (though they could be genetic). I want to be able to hike, cycle and run around with my now relatively young kids, but in the future with my grand kids. I better look after myself now.

    I'm just getting started.
  • ukaryote
    ukaryote Posts: 874 Member
    Must stay active enough to see my children settled in their own places. They have some disabilities and the gov'mnt takes decades to really get moving. Gotta stay in shape to give them the care they need and push the agencies.
  • sphkhn
    sphkhn Posts: 456 Member
    Realizing I was the largest size at every store GAP, H&M, Victoria's Secret, TopShop ect! I couldn't deal with the jump from size 14 to 16. Being the biggest girl out of all my friends even though I was and still am the most outdoorsy and active. Being mistaken for a colleague who I always assumed was at least 50 pounds heavier than me! It was never a picture or something anyone said I always felt good about my body since I had been overweight since childhood. I never realized how much my weight was holding me back until now.

    My motivation to keep going is getting my friends to run with me, having my mom who is skinny but weak want to tone up and be strong again, encouraging my dad who is a diabetic and 230 pounds to start being active. Having my step-grandmother get teary when she said how proud she was of me.
  • njax99
    njax99 Posts: 11 Member
    Looking in the mirror and seeing an attractive but very overweight person looking back.
    Being 40 in 6 months.
    My mum dying of Breast cancer and complications caused by diabetes.
    Not wanting the seat belt on a plane to be tight!
    Wanting my kids and husband to proud of me.
    I teach swimming, I want to look the "part"!
    Finally and I guess this is the kicker my husband of 22 years telling me he is no longer physically attracted to me and if I don't lose weight and start a healthier lifestyle he will leave me.
  • jenversuslife
    jenversuslife Posts: 57 Member
    Maybe TMI but I went to get more contraception and my nurse advised that I would possibly need to change my pill type due to weight gain (I'd gone up 6lbs in 6 months, obviously I was close to the brink to begin with). I'm the maximum I can be on this pill, I don't want to change contraception and potentially cause more trouble to my body due to hormones etc. I am going back in 4 weeks, and then 2 months after that and I want to prove I can be on this pill safely.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    My motivation:

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    and other images like these. I have an awesome B&W pic on my phone as my lock screen pic but I can't find it on Google.

    ETA: because this is basically my long-term goal. So just need to remember why I'm doing what I'm doing even though some days I just want to be lazy and eat everything (I eat at a 20% deficit max from TDEE and follow IIFYM so I'm definitely not undereating, I just have a history of bored eating)
  • ctodd58
    ctodd58 Posts: 7 Member
    To realize on the outside the bad-*kitten* I know I am on the inside. Sounds silly -- I've always considered the tiger my "spirit animal," and when I perform athletic feats, I actually feel pretty predatory/powerful. It's exhilarating...don't want to pass that up.
  • mzfrizz15
    mzfrizz15 Posts: 135 Member
    I have a few.
    #1: Diabetes runs on both sides of my family. My Mum was diagnosed in her 40s. I want to avoid it as long as I can!
    #2: The shocking realization that I would wind up at 300 pounds if I didn't change my ways and fast.
    #3: My knees have hurt since I was 18ish. I want to stave off osteo-arthritis for as long as I can. I cared for patients who had it and and it broke my heart.
    #4: I want to feel like a normal person, instead of one of Jabba the Hutt's cousins.
  • Heatts
    Heatts Posts: 73 Member
    Okay, I need to remember what my motivation is here because it's fading. I hate being fat, and I want to feel good in my body. I want to be healthy body, soul, and mind. I cannot be healthy overall with all this extra weight. I want more energy. I want to to not feel embarrassed by pictures that include more than just my face. Hot guys working out and checking me out. To know that I completed a goal. To know that I'm worth it. To shed the extra baggage mentally and emotionally. To know that I'm capable and successful.

    But I still feel like "Can I really do this?" :/ Sigh. 15 pounds down. "Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming." Right?
  • emngill209
    emngill209 Posts: 14 Member
    One morning I was sitting on the side of my bed with my 4 month old and I looked at my arms and face and noticed how much of a change I had gone through- for the worse. I cried and told myself I hated myself. That's when I realized that I needed a change. I had already been going to the gym and kind of watching what I eat but after that I decided I really needed to do something. I don't want to wake up everyday for the rest of my life hating myself for the way I look. Even just being back in the gym for a week i feel better about myself, but still know I have a long road ahead of me..
  • AndyPGonzalez
    AndyPGonzalez Posts: 29 Member
    I saw a video I made for a class freshman year (3 years ago) and realized that I was 35 (45?) pounds heavier now and couldn't believe it. I knew I'd gained weight, but never noticed how much until then. Freshman year I lost 20 pounds without noticing, so I don't know how I lost it.

    So now, as I'm starting my senior year, I would really like to lose that weight and more! My goal is to be 40 pounds lighter on my college graduation than I was on my high school graduation. That requires me to lose 50 pounds from now until May 2015, we'll see how that goes.

    It's also a motivator when you return home and everyone says, "You got fat" or "Yeah, your grandfather told me you got fat."
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,321 Member
    I have typical motivation like everyone else..wanting to look fit and trim….all of that. But I saw a fatty heart on the Dr. Oz show and that was an eye opener. He said people with fat around the waist and chest have fat on their organs.

    It isn't about vanity so much any longer. That vision of that fatty heart keeps me on track more than a pair of skinny jeans any day.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    Once you stand on a podium at the end of a race, you get addicted.
  • cookieinbk82
    cookieinbk82 Posts: 320 Member
    I didn't look in the mirror or at a picture and say, "You're fat, you need to lose weight." My motivation was just one question I asked myself over summer vacation from work and that was, "Why not?" I'm home from work, I can take my son to the daycare at the gym where he can socialize. It was better than sitting around, eating because I'm bored, over eating and gaining more weight. Now that I've been back at it for almost 60 days, I still have this attitude of, I can either sit around and get more fat and damage my organs, or I can make a comitment to myself to get up 3x a week, eat better, feel better and maybe lose some weight (:

    I have the same motivation. I figured that if I'm going to be home for the summer I might as well make it worthwhile.
  • SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage
    SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage Posts: 2,668 Member
    First time around I saw a vacation photo of myself and was horrified. That, coupled with serious health issues. I hit rock bottom and lost the weight. Amazing how my health improved. Miraculous really.

    This time around I have new motivation - my son. I need to lose my baby weight so that I can keep up with his energy, be the best momma I can be, and live a good long life.
  • chilly1470
    chilly1470 Posts: 178 Member
    Not being able to move, tie my shoes, clip my toenails, do normal toiletries, walk far, walk near, shop without sitting down a lot, breathe, eat normal, stop eating, bend over, pick things from the floor, get up off the floor, wear my wedding ring, play with my kids, ride a bike, wash the car, buy normal size clothes, etc etc
  • ucabucca
    ucabucca Posts: 606 Member
    For me it was to take back my life and have fun again. I am very blessed with someone who has been there and kept me focused and believes in me. It however was never to lose weight but to be strong and happy
  • ASH2038602
    ASH2038602 Posts: 215 Member
    I was tired of feeling sick after eating every meal from all of the processed foods, I want to be healthy for my son, and I dont want to die young of heart disease like my Grandma and Uncle did.

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