What is your motivation?

I have a VERY high stress life.. I am raising two special needs children and working a pretty demanding night shift job. Working out helps me in two ways.. It burns the stress accumulated and it also makes me stronger to better deal with the stress coming at me. No matter what goes on in my life now, my workout time is non-negotiable. Even when my daughter is critically ill and I stay at her bedside in the hospital (it happens once or twice a year), I pack running clothes and take an hour a day for myself for a run. It might sound selfish, but I am truly a better mom for doing this, she gets a much stronger mom to stay by her side the other 23 hours of the day.

To look and feel better in my clothes... and naked.

Because I don't want to be fat any more.

That's really it.

I can list all the reasons. All are logical. All make sense. Health, not wanting to embarrass my children, wanting to look cute in clothes again, wanting to be able to move around more comfortably, setting better habits for myself...the list could go on.

But even with all those reasons, it all boils down to one thing: I just don't like being fat. Even if, tomorrow, fat became the fashion, I still wouldn't like it. Even if some new amazing science proved that fat made people live longer and cured cancer, I still wouldn't like it.

So, bottom line: I don't feel I even need a reason.

I simply don't like and don't want to be fat.

And I finally dislike being fat more than I like eating.

Motivation... hmmm...
well i have a few.. i want to look awesome and be able to dress and feel confident like a 21 year old. But my big one is family ties so... South Korea, my cousins are slim and obviously i should be the same. I want to be able to be there and not want to constantly hide.

To look good AND feel good.

Being 432lbs my main motivation was to get my basic hygiene back. I could not even wipe or clean myself back there and would get cramps when i try to maneuver around my mammoth of a gut.

I don't feel feminine as a fat woman. I really didn't like that I was larger/heavier than my husband (we're now about the same weight, but before I was over 50lbs heavier than him), and though he has never made my weight an issue in the least in the 15 years we've been married, it nevertheless made me feel embarrassed for him that he had a fat, unfeminine wife.

I'd wear makeup to feel pretty, and I felt like everyone knew I was a fattie who has to use makeup to feel even somewhat feminine.

Just a whole "I've failed as a woman" kind of feeling, which is also something that is in my power to change.

I want to be light, in weight, to experience the feeling of not being burdened by extra weight which effects my stride and speed and activity level.

I want to be small. And cute. And... just didn't and don't want to be some big huge imposing woman-ish thing anymore.

Disclaimer: While I understand and accept that many fat women feel feminine and pretty just as they are, I did not and do not.

Two reasons (mainly):

1. Vanity - I liked how I looked when I met my husband at 35. I gained weight with him through eating bigger portions and not weight lifting/working out as much. I want to go back to that weight/look/feeling of being fit and lean. So I'm working out more and eating less. And getting back to my looks of over 10 years ago.

2. Health - both of my grandmothers and great grandmothers lived into their mid- to late-90s. Seeing my one grandmother living until 96 and still being able to do things on her own due to staying fit and trim is very motivating (after 96 she needed help but that was due to a stroke). I've seen so much about how weight lifting will help me when I get older that I don't plan on ever stopping. No broken hips for me!

Health first and foremost. My dad's been dealing with diabetes since he was 42, and as I was getting closer to that age I realized I was basically following in his footsteps. Beauty and confidence are also part of the equation, but not to anywhere near the same extent.

To live a long, healthy and happy life.