The Why of it.

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aodhanmom
aodhanmom Posts: 1
in Getting Started
I've been overweight/ obese for too many years. To lose weight over the years I tried it all. If I did lose weight, I would gain it all back and then some. So when the ladies at work told me that they were having a "Biggest Loser" contest I thought, I could win that contest. I am WILL win that contest!

Knowing that I have never been successful with weight loss in the past I went from "I WILL win that contest," to "Maybe I will give it a try." I caught myself second guessing myself and then I realized that I was never successful in the past because I never really knew WHY I wanted to get fit and healthy other than, so the other kids would stop teasing me. I didn't have true inspiration. Why do I want to get healthy and lose weight for good?

Here are my WHYs that matter for me:
1. To sleep 8 hours at night without waking up gasping for air. (I probably have sleep apnea, but have never been in to have a sleep study).
2. To hike in the mountains on a strenuous trail to see the really beautiful views.
3. To see my children grow up and their children grow up, and maybe even another generation...
4. To be a role model for the nurses that work with me and to my patients. (I am a Registered Nurse staff educator in a Rehab facility)
5. To spend more years with my husband, who is going through this struggle with me.
6. To look beautiful for MYSELF.
7. So my back, hips, and knees won't hurt any more.

Does anybody else have the WHY figured out? Share with me!

Replies

  • logicalinks
    logicalinks Posts: 89 Member
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    Those are great reasons you listed! It will probably serve you well to print them out and remind yourself of them if you ever start to falter. Great motivations!

    My why was not wanting to have ANY regrets about the way I treated my body as I got older... to make sure that I was doing the very best I could to take care of myself. I let myself go, especially in my forties. I chalked up too much to "I'm just getting older" which of course, is true. But I pretended like my overeating, eating junk food, and sedentary lifestyle had little to do with my slowing down and aches and pains.

    Of course, I might get cancer or have a heart attack or some other thing that I can't control... but, by George, the things I CAN control, I will! I'm at my goal weight and feel better and stronger than I have in 20 years. It's totally worth the discipline it takes to get the health you want back!

    Good luck!
  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
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    I think everyone's why is different. Your why has to come from you. I can tell you this though, if you educate yourself, not bro science or fad diet info, but real knowledge, you WILL be successful. Don't take any advice without doing your own due diligence and making sure it's correct. You will get good info on this site, but there is plenty of bad too. Good luck to you
  • emilycarr71404
    emilycarr71404 Posts: 176 Member
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    My WHY is
    1.) I don't want to be the fat mom. I want to be able to play and run around with my son and any other children I have.
    2.) I want to have fit and healthy children. I don't want to be the over weight mom with kids who only eat cheetos and need to wear spandex all the time.
    3.) I want to be fit and healthy and pass it on to my family. I am the cook in my family so I can control what comes into the house and onto the plate.
    4.) I want to feel good.
    These are my reasons.
  • NikkyT30
    NikkyT30 Posts: 91 Member
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    I want my confidence back. To feel good in clothes. To not feel tired and unmotivated. To live a longer healthier life (both my parents have major health issues). To set a good example for people around me.... And most importantly ... To prove to myself that I can have the body I want and that I deserve it:) good luck to you all:)
  • tinascar2015
    tinascar2015 Posts: 413 Member
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    Why? That's such an interesting question that for years, I've had such a hard time answering. I lost 52 pounds in 1988 and got down to a size 8, looked great, felt great -- and absolutely hated the way people treated me. People who I was close to began to make too big a deal out of my new look. It was as though they were only noticing me for the first time. Only my dad was cool about it and said, "Teen, if you feel better now, then that's all I want, because I love you just as much, thin or heavy."

    Ohhh, Daddy.

    I got way too much uninvited attention from men, and more sexual harassment than you can ever imagine. I was groped and fondled by a powerful man at a business conference, in front of many coworkers, who stood by and acted helpless -- because God forbid you should step in and pull a filthy old POWERFUL man off a struggling women; you might get fired or not meet your sales target that month.

    But it was my mother's response to my weight loss that hurt more than anything. She was a seamstress, and she tailored all my business suits to fit my smaller size, but she made my very favorite skirt another size too small. When I mentioned it to her, she said, "I wanted to give you something to shoot for!"

    Ohhhh, Mom. For my whole life, I always felt I needed to buy her love through weight loss, and now that I had lost the weight, I realized I had just bought a pack of lies.

    I began to think I hated being a size 8. The weight crept up...and upandupandupandup.

    Now at the ripe old age of (something or other), and it being 2015, I don't think I'll experience the harassment I did in the late 80s. I'm not about to get ogled like I did when I was in my 30s, either. People might treat me differently when I slim down, but this time, I'm doing it so I can enjoy doing things again. I'm a gardener who hasn't enjoyed gardening for the past few years, and that frightens me.
  • Sandcastles61
    Sandcastles61 Posts: 506 Member
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    I've been up and down my whole life but never seriously obese, just significantly overweight at times ... I'll lose then fall off the fad diet bandwagon.... Or get complacent..... Then the weight returns and I try the next latest and greatest diet. After I hit 50, it seemed like an extra 5 to 10 pounds a year had become the norm!

    Well, in August my morbidly obese (over 400 lb) sister in law passed at the age of 51 from weight related issues~ She was two years younger than me! When it literally took 10 grown men to carry her casket, I knew it was time to make a permanent lifestyle change . This time I'm playing for keeps <3

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