What keeps you motivated to lose weight?

It varies from day to day, but honestly? Revenge and pettiness. Just kidding. Mostly.

I went through some marriage issues recently and things could still either go in either direction. One of the things that came up was that I wasn't spending as much time on myself as I used to, and my husband didn't think I had it in me anymore. Thought I'd given up. Now, of course, I'm stubborn as a mule and became determined to prove him wrong, haha. "Oh, you think I can't do it? CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!"

That was the trigger, anyway. Then I thought about all the times that I couldn't keep up with my kids, or the kids I work with. I thought about how lousy I'd been feeling- physically, mentally, AND emotionally. I also felt like everything in my life was spiraling out of control, and I realized that the one thing I COULD control was my body and my attitude towards life.

Long story short, I find motivation in remembering how bad I felt when I was heavier and weaker. I relieve all those old, painful memories (like picking at a scab, I guess) and then compare how I felt then to how I felt now (strong, powerful, confident). That's motivating because I do NOT want to feel that way again. It's not even about looks or health so much as protecting my emotional and mental health. Also, I spend a lot of time these days looking at fitness models and before and after photos of real people like me (women who've had more than one child). I think that, in the past, I've chosen arbitrary target weights and aimed to get there however I can- with huge calorie deficits and lots of cardio. I chose target weights that I'd been at in the past, when I felt good. Only, I wasn't healthy then, just skinny. My goals were basically "safe", because I was afraid of setting the bar too high. Now I'm at a place where I'm like, "You know what? Why not me? If they can do it, what's keeping me from, too?" What I want not is to be the absolute best physical version of me that I can. So if I'm feeling low or like I'm having a hard time getting revved for a workout, I recall the times when I felt crummy because of my size and levels of strength, and then think about how great it would feel to achieve a goal that I once thought was impossible.

My son. He's the reason I breathe! Sounds cliche but it's true, I need to be 100% me, I need and want to show him examples of healthy eating and exercise

To be as healthy as I can, and at the same time feel comfortable with my body. Exercise is fantastic, and keeps me strong

Myself, I was big previously and lost around 4 stone, and had about 1 stone to go. I then let myself go and ended up putting 3 stone back on. I miss being the person I was, and I want that person back.

At the moment I don't have much motivation. I just have a habit.

I'm generally a very enthusiastic and easily excited person with a lot of interests and motivation to do things I love. I've lost weight few years ago riding a wave like this.

This time I've started at the bottom. My current health and meds I'm taking keep my energy levels down, so I don't feel like I'm doing anything big. I've never been thin in my entire life and I'm too far away from getting there to tease myself with mental images of that happening any soon. I know what to do though. I wake up, make my bed, brush my teeth, then eat under 1200 calories a day and log everything I eat. Neither of that is particularly exciting but neither of it is hard either. I just do it. And I enjoy seeing the numbers go down. I smile at every changing digit without thinking about my final goal and how long it will take me to get there.

ME! The way I feel. I was always tried, grumpy and just no fun. Since I started this, I have tons more energy, not at grumpy. and way more playful with my kids. Loving life a lot more and it's rubbing off on my family..

I chose a weight goal that corresponds to a time of my life when I was strong and fit and was performing my outdoor job really well. I'm working toward that number everyday so I can reclaim my title as the best worker. Even though I don't work any more, it doesn't diminish my resolve because, in my mind, I can see it, taste it, and feel it.

Waking up and having a goal to work towards weather it is run further, run faster, lift more, do more Burpees... Run a 5 k now train for a half marathon. Lots of new challenegs!