What motivated you to start your fitness journey?

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berndanddana
berndanddana Posts: 114 Member
edited June 2015 in Fitness and Exercise
I work as a CNA. Seeing people in their 50s and younger not being able to care for themselves really motivated me to change my life.
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  • colors_fade
    colors_fade Posts: 464 Member
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    All the normal stuff.

    1) My wife is incredibly fit. Ripped. We were at an archery tournament one summer a few years ago, newly married, and she had a tank-top and I was teaching her how to shoot for the first time. Some guys were standing behind us watching, and finally one of them got up the courage to ask her, flat-out, "Do you work out?" You could tell from the look on his face he couldn't believe how ripped she was. Well, duh. A chick doesn't get that ripped doing nothing. But I was kind of jealous; I wanted to be the person being asked, "Hey, do you work out?"

    2) Kids. I want to be a great example for them.

    3) Activity. I want to be able to do everything easily. We camp a lot, hike, etc. We're active people. I don't like huffing and puffing.

    4) Look better. Our town has a great (and free) public swimming pool. Our kids love it there. I love swimming, but dread taking my shirt off. I'd like to be able to hit the pool and feel good about the way I look.

    Over time... all of this stuff just adds up. Until you reach critical mass, and you're like, "Fine, I have to do something about this."
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
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    seeing a number on the scale I said I'd never let myself get to
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    edited June 2015
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    Breaking up with my ex (for the big weight loss). Now it's longevity and wanting to retain as much function as possible.
  • vschwgrt1
    vschwgrt1 Posts: 86 Member
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    pain
  • strong_curves
    strong_curves Posts: 2,229 Member
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    I just wanted to look better naked.
  • jaga13
    jaga13 Posts: 1,149 Member
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    Unflattering pictures.
  • jaga13
    jaga13 Posts: 1,149 Member
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    jaga13 wrote: »
    Unflattering pictures.

    Oh yeah, and staying healthy for my kids, blah, blah, blah (seriously, the pictures).
  • bmcclain2015
    bmcclain2015 Posts: 3 Member
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    Finally have a handle on the anxiety and depression, it's time to fix what's on the outside to match.
  • SarcasmaReddit
    SarcasmaReddit Posts: 2 Member
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    I've been obsessed with Halloween for as long as I can remember, but being large really reduces the number of costumes I can pull off well. Every year I have a hundred ideas of things I'd like to wear, but the last three years I've wound up staying in and handing out candy because I felt ashamed. I don't want my weight to take away my favorite holiday anymore. I will be Daenerys Targaryen, and I will ROCK IT!
  • bubaluboo
    bubaluboo Posts: 2,098 Member
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    I was not wanting to be photographed with my daughter. Silly really because I now realise that I have very few photos of us both in those first few years and who cares if I was a few 1lb bigger. Anyhow, I wanted to be photographable, a good example and be able to run around and play active games.
  • ScubaSteve1962
    ScubaSteve1962 Posts: 609 Member
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    seeing 223 on the scale
  • mogobam
    mogobam Posts: 25 Member
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    My aunts and I made a 10 dollar bet that we would lose 15 pounds by a certain deadline. For some reason, that kicked my butt into gear. I have since lost almost 30 pounds, and plan on losing 50 more.

    Long-term though, I want to be able to hike long distances like I used to. A ten-mile hike used to be nothing for me, and I feel like right now, it would probably kill me.
  • blitzerblitzer
    blitzerblitzer Posts: 2 Member
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    Started to look worse and worse in pictures, and realized I was losing control. So decided to take my health, and now I don't want to let go of the progress I've made.
  • EmmaFitzwilliam
    EmmaFitzwilliam Posts: 482 Member
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    I spent a year with mysterious fatigue and progressively less energy and physical ability. I promised myself I would lose weight if I ever got the energy back. After a year to 18 months (and a few thousand dollars in medical tests!) my doctor put me on an antibiotic and a diuretic. My suspicion, never confirmed, was that I had walking pneumonia. That was a year ago.

    50340351.png
  • Justthisgirl1994
    Justthisgirl1994 Posts: 226 Member
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    I gained a lot of weight (10ish lbs) in less than half a year. In the beginning of the year there was this guy I sorta liked who was really into me, always hitting on me when he saw me at parties etc. Then the last party I went to that he was also at we made eye contact, and then he turned away and started grinding with this random girl with a really nice butt. It was super embarrassing, esp since two of my friends witnessed the whole thing. I was really confused and then I figured out why as soon as I saw pics of myself from that night. I was so much fatter than I realized. After untagging myself from all the pics I decided to get back to my old size.

    I'm almost back to my old weight. My new goal is to be in even better shape before school and frat parties start again. Thinking about him wanting me again and me being able to ignore him is super shallow, but a very good motivator haha. I have a bunch of other motivations too obviously, but this is the one that got me to really decide to put myself back together.
  • kmab1985
    kmab1985 Posts: 295 Member
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    I was losing weight on a calorie deficit but wanted more! So I quit smoking and started running with my other half, realised how much easier "moving" was since quitting smoking and joined the gym! Plus Im getting married in 7 weeks :-) I also love the transformation working out has done for my body too...
  • Bizurke51
    Bizurke51 Posts: 190 Member
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    wanted to look better
  • lizzocat
    lizzocat Posts: 356 Member
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    I'd been wanting to get fit and lose weight for so long, but didn't make the effort in over 2 years. This is sad, but my ex telling me that he wasn't attracted to me and wasn't feeling the relationship anymore really motivated me to join the gym and lose the weight (and we eventually broke up anyway) Now, it's been 6 months, and honestly, getting fit is my main motivation at this point- I'm able to physically do so much more than I've ever been able to, and I just want to see where I can take my body.
  • berndanddana
    berndanddana Posts: 114 Member
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    strong_curves wrote: »
    I just wanted to look better naked.

    Amen!
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,036 Member
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    My parents bought me a tricycle when I was about 4 years old. :smiley:

    I've always been active, but there have been a few times when my activity level has diminished somewhat ... and it has over the past few years.

    Deep down I've been wanting to be more active again for some time, but one of the motivating factors is my coworkers. I work in an office of fit people. I hear them talking about bodybuilding, rowing, running, cycling, etc. etc. Friday afternoon chat is all about what events people have on ... Monday morning chat is all about how the events went. They go to running clinics, they squeeze workouts in at lunch, they walk or cycle to and from work.

    And I used to be like that. So somewhat gradually, I became tired of joining conversations with "I used to ...", and I started getting out there and doing stuff too.

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