What Keeps you Going??

If you don't make it hard, there's nothing needed to "drive" you.


10 years ago I followed weight watcher point system. I was much ignorant than now. I succeeded in getting to the top normal bmi range (for a few weeks), but it was unbelievably hard so I inevitably failed and put back the overweight lbs.

I had many very unhealthy habbits for many years and got to a point where I realized that I wasn't happy and that my emotional health was directly affected by my physical health. I started making small changes to be healthier and I am still making small changes to be healthier. I want to live a long and happy life, so I need to take care of myself. Motivation can be hard but mostly I have learned to keep my goal of a long happy life in mind and understand that a misstep is not a failure in the end. I don't always log, I come and go as I feel the need to re-calibrate my habits. I would probably lose more if I logged more regularly but for me I need breaks where I let myself maintain for a few months then jump back in to lose a few more pounds. I want to be skinny and supper buff; but more importantly I want to love myself. I think that focusing on that instead of the lbs (though I have lost quite a few of those) is what has made it easy to just have a healthy lifestyle in general.

Health issues, vanity, pride, stubbornness, wanting to feel in control, nice clothes, health, pride, health, pride, better knowledge, ease of use, health, pride...........just a couple of things that come to mind - did I say health and pride?!

Habits. Motivation is great to getting people started, but like emotions, it fades. You need to force yourself to be consistent for 3 weeks - that's how long it takes to build an unconscious habit. It is not motivation but habit that gets you into the gym after a long day of work. Habit is what makes you brush your teeth every day, say good morning to people, and go to the gym.

The tears of my enemies - joking of course.

Really - I have a vision, a goal. I keep that in mind and I regularly ask myself "is my goal more important that that beer/donut/extra rest day from the gym. The answer is always yes.

I never knew how much better it truly felt to be in the healthy BMI ranges, and once I got here, there was no looking back. That's how much I love the difference between my body at a healthy weight vs under obesity.
Also, what @laur357 said. I began weightloss with the goal of making health and fitness my habit. Now, even when things get tough, I still get up and workout and/or plan for an active day. It's just a natural part of my daily rituals now.
Resiliency and honesty when logging food and exercise and lurking on health forumns/websites keep me strong too.

Habit. I'm not some superhero with unearthly willpower. I made it a point that I will log every day no matter what or how much I eat, so that's what I do. Having it on display keeps things in perspective. At least when I knowingly overeat I'm fully aware that I will be gaining weight. Sometimes I allow it, knowing I would have to live with the consequences of wasting a week or two of work, but most times it stops me at maintenance.

I'm so used to it I can't imagine myself not logging. It feels weirds when for some reason I don't just like it would be weird not to wash my face in the morning. Can't stop, addicted to the shindig...

I was one of those 80% statistics. I was training too hard after I reached my goal and got hurt. I continued to eat like I was when working out hard every day and gained back a bit of weight and by the time that I found myself ready to start working out and training I had no motivation to do so anymore. I ate and continued to gain weight until I reached nearly where I was before.

I was laser focused on a goal and did whatever it took to get there but now I started out this journey differently. I have kids at home and more responsibilities than I had before I no longer have hours a day to devote to working out or even super clean meal prep. So I don't do much of that anymore I cut out soda diet and full flavor which I thought was gonna be impossible but after a week I didn't notice it was gone. I eat a reasonable portion and try never to go back for seconds unless its plant based. I'm lifting weights and running again but its 20 minutes here and there now not 90 minutes a day.

What keeps me going? I can get down on the floor with the kids and not have it hurt getting back up. I actually use the jogging stroller for jogging instead of just wanting big wheels to roll through gravel.

The first time, I was in a 3 year relationship, we both gained 30 pounds. After she broke up with me, I needed to lose those 30 pounds to be confident to get back in the dating scene.

I got married 5 years later to a different woman, and over the next 10 years, had kids, and slowly gained it back, plus some.

This second time, I'm doing it because of my health and pain. I have 50 pounds to lose. I lost 33 already - 17 to go. I had weekly back pain, daily foot pain, didn't really like moving around. I wanted to play with my daughter, but had a tough time playing. I could only do it for 10 minutes at a time, then needed rest. It was hard running with her to help her learn to ride a bike.

After having lost 33 pounds, all those pains are over with. I now ENJOY going for a walk and not sitting. Now my goal is to become more athletic and get the rest of this fat off of me, so I can enjoy life even more.

I'm also doing it because of a new baby on the way - in July. I was scared 6 months ago that I would gain even MORE weight after the baby was born, because I'll be around the house all the time, that I HAD to get the weight off before the baby was born. I was having a struggle doing things, and really wanted to be able to roll around on the floor and play with my new son, so this was a big motivation as well.