What is your WHY?

MikePXstream wrote: »

Who has their plan set already for the month?

I do! Eat healthy, stay active, get those fall chores done!!

My why is better health, less medication and higher self esteem. I gained weight after a car accident that left me with chronic back pain and more days on the couch than off of it. I've since had to start taking not one, but two meds to control my high BP, and have multiple other weight related health problems. I can't stand taking so much medication, and getting back to a healthy weight would allow me to drop many of them. I've had surgery to implant a spinal nerve stimulator to help control the back pain from the permanently damaged nerves, but less weight would help even more.

My self esteem takes a dive every morning when I struggle to find something to wear that fits and is comfortable. I just got remarried, and my wonderful, supportive new husband deserves a wife that eagerly jumps out of bed to greet the day with him, not someone who takes forever to find something to wear because nothing fits or feels comfortable!

My why is sport related. I am a lifelong horseback rider and have dabbled in multiple disciplines over the years. As a teenager I saw an amazing rider and knew then that I wanted to be able to do the things he did. Now, nearly 30 years later, I am at a point in my life -- financially and with the necessary support -- to pursue that dream. The more I ride, the more I learn, the more I realize that to do that, I have to be an athlete. So, my why is to have the fitness to be able to pursue my dream.

This month will be hard because of my workload but I'm planning on some mega cooking this weekend to stock the freezer and an activity goal of at least 30 minutes of continuous movement per day. I won't advance my goals this month but I'm aiming to at least not backslide.

I love your encouraging words I want to have a bright and shiny future. Feel pleasant to myself, feel satisfied with my life.

My why - I've lost a few friends/coworkers over the past couple of years, all 5-10 years younger than me, mostly health related. At my moms a few months ago, talking about work and she made a "well, you know you're getting old" type comment, and it hit, hard for some reason.

Looked at myself in the mirror and saw an out of shape old man. I'm only 57 lol. That, and my wife deserves much better than an out of shape old man for a husband, much better. So I told the old guy to piss off, and got to work.

No more of this "You know you're old" mindset BS. It's far too prevalent, and I bought into it.

No more.

MikePXstream wrote: »

Would you be able to defend your family, survive against the odds, or even be able to run for help? I mean after all, your cell phone battery could die on you by mid day right?

LOL. No, not without technological help. I think this is one of the reasons the Tough Mudder races and CrossFit are intriguing to me. They encourage using the body in functional ways (or seem to from this outsider's perspective). Someday I'll do an obstacle race.

alwinter09 wrote: »

And yet, I keep sabotaging myself, but have no idea why. I WANT to lose weight, I WANT to want to exercise, and yet I keep falling short. I'm by far my own worst critic. When I have a bad day, I pout, feel down about myself, and give up on myself. I'm actually thinking about returning to therapy (I have a long family hx of abuse) because something has to give.

Amanda R

I encourage you to go back if you can. I, too, have a history of abuse (mostly emotional). I have returned several times because as healing happens it seems to reveal another layer of trauma that needs to be dealt with. For me, the damage is a huge part of why I couldn't find my deeper 'why' for being my best self. I had to learn to give myself permission.

My Why, this is extremely powerful to me as this is what makes me continue my Journey. I was so sick last year, that I had to be hospitalized. This was my worst experience ever and I swore to myself I would never be put in the Hospital again if I could help it. No words can describe the Horror that I went through. With my mother passing away at 54 years old, and here I was being hospitalized at 54 I was just beside myself and I thought this was the end that I was never going to leave the hospital. So the longer I stayed, I started thinking this was a reality which scared me!

When I arrived at the ER I was having a gallbladder attack (simple, these are outpatient surgeries), not me I had such a bad infection internally within my body that I was in the hospital for a week just for them to treat the infection. Then they went to remove the gallbladder, and it was too large and inflamed that I had to be cut open for them to remove (my 10" scar that I see in the mirror everyday reminds me of this). I asked the Dtr's how can someone get an infection like I had in my body, and they all said the processed and fast food that American's consume on a daily basis. That is when reality hit, and I finally realized that I needed to do something different.

Which then I found this awesome product that I use, and it has helped me tremdously with my Weight loss. In 6 months I lost 59 lbs and I have another 50 to go. I am now just getting started again with My Fitness Pal and taking advantage of these groups/Forums to help me with this journey. The weight is slowly coming off, there is no magic pill and we all have to work to get it off. It took us awhile to gain and be in the situation we are, so it is not about to leave us without a fight. Between this Nutritious drink and my weight loss I have gotten off all of my Prescription medications. I'm totally on my way in making my life better, and when I start to slip and eat the bad foods or not care (I do have some of those day) then I always go back to my Why. If your Why doesn't keep you motivated, then you need to search deeper for that Why. As the WHY is extremely POWERFUL!