Living the Lifestyle - Friday, 07/28/2017
misterhub
Posts: 6,909 Member
Everyone says it, but just how do you do it? How do you take the guidelines of the WW program and turn them into a lifestyle you can live every day...from now on? That is what we are here to explore. Each weekday, a new topic is offered up for discussion. Newbie? Join in! Veteran? Join in! Your thoughts may be just what someone else needs to hear.
Monday -- 88olds
Tuesday -- whathapnd (Emmie)
Wednesday --David Kuhns
Thursday -- Rachel0778
Friday -- misterhub
Today's topic: Motivation
Motivation to change one's lifestyle, to lose weight, to become healthier is different for each and every individual. Some are motivated by a person who has achieved what they want to achieve. Some are motivated by a negative event in their life. Some are motivated by their sense of responsibility. Others are by motivated things I have not named, but which are no less valid.
What motivated you to action with regard to your weight and lifestyle? What keeps you motivated on a day-to-day basis?
Monday -- 88olds
Tuesday -- whathapnd (Emmie)
Wednesday --David Kuhns
Thursday -- Rachel0778
Friday -- misterhub
Today's topic: Motivation
Motivation to change one's lifestyle, to lose weight, to become healthier is different for each and every individual. Some are motivated by a person who has achieved what they want to achieve. Some are motivated by a negative event in their life. Some are motivated by their sense of responsibility. Others are by motivated things I have not named, but which are no less valid.
What motivated you to action with regard to your weight and lifestyle? What keeps you motivated on a day-to-day basis?
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Replies
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I don't know if hatred of shopping counts as motivation, but any time my clothes feel tight I groan at the thought of having to go out and replace my wardrobe, which usually helps to kick my butt into gear.
I also really like all the activities I can take part in, and I know gaining weight would hurt my physical performance so that's a little extra motivation to keep tabs on my intake.
What originally motivated me was sports performance. Fun fact, I did my masters thesis on hegemonic masculinity and cage fighting which meant that as part of my research I was doing participant observation and learning the sport. Boxing and grappling are hard enough at a healthy weight, but it was ridiculously hard as an overweight woman who couldn't run a mile. I dropped 30lbs in 6 months and my body composition completely changed. I picked up some unhealthy habits during this time (orthorexia-esque) that I later had to work through, but this was the first time in my life I was actually successful in losing weight. I later developed healthy habits to keep the weight off in a more manageable way (and with less intense sporting activities) but this was my first motivation to really lose the weight.
Previously, it was always vanity that drove me to try to lose weight, but it was never motivation enough to actually change my habits. It took sports performance to push me to actually lose the weight.4 -
In 2001, I was motivated to finally start getting back to the gym and then later start to pay attention to what I was eating after I watched my normal weight father struggle to learn to walk after hip surgery. The hip surgery was a success but the anesthesia triggered a massive flare-up of his dementia that took months to clear. He refused to work with the physical therapists during that time and ended up bedridden. I knew that as a 300 pound person, I was in deep trouble if anything ever happened to me that would lead me to be bedridden. From early 2002 through 2003, I lost 130 pounds and got very active in running, biking, swimming, and triathlons.
In 2011, I had regained about 40 pounds and my right knee was hurting so much that it was starting to interfere with performance of my job duties. In addition I felt so tired all the time. I felt like I was turning 80, not 50. That is went I joined WW at Work and lost 50 pounds over the next 7 months.
Daily physical activity is something I greatly enjoy so I don't struggle with getting to the gym. What I do on the weekdays when I have less time supports the longer endurance activities that I tackle on weekends.
Bring on the weekend! Trail race on Saturday, hilly bike ride on Sunday. Great weather is forecast!
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My current motivation started with a cancer diagnosis. Suddenly all of the IOU's labeled "tomorrow" came due, as it became apparent that the number of tomorrow's that I had left were not guaranteed... so I changed my tomorrow's into today's, and got started.
I dropped 30 lb, and surgery took care of the cancer.. for a few years things went really well, then slowly I let things slide and gained a significant chunk of that back... so about 5 months ago, I decided it was really time to set some bigger goals, because the ones I had were not keeping the fire lit, and my body, and my performance were suffering as a result.
Right now, what motivates me is a desire to be the best version of myself that I can. I have some big goals - and when I reach them, I'll need to set more.. but under that is to realize the full potential of what I can be, both physically and mentally.3 -
It may sound a bit like my own wordplay but for myself I feel like motivation sorta comes and goes but I mostly just do things anyway. To be honest there are some "motivators" in the background regarding good health and good appearance but not really daily come to the power of all things spiritual or holy kind of thing. I am actually kind of grateful that habits and these boards do the trick and I don't need other external or internal drivers per se. I have to eat daily so no choice there. I buy certain foods and habitually make similar kinds of things for the most part. Habits are important to me and one reason for rewarding folks in meetings after 4 weeks or 16 weeks etc. I wasn't always excited about going to work but I did. Same with showering and teeth hygiene. I do notice however that I walk less when my walking buddy is out of town so there are some things that help.
And yes temptations are more of a problem for me when I have them around. fortunately I am not surrounded by too many on a daily basis.2 -
I haven't figured this out yet. I think motivations comes and goes. I have some good habits that stuck. I have some other bad habits that snuck in while I wasn't paying attention.1
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I think my CURRENT motivation is realizing that if I was not trying to lose weight (tracking, mindful eating, weekly WW meetings, exercising, and weekly WI) I would GAIN it back! Just like all the other times I went on WW but never changed my Lifestyle.
This time has been different for me knowing that there really is NO FINISH LINE.
When I see people on WW Connect ask others to help motivate them I know there is nothing anyone can say to make someone's Light Bulb go on until they are ready.
When I had my initial Light Bulb moment, Thanksgiving 2012, my youngest son said: "Dad, whenever we talk to you about your weight you just blow us off."
That one statement brought back all the painful memories of when I was the son and would have given anything to get my mother to quit drinking before she died of alcoholism related causes at age 54.
I was 64 yo and 376 pounds, I promised him I would do "something";
that promise has always been part of my motivation.
Motivation must come from within, then add a program and a ton of discipline. Over time hopefully you change your Lifestyle so you don't feel like you're "on a diet" you just eat and live healthier.
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I have never liked being fat. I still don't like being fat after being on this earth for 70 years. Is it enough motivation to just not wanting to be fat. I think it's very high on my list if not number one. Sure I'm motivated to want to by clothes off the standard clothes rack instead of the XX's or what ever XXL it might be. Just wanting to be healthy is another real high motivation factor. At my age living longer is a big deal not that it wasn't before but the clock has ticked away at this point. I'm sure their are many more motivating factors that come into play but I'll start with these.
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My own lack of energy finally motivated me to move from thinking about losing weight to actually doing it. There were two other contributing motivators though: my sister, who had lost weight by following WW and my doc, who encouraged me to "just lose five pounds". I think it all came together at the right time, after years of inaction on my part.
At this point, I derive my motivation to keep going from the benefits of living life in a smaller body. I move more easily--that's a big one! I can wear smaller clothes and find I don't hide in dark, drab colors. Turns out I prefer lighter, more colorful clothes. My bloodwork--which strangely enough wasn't too bad pre-WW--has improved. In fact, my cholesterol is now better than my very athletic doctor's! I sleep much better. I used to think I was a light sleeper. I guess I was but it was probably more related to apnea-->(weight) than anything else because now I sleep more soundly than I did in years.
These are plenty of motivation for me to continue, yet I make no proclamations about "forever". I can vouch for today, and probably tomorrow. I figure if I appreciate these changes each day, that should be enough motivation...1
This discussion has been closed.