Where do you find YOUR inspiration?

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Not really sure on inspiration or motivation...I've been active pretty much all of my life save for 30-38 where I was pretty hit or miss with any kind of exercise. I prefer being active to sitting around. Most of my exercise is active recreation more so than anything I would consider a "workout". I ride my bike, mountain bike, walk my dog, do some hiking and swimming, etc.

I lift 2x per week full body namely because that's what most health bodies recommend and the health benefits that come with it and I also like what it does for me aesthetically. I have decided that I'm going to start doing some cycling events again this season after being off for a couple of years (mostly a COVID thing) so I will be running some more targeted cycling workout programs rather than just riding, but even those I consider fun...because bikes and I love bikes.

Weight wise, I dropped 40 Lbs in late 2012-spring 2013 and I maintained that up until 2020 when COVID hit and everything shut down. The last couple of years I've put on about 20 Lbs and I much prefer my usual maintenance weight both aesthetically as well as it just feels better doing the things I like to do when I'm at that weight. Some of my previously optimal health markers have also deteriorated over the last couple of years, so I want to get all of those back in the green as well.

AnnPT77 wrote: »

dblirondog wrote: »

What drives you to work out, lose weight or gain muscle? I know its not easy and takes a lot of perseverance. What is your motivation? Where do you find your inspiration?

Oh, man: Speaking as an aging-hippie hedonist, those are not things I'm good at or that drive me - at least not as I think of those terms.

What "drives me to work out" (heh) is that I mostly do things that I find fun. I like fun.

I was lucky, in my mid-40s, to find an activity that I find so. much. fun. that I'd do it even if it weren't good for me . . . but it is. (I'm an on-water rower, in season.) I find it so much fun that I'll even do things I don't enjoy as much, especially over the Winter, so that I don't need to start over from square one in Spring when the river melts again. I took swimming lessons, and lap swimming classes, even though I deeply dislike being in the water, because rowers need to swim. I lift in Winter to balance out the rowing's uni-directionality, to avoid injury. And so forth.

I've since discovered other activities I enjoy (some biking and walking in the good weather, spin classes prepandemic and stationary bike at home now (the latter not as fun as spin class, but tolerable, and I can play games on my phone while I do it)). To a certain extent, I've also learned that I enjoy vigorous things that make me sweat, and that I start feeling grumpy, moody, tense and unpleasant if I'm inactive for too many days in a row. (I always re-test this hypothesis in the Winter. 😆 Yup, still true.)

Personalization based on self-insight is important, I think, as a generality. Some people are goal oriented, or competitive (with self or others), or are motivated by accomplishment or feelings of virtue from doing the right things. I won't do things because they're good for me, mostly. I'll do things to increase pleasure, or avoid pain.

The weight loss, for me, was more in the latter category, pain avoidance. I was the semi-mythical pretty-fit obese person, training 6 days most weeks and even competing, for around a decade. However, my health markers were bad (high cholesterol, high blood pressure). My doctor was threatening statins. I figured I'd given up enough cognitive bandwidth to chemotherapy (when I was 45), and I like such cognitive bandwidth as I retain, didn't want to lose more (a common side effect of statins).

I tried everything before losing weight, but it finally became obvious that I needed to try losing weight. Having my gallbladder out - it turned out to be an ugly, thickened, cholesterolized thing with actual holes in it, according to the pathology lab! - kind of sealed the deal.

So, I started losing weight, joined MFP. Losing weight via calorie counting turned out to be so much easier than I'd imagined, and the effects so positive, that I could kick myself for not doing it decades earlier. I felt so much better! (And my blood lipids and blood pressure are solidly normal these days, besides.)

Somewhere along that road, it occurred to me that calorie counting was a really good tool for me to balance current Ann's pleasure (eating every delicious calorie I can afford) with future Ann's well being (not being obese again, and I want her to be happy in general, if it doesn't cost me much inconvenience in the present). Also, calorie counting fits my data geek and analytic tendencies well. So I keep doing it, 6+ years now, just under a year to lose 50+ pounds from obese to healthy weight, the balance of the time meandering around in the healthy BMI range, currently mid-120s at 5'5" (about BMI 20-21) and age 66.

Maybe there's something in there that sounds like perseverance, motivation, or inspiration . . . but that's not how I think of it, honestly. Well, I suppose pleasure-seeking is maybe a motivation? OK.

dontlikepeople wrote: »

Staying alive.

No jokes.

I want to live to see another day. You don't live very long if you are obese and sedentary. If you do, the quality isn't very good.

Beyond that, it's nice to be attracted to yourself.