Inspiration and motivation

branman1985 · February 2022

What or who inspired you to work out and or lose weight and what motivates you to keep going?

For me a lot of people laugh but it was watching Rocky IV with saloon and knowing that he was near 40 years old and in that good of shape I was 20 when I saw that I'm 37 today and I have two kids a three and a four year old they and my job keep me motivated

Beautyofdreams · February 2022

In March 2020, Covid was diagnosed in my area. I made a list of my risk factors: over 55, obese, high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease stage 4 and immune suppressed from a kidney/pancreas transplant. My odds didn’t look good. Since then, I have lost 88.4 pounds, lowered my blood pressure to normal and improved my kidney function to chronic kidney disease stage 3 and am almost back to stage 2! On the minus, my boyfriend died of Covid pneumonia in December 2020 on his birthday. Holidays were rough without him after almost ten years together but am motivated to keep risk factors reduced and take my health seriously.

Walkywalkerson · February 2022

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AnnPT77 · February 2022

What inspired me to work out, at first: Completing cancer treatment (the whole 9 yards - surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, starting long-term meds) among other causes of my being severely physically depleted, in my mid-40s. I recognized that if I was ever going to feel strong, energetic, and even happy ever again, I was going to have to work at it. I started sampling things, increasing from mild activity gradually to vigorous activity.

What kept that going: Discovering an activity I loved so much I'd do it even if it wasn't good for me. (I'm a rower: On-water when I can, machine when I must.) Then I learned that other kinds of activity were also fun when I was stronger and more able to do them. Almost 20 years later, I'm still rowing, but also biking (trail and stationary), walking, strength training, etc.

What inspired me to lose weight: Despite being athletically active for over a decade, even competing as an athlete (not always unsuccessfully), I was still class 1 obese. My blood pressure was borderline to high, my cholesterol and triglycerides were high, my doctor was urging me to take a statin. I tried various changes in eating style, and some supplements, but they didn't much help. I figured I'd already given up enough cognitive bandwidth to chemo, didn't want to take a drug with a rep for cognitive fog, so I decided to try losing weight.

Part way through weight loss, I had my gallbladder out (not stones or sludge, not related to weight loss). According to the pathology report, it was an ugly cholesterolized, thickened thing, with actual holes in it. That was an added reality check that my health needed improving.

What keeps me maintaining a healthy weight (for over 6 years now): It feels so much better, in so many ways . . . and it's way easier than I would've ever dreamed possible. I could kick myself for not doing it decades earlier.

I now recognize that I can balance current-me's desires (to eat as much yummy food as possible) with future-me's good quality of life (she will be happier if I stay active and at a healthy weight). I'm 66 now, hoping for lots more active, happy years.

Xellercin · February 2022

I'm not so much inspired as just that I know that it's what I have to do to not have my body fall apart.

It's a part of my normal day to day responsibilities. Nothing exceptional or exciting, just what I have to do to avoid unwanted consequences, like showing up to work in order to not get fired, brushing my teeth in order to not get cavities, washing my hair so it doesn't get greasy, and walking my dog so he doesn't poop on my sofa.

It's what I have to do day in and day out. It's just a given.

Like walking the dog, or taking a nice hot shower, it can be a really enjoyable part of my day to day life, but some days it's a chore like flossing or going to a meeting that I think is useless.

Regardless of how I feel about it, I still do it because I have to if I want to function properly.

For me, eating poorly and being sedentary isn't a "normal" state that I am trying to inspire myself to deviate from. It's an abnormal, unhealthy state that I'm trying to avoid.

I avoid eating poorly and being sedentary the same way I avoid hard drugs and excessive gambling.

dralicephd · February 2022

Like so many, I gained weight while the pandemic forced me to work from home. I actually climbed back up to a post-pregnancy weight that I previously swore I would never return to.

Anyway, the inspiration to do something about this came in two ways. The first was a practicality: I knew I would be returning to work soon and none of my clothes fit me anymore. The second was more philosophical: peri-menopause symptoms hit me with a vengeance, alerting me that midlife was upon me. This was a great reminder that if I don't change my ways now, the second half of my life would be filled with health problems. If I doubted that, I only had to look to older relatives to see what could be in store (diabetes, heart disease, kidney problems, etc.).

Since I made the decision to do something about the excess weight and lack of exercise, I've pretty much adopted the same attitude as @Xellercin . I watch my food, I keep tabs on my weight, and I exercise because that is what has to be done to be healthy. Period.

BrightEyedAgain · February 2022

My inspiration was very simple. In 2020, I turned 50 and didn't like what I saw in the mirror or how I felt in my body. I didn't have any diagnosed health problems (yet), but I felt OLD and frumpy and hopeless about it ever getting better. I was so stiff in the mornings that I had to grip the stair rail with both hands to go down the stairs. I had various aches and pains all the time, and I was starting to avoid getting down on the floor because it was hard to get up. I had no idea how to lose weight because the only thing that had worked for me in the past was Atkins, and I knew that wasn't sustainable for me long term. The gyms were still closed from covid, so I did the only thing I could think of. I started walking. That helped a little. It was better than sitting on the couch all the time. But I didn't lose any weight even though I tried to better my diet.

So in January 2021 I joined a gym with a fancy air filtration system that didn't require masks. I also made a commitment to myself by plunking down the cash to hire a trainer once a week. And THAT proved to be my game changer. She taught me HOW to workout to see results and what a good workout should FEEL like. Turns out I had never pushed myself sufficiently even when I thought I had done a good workout. I was too afraid of hurting myself, and I also feared getting bulky. But, with her guidance, I had the confidence to try more challenging things because she would make sure I didn't hurt myself. She introduced me to free-weight training, yoga, and HIIT. She also taught me the benefits of strength training and dispelled the myths I had believed about it.

My trainer was also the one who told me to sign up for MFP and track macros. I was skeptical at the time, but I figured it was stupid to ignore her advice when I was paying her. Plus, it was not like I'd been having success on my own, so why not give her idea a shot. Turns out her advice was exactly the missing piece I needed--a way to eat normally and still lose weight. Before MFP I thought counting calories meant starving myself and being manic all the time, a way of life I was unwilling to consider. Now I know that I won't be hungry if I get my macros right (for me), and I don't have to be super-motivated all the time to have success.

Flash forward a year and I'm 38 lbs down and maintaining easily without avoiding any foods at all. This is a way of life I can sustain without falling off the wagon because there IS no wagon. My fitness level is now better than it was in my twenties, and I feel great except for the occasional muscle soreness from a hard workout. I zip up and down the stairs without a thought, and I can sit on the floor anytime I want. My menopause symptoms have mostly vanished, and everyday life is just BETTER all the way around. I'm SO glad I decided to "get in shape for old age," because now I have hope that life is going to be good for me for a long, long time.

Inspiration and motivation

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