Why do you exercise?

I've lost most of my lbs so far with minimal exercise. Now that I'm starting exercise it's for a combination of weight loss as well as wanting to be fit and see how far I can push my body! Helping with loose skin and so that I don't end up "skinny fat" once I reach goal weight are other motivations.

It started out for pain relief, and that's still a big reason why I work out so much, but I now want to build up muscle definition and push out the cold & dark weather blues.

I have two reasons:

1) I want to eat more than my goal affords me yet I refuse to have a day where I go over my net goal. My goal is 1350 calories and I have found I am content and never feel excessively hungry at around 1500 calories. I am in this for the long haul, so eating 1500 calories a day also gives me a little more wiggle room to enjoy the occasional "extra" like a piece of dark chocolate so I don't burn out and fall off the wagon.

2) Beyond just the extra calories, I feel like as long as I keep moving every single day, I am literally moving forward toward my goal.

18 days ago I restarted with this new approach and I really feel like it is working well for me. I have exercised to varying degrees burning from 85 to 700 calories in a day, but no matter what, I have exercised every single day. I have eaten a MINIMUM of 1300 calories and not more than 1700 calories in a day so some days I come in further under than others, but I always have at least a few calories left over... sometimes much more than others. I am down almost 7 pounds and going strong. I am not feeling hungry, sore, tired, or any one of the other negative things that have traditionally gotten in the way when I have simply tried to cut calories. Instead I feel driven, strong, and well fed. I feel like I can do this indefinitely and I'm getting results... I think the key for me is to move EVERY DAY.

I do it for the exact same reason as you Emma. Also do it partly for health, especially mental health. As anti-depressants aren't friendly to my body.

Just because I always feel better when I do.

started out mainly to lose weight.

Now, I'm really working on my endurance, fitness, strength, etc. Seeing how far I can push myself. Plus, I just feel awesome when I exercise!

Did you ever hear the joke about the cowboy who bought his boots two sizes too small because it felt so good when he took them off? I exercise because it feels SO good to stop! :laugh:

Okay, seriously, I'm very big and working on mobility as well as weight loss. My knees no longer hurt going up and down the stairs, so YAYY FOR ME! :bigsmile:

Build up endurance (physical and mental).. so I can run a half-marathon. Even at a decent pace, I'm looking at a 2.5 to 3 hour half marathon (unless my pace GREATLY increased between now and march).. its not the distance that scares me but the time. How do you run for 3 hours???

I think most of my weight loss has been from dropping my caloric intake from around 2500 to 1800, but the cardio doesn't hurt.

I was incredibly obese as a teenager and it always made me sort of sad to see people running around and being able to do day to day activies with ease. I struggled with a lot, I couldn't run and I got out of breath walking up stairs. So I started to exercise mainly because I wanted to feel comfortable. Plus I really wanted to wear shorts... I love shorts. Now that I've lost my teenage weight, I like to exercise just because it makes me feel good and helps with my stress levels.

My exercising is walking.

I do it because I don't have a car and to save money.
Bus fair is high.

And to create a higher deficit, I suppose.

i absolutely LOVE to exercise!

Circuit training
weight/strength training
running
elliptical
zumba
yoga
kickboxing
aerobics
pilates
...you name it, i probably love it!

I started off exercising to just to try and lose a bit of weight, but now that I've consistently been at it for 10 months, I can honestly say that I ENJOY it and look forward to it! I love pushing myself and knowing that I'm giving it all I've got ... I feel so much more energetic afterwards ... and, of course, I obviously love seeing the subtle changes over time. It's just funny because when I first started, I had to make myself do it ... and now I don't like it when I have to miss a session.

What started out as an effort to lose a few pounds has more or less turned into a way of life now.

A little bit of both for me, I do it because I want to be fitter/stronger and build muscle but I also use exercise to create a larger deficit because I find it too hard to stay under 1200 calories a day often without the exercising!

I want to look good.

I excercise daily because I know it does me good. Into my 51st year, I enjoy sweating much more now than I ever did as a youngster because I understand what's happening. Fear motivates me to excercise also, excess weight is a killer which is an excellent motivator to get out there & just do it. My running days are over, so I cycle daily, anywhere between 12-18 miles. This takes up less than an hour each day, gets my heart pumping & makes me sweat. So far this year I've cycled just over 7000km. I started using fitness pal two months ago, I had trouble getting under 80kg, I am now 76.4kg largely due to using fitness pal. It doesn't matter what your individual motivation is, we're all different but it's great to see so many people out there moving their bodies.