What motivates you to lose weight?

if logging calories doesnt work for you, don't do it religiously, make a vague note maybe. it just makes it easier to see where you are going wrong, or right. but everyone is different so your call. good luck with everything, however you decide to tackle it

my motivations for losing weight is quite simply my future - i'm only 19 and i'm not living the rest of my life as a fatty x

Honestly at first it was ALL about accountability...when I joined, I asked a few friends and family members to join with me and keep an eye on my food diary. Full permission to scold granted. Then, I struggled with full disclosure...once I saw the calories add up. Being brutally honest with people (and ESPECIALLY myself) was an unexpected challenge. Being brutally honest was the best thing I possibly could have done! I was SHOCKED...measuring and logging everything was a very eye opening experience...would not have believed anyone if they had told me how many calories I was consuming daily...with so little food to show for it. Logging on MFP has literally changed and possibly saved my life...it has enabled me to get real with myself and has empowered me to make smarter choices. After a few months on here, I now eat WAY more than I used to and am steadily losing weight. Making SMART food choices. For the first time in my 38 year life, I acknowledge that food is FUEL, not entertainment. Good luck!!!

Without logging you risk underestimating what you are eating and overestimating how much you're working out (ie telling yourself, I can have pizza for dinner, I worked out today).

I also get very bogged down my logging sometimes, so I make deals with myself. I try to log religiously M-T, Friday is my cheat day and I eat what I want and do not log. The weekends are hit and miss....sometimes I log, somtimes I don't. I try to still eat somewhat healthier and exercise more on the weekends but depending on what is going on I might eat a little worse than I intended.

I also find that planning my meals and logging them all at once in the morning helps too. That way when mealtime comes I can just eat it rather than logging before each meal. It makes me feel a little less strict that way.

My self confidence, my eagerness to want to fit into my old clothes again, my self desires.. Also, seeing everyone elses success makes me want to be part of that statistic....

I log my calories and exercise because Myfitnesspal makes it super easy. I haven't got the hang of balancing my calories and exercise yet but I am getting there. I thought I could eat all those calories that I burned...frankly it was too much food.

What motivates me to log my food is to see how good a I did that day. Also, I is so easy to log food on here so I don't really have problems. But if you are finding it hard to log food you might want to try to plan your meals.


Keep Calm and Carry On,
Anna

Oh and my motivation, myself, my husband and my skinny jeans. Nothing super crazy, just hate feeling self conscious all the time so I figured, I'm 32, why not fix it now!!!!!

I log pretty religiously because tracking food and exercise has been so effective (32 lbs in 4 months) that that's my motivation for logging. When I have a "bad" week I can look back and see where I went wrong. And I am a huge fan of "pre-gaming." I log everything I eat the day before. That way I already know everything I am going to consume that day. We always plan our dinners at home so that part is easy. I work in an office so I pretty much just eat oatmeal for breakfast and something sensible and easy for lunch (we usually make extra of whatever we have for dinner the day before). I also plan all my snacks because that's my downfall; it's easy to lose track of how many almonds I eat or how much fruit I'm eating (gotta watch those sugars!).

I admit I was kind of lax in the beginning and I would sometimes fudge ("I can't log that I put that much cream cheese on my bagel!") and those were the weeks I'd show very little weight loss (under 1 lb) or (yikes) I'd gain. And that really affects no one but yourself, so I decided 100% honesty is the best policy, even if I ate a girl scout cookie in a moment of weakness.

To answer your original question though - what motivates me to lose weight? Two main things. 1) I want to be healthier than what is expected in my family, where heart disease and diabetes are prevalent. 2) My son, who is nearly one year old. I want to be physically fit and be able to chase him around and not just sit on a bench and smile when he's playing at the park. My "A-ha" moment was this: one day we were taking him for a walk in his stroller at the park. Then we saw what appeared to be a 5-6 year old boy riding a tricycle. His father was jogging behind the tricycle. I thought, "I have to be able to do that!" A third less important reason is vanity. I'm going on vacation at a beach house in September. And for once I want to wear a decent looking bathing suit and not be wrapped in a towel the whole time!

Good luck to you. I hope you find your motivation. :-)

In the last few years, my dad has suffered from 3 of the major health issue facing people today: heart disease, diabetes, and now cancer. He was never a hefty guy, but because he lives alone, he always ate like a single guy.

Then I look at my older brothers. Both are morbidly obese, and don't do any exercise of consequence. Plus, they are showing the classic signs now: angina, pre-diabetes, etc. I looked them, and myself, and I was not as bad, but was heading there myself.

So, my wife and I decided it was time to change, and we went all out. We are now running, trying to get respectable enough times to do some 5k's, and we are now on whole-food, plant-based diets. Since September, I've gone from 248 to 223. I have knocked over 4 mins off my 2.5 mile time.

If my lazy butt can do it, any one reading this rant can do it.