Keeping your Motivation

I am reading so many blogs these days of women struggling to stay motivated. This is a common problem for most of us. For the majority of my adult life, I lost the desire to even care about myself, mostly from being abused and told how bad and ugly I was on a regular basis. When I became a single mom, I had to figure out how to get motivated by finding my "why," my reason for wanting to do this. I needed this for me, to get back all the years I lost.

I think motivation is great when you start this journey because you keep the "why" in the front of your mind. Every waking hour is spent thinking about what you will do when you achieve the goal to obtain your "why." Your friends and family support you and remind you of your "why." You work hard because the end seems not so far away, even if it probably isn't realistic to think that way. We don't stop and think that this is not an easy journey and takes a lot of work and many times a lot of frustration.

Motivation starts to wan when you stop focusing on the "why" and allow your life's daily routines to take center stage again. You are late coming home from work and feel tired to cook. You tell yourself, "oh its ok just this once. Tomorrow I will be good again." Except once you have had a taste for the things that caused you a problem, its easier to do it a second time. You tell yourself, "ok, I will finish this week eating not good, but not too bad and start strong again on Monday morning." Once you allow this to happen (and I can guarantee I am included in this group), your motivation pretty much ends. You get angry at yourself, tell yourself you failed again and stop, sometimes even binge out of guilt and gain back some weight. We have all had this happen.

This is where you have to dig really really deep and find your "why" again. Post it on the refrigerator, keep a motivational CD in the car on the way to work, post a picture of what you would realistically like to achieve, and remind those who love you most to hold you accountable, even when you don't particularly want to hear it and even when it can really make you mad. Because, after all, if they didn't love you, they wouldn't bother.

I have been up and down for 6 years. I don't lose quickly but I have never ever completely given up. I go for some days in the middle where I let life's stresses and struggles take over. But not for a long time fortunately. Because front and center in my life is a man who married me 4 years ago and will never let me forget my "why." He may let me slip for a short time to give me a chance to self-motivate, then he will pick me up and push me in the right direction again. I want him to do it and I need to hear the truth even when it hurts. I am a food addict and he knows it. He is kind with his words, but direct enough that I understand that this is too important to lose all the progress I have achieved. It is definitely a hard journey but one that has made me the strong person I am today who is committed to finally getting back my life.