What inspires you to lose weight?
 

I have a very difficult time finding a goal. You see special dates, items of clothing or just thinking I'm worth it doesn't do it for me. I know health wise I need to lose weight but that doesn't even inspire me. I am comfortable in my own skin but being out of breath to climb stairs or not being abe to sit at a sporting event and enjoy it is embarrassing but can be avoided. Help me girls and guys tell me what inspires you :?:

Seeing others who started out at a weight similar to mine and them making it to onederland is a big inspiration to me.

Being able to buy clothes a size smaller is inspiring to me.

But i know what you mean. It is really hard to keep myself inspired. It is so much easier to just give in and eat. Give in and sit on the couch instead of go to the gym. I have to really work to be inspired, isnt that sad. But i figure, as long as the scale is going in the right direction, no matter how slow, then i will be happy.

I really do believe you have to be READY to make the change. Does that mean you have to wait until that big moment of inspiration to start working toward it? No, not at all. You can make little changes here and there, and seeing progress may be what really inspires you to keep going and work harder. I was lucky this time in that something really did just click for me. I didn't love working out at first, but I got hooked on it and now I would never stop. I didn't love giving up eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, but now I've lost 79 pounds and I can't imagine trading this feeling for the comfort of some potato chips at the end of the day. Inspiration sometimes comes AFTER motivation, if that makes any sense at all. You sometimes simply have to force yourself to do what's right for your health. The good news is that it doesn't take much forcing after you see the results and you feel so much better. You end up inspiring yourself every day.

Things that inspire me:

I have finally gotten to the point where people are noticing. I would hate to let them and myself down at this point.

Getting out with my kids during the summer.

Feeling great after losing the first 20 lbs. Just thinking of how I will feel after the next 20.

I agree that you have to be ready for the change in order to make the change.

I wanted to lose weight for my wedding, but never got motivated, so I didn't. I thought the wedding would have motivated me, but I needed to have something click for me that just didn't click.

Fast forward to now and I've had extra motivation from a variety of sources. Vacations, special days, weddings (not mine), holidays, clothes getting too big, etc.

For me the weight loss process has been really slow - but - what inspires me personally is seeing the changes - even with a very small loss pound-wise, I already walk faster and I feel better about myself all around.

I also try to think in terms of the future, when I think about the future - I really hate the idea of not participating in something because I am too big. I always try to picture myself being an active particpant in every conceivable type of activity - knowing that if I don't lose the weight - it is not going to come true. - No more sitting on the sidelines for me. That is my incentive.

I'm going to take what I've heard a few very wise others say around here and try to put it into my own words...

If you WANT to lose weight and are ready to do it, then inspiration and motivation are not required--they will come and go throughout the process, and while they do help, they really are just that--additional help, not foundation. I'm not inspired to drive to work every day. But I do it. Why? Because I know I must in order to pay my bills. I'm not particularly inspired to brush my teeth in the morning. But I do it. Why? Because I know I have to or else my teeth will get all gross. Am I always inspired to order a grilled chicken salad with dressing on the side when I go out to eat? Not a chance. But I do it because I know I have to or else I'll only get bigger and more unhealthy. I am almost NEVER inspired to exercise (I hate exercise with a burning passion). But I do it (sometimes). Why? Because I know I have to to have a firm/fit body rather than just get saggier and flabbier as I age.

There are other things I keep in mind, of course, but they don't always work to inspire me out of the line at the Wendy's drive-through--that's where the above "just do it" (or don't do it, in this example) attitude is required. I want to be a healthy weight when I'm ready to have children. I want to be fit and energetic enough to play with those children and do everything for them I possibly can (help coach a softball team, co-lead a scout troop, make crafts at home, work on school projects, etc.). I want to be able to go anywhere my heart esires without EVER feeling a fear of not fitting someplace (a booth at a restaurant, a ride in an amusement park, an airplane seat, etc.). I want to be able to go to a mall and be able to shop in ANY store rather than only be able to hit Lane Bryant and maybe one or two department stores (that don't typically carry my style in my sizes)--and this isn't just so I can find cute clothes; it's so I'll have a variety of options at all times rather than having to ever settle on something just because it fits. I want to be able to live the next 10 or so years in a nice 3-level townhouse without panting at the top of the stairs every time I need to from the bottom floor to the top.

This is a statement that I keep on my frig:

"When the pain of being fat finally out-weighs the pleasure of eating, that's when motivation translates to action."

I think it intertwines with inspiration too.

I get inspired by my 3FC friends who have succeeded in losing a lot of weight. I make a point to sign onto 3FC each day. When I see posts from Rockrobin, LisaMarie71, Cheryl14, Lilybelle....you too, Mrs. Quadcrew!....and all of you that I've forgotten to mention...I see that it is possible to change our lives for the better. And, the posts from those of you who are losing slowly like me and still stay committed, wow...you have no idea how that inspires me to keep going too!

when i look at Zelmas photos and Ammie and her 100 pound loss i stay inspired to keep on trying .

My inspiration and motivation comes from:
1. all the others here who are working just as hard as me to lose weight and keep it off
2. My evil doctor that I know weighs me every 4 months and is so proud when I lose weight and so upset if I gain a lb.
3. My DH and kids that are so happy and proud for me
4. my medicine bag that has shrunk considerably since losing weight
5. being able to get in the floor or yard and play with my grandkids
6. being able to wear nice clothes and feel great in them

Warning! I am going to be really honest here.
 

For me being "comfortable in my own skin," not being motivated or inspired or not having a goal was a cop out. When I started back in January I said that I had to do it for health reasons and if my mind and spirit wasn't on board they'd better hurry up and get there. I suppose that is still true, but it wasn't the whole story. I was protecting myself in case I failed--again. If I got lazy or got off plan it wasn't really my fault because I must not have been "ready to lose weight." It was an out. As I have been doing my plan and reading about everyone else's journey I realized that the commitment and determination has to come from inside me. My dependence on food for comfort and friendship is a flaw just like if I depended on alcohol or cocaine. No one was going to fix this for me but me! The inspiration and support of other people are tools but I have to reach and use those tools for myself. So here I am staying on plan, adding exercise and choosing to change my self.

Casey..that was really honest, and I think really true. I am the queen of rationalizations as to why I haven't done this yet. I talk such a good game. Action is what I lack.

I am still fat because my actions lead to weight gain and not weight loss. Period.

I have been waiting my whole life to be inspired. Wedding...baby...class reunion...health problems. Nothing has ever gotten me off my kester long enough to make a big impact on my weight. Even when I manage to get going I always allow something to derail me at some point.

I am still looking for that magic plan that will change my whole life. Truth is I don't want to face the fact that I have the power to change my life. I've had it the whole time. So have you. We can do this. All day long, every decision we make either contributes to us getting healthy or staying fat (Or getting even fatter).

What decision will you make today?

At my highest weight, I had an idea that I wasn´t happy, but I didn´t know how unhappy I was until the weight began to come off and I rediscovered the passion I had for life... for me, being that heavy was a way to hide myself from life, and it felt great feeling again, in the past year I laughed, I cried, I was overwhelmed by hapiness and crushed by pain, I have lived more in the last year than I had done in the previous 5... and I wouldn´t trade that for any type of food...

It's like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz -- she always had the power to come home, she just never knew it. :)

I was that way too. I had lost weight and always gained it back. I was weak. I knew it. I didn't want to try again, because I knew I would just gain it all back. So, I allowed myself to go up and up and up to 295. At that weight I was wearing size 30 and 4x. I couldn't even shop at Lane Bryant, or really anywhere at the mall. I'm sure I'm not the only one who cried when I tried on the largest size at a plus size store and it plain didn't fit.

And yet, I still figured I was weak and would gain it all back, so why bother?

I don't know what happened. Partly it was my husband who said something like "Well, if you have that attitude you WILL fail". Ouch. But he was right.

Sandi is exactly right. You have the power. You make the choices: the good ones and the bad ones. In order to make this work, you have to make more good choices and fewer bad ones. That's all.

The hard part is doing that more often than not. The hard part is planning, the hard part is making better choices in the face of the stresses of life. The hard part is, maybe, telling yourself you are WORTH making those choices. And the hard part is getting back to making better choices when you've gone through a period of bad ones.

But you really are the one in control. The one making the choices. You just have to choose what you want to do. Maybe you will choose that you don't want to lose the weight. That you are comfortable where you are. Okay, that's your choice, then.

The problem is not that many of us continue to make the choice to stay at a weight we don't like (that's not a judgment -- that was certainly me for most of our life).

The problem is that we think that we don't HAVE a choice or that we aren't making choices at all.