What Motivates You?
 

What motivates you to stay on plan? To exercise?

Honestly lately I'm not sure. It's just something I have chosen to do because I have to. I'm trying to see this as if I don't lose this weight I may die before my son grows up and that is enough for me to stay OP right now. I'm still starting over again and I hope I can stick to it for the rest of my life so I am happy healthy and there for my family. Sorry I'm wishy washy today.. The scale didn't move that much on my weigh in and I start to over think if I did everything right food wise.
Great question though!!

In a short answer, a lot of things do. But lately, this forum does. I love reading the experiences here and seeing that we are all striving for the same healthy lighter goals. And I take so much excitement from reading that someone's goals have been met, like it was my own. And the excitement that the forum shows for me when I have an NSV or goal met, priceless. I get more support here than I do from my family (outside of my DH). And I am so thankful every day I found this forum. Seeing everyone else stay on plan and get their exercise done (even when we don't want to) motivates me that I can do it too. And I do! :)

Being able to see improvements with even a small weight loss. Being able to breathe more easily. Being able to tie my shoelaces. Being able to walk from the kitchen to the car without having to sit down. Being able to get back to the gym. Being proud that I can go several days in a row without cheating.

i absolutely agree with elvislover 100% about 3FC! im so glad ive found this site! Theres also the way i feel now that ive changed my lifestyle and all the encouragement i get from others at the YMCa

Right now pain is motivating me. I need to get rid of the plantar fasciitis that is plaguing me. I know there are no guarantees but I have tried everything else, so maybe dropping 50 pounds will do it.

Looking at my long nails motivates me. I was a lifelong nail biter and in August stopped biting them and now I have long luxurious nails, something I never thought I would have. Each time I look at my nails I remember that it's a lifelong habit I could kick and I had the willpower to do so, therefore I KNOW i can kick this habit of overeating, eating out of boredom, etc. It gives me inspiration to stick to it because I know I can.

I want a baby, so the weight has to go!

Feeling better. Looking better. Buying normal sized clothes and not plus size. Never worrying whether I'll be the fattest person in the room.

I had none of the reasons to lose weight that push most people to get healthier. I considered myself to be fat but fit. I hiked, kayaked, camped, etc. I had normal BP and cholesterol. I had no indicators for diabetes.

I had to take a stress test at my highest weight. As I was walking on the treadmill that got increasingly faster and set at a greater incline, the tech remarked, "You're in pretty good shape." I answered, "For someone who is 100 pounds overweight." He said, "No - in general. Your numbers here are really good." I love to eat. Why change anything when no sirens were going off?

Then (2 years ago today, but the way!) a group of friends and our daughters decided to join a gym together and try to lose some weight, mostly to support a friend who was contemplating weight loss surgery - we figured we could all do it together and save her the trouble of surgery. After dropping about 30 pounds I realized that I felt so much better it wasn't even funny. That has been my motivation ever since. I feel so much better at a lighter weight.

I think once you (all of us) find the mental and physical reason that works as motivation for YOU, there is no turning back. If it's feeling better - wonderful. If it's looking better - wonderful. If it's getting off a certain med - wonderful. If it's proving to the skeptics in your social circle that you can do it - wonderful. The reason doesn't matter. We need to have motivation from within and the change becomes permanent.

Lin

My motivation is growing health problems related to being overweight. All of my life, I never had any issues and therefore deluded myself into thinking that I didn't really need to lose weight, but for the past couple of years, my body is sending me distress signals and I can't ignore them anymore.

Letting go of the past. I've slowly eliminated everything in my life that held me back from, destructive, co-dependant relationsips, to a drug addicted sister who used me as a walking ATM, to allowing my feelings to be devestated by things friends/family have done. I think I've grown up a lot in the last decade, I really do and part of letting go of my past is letting go of the fat shield I hid behind. I'm strong enough, smart enough, good enough to face the world as I am, and inside, I'm just not fat.

My Motivation
 

When I weighed over 300 pounds, and had a heart cath and stent, my motivation was to stay alive for my special needs son who needed me to be on the earth for a while longer.

But now, though that is still my main motivator, it also is how much better I feel, and how much easier my life is since I've lost almost 100 pounds. I never want to go back to that place. Not ever.

I do not miss:

Wondering if I will fit in a booth
Knowing that even the biggest size on the rack may not fit
Having a difficult time closing the stall door in a public restroom
Needing super human strength to stand up from a couch
The rashes
Hurting after standing for 5 minutes
Dropping food on my chest (which seemed to happen every time I went out to eat!)
Not knowing what to do with my hands when I sat some place
Feeling like I had a constant do-nut around my neck
Being out of breath just going up a flight of stairs

Things I love about losing weight

I don't feel like the biggest person in the room any more, I don't even scan the room to see if I am
Clothes look so much better
I feel healthy and I'm way more active
My laptop can actually fit on my lap
Wearing pants that have a waistband!
Knowing the seat belt (plane and car) will fit
Feeling in control
Playing with my son
Being able to get on the floor and get up from the floor without heavy machinery!
My feet and fingers have even shrunk!

As a lady at a WW meeting once said: Nothing tastes as good as thin feels.
I totally agree. Maybe changing that to "thinner", cause I'm not "thin" yet. But it sure feels good. : )

Dropping the weight did it for me (cured the plantar fasciitis). Mines was absolutely horrible at 252 lbs, and it got better and better as the weight kept coming off. Now, it's gone. I hope this is encouragement for you :)

My motivation is the fact that my life keeps getting better and better with every pound lost. The way I move, bend, twist, jump, run, is unbelievable better than when I had all the weight. My quality of life has gone up 1,000%. It keeps me going because I want to feel like this all the time.