I'm one of those people who has to have something concrete to motivate me. Back when I started my journey in January of 2011, even though I wanted to lose the weight for my health, I also had something "real" and tangible to motivate me -- my best friend's wedding in August of that year, in which I was a bridesmaid. (I was determined not to be the "fat" bridesmaid, lol.)

Now I have about 20 pounds to lose (bit of a backslide...oops!) and, once again, I have bridesmaid duty, this time in October for my cousin's wedding. Once again, I am determined not to be the "fat" bridesmaid...and this time there's added motivation because there are certain people on that side of the family to whom I want to send the message: "See? I COULD do it, I DID do it, and you can all just eat your damn words."

Is this "bad" motivation? Maybe. Do I care? Nope. Whatever works, works. All the people who snickered at me, made snide backhanded remarks, or flat-out laughed at me over the years -- the looks on their faces when they see me now is all the motivation I need. And in two years, when I cross the finish line at the Bluenose Marathon, I'll have all those faces foremost in my mind.

90% of weight loss will come from what you eat (and don't eat.) Don't worry about the exercise at first. Just find something you like to do and will stick with. Maybe walking, some situps and pushups during TV watching and some stretching before bed.

I exercise for the health benefits rather than to aid in weight loss. My doctor told me that exercise is just as important as my medication and I've really taken that to heart. I don't skip taking my medication, so I don't skip exercise either. Even if I'm tired, I make myself exercise. Often it's discipline and determination more than motivation that keeps me going.

One thing is that I have a rule that I only have to do 10 minutes. If I start and hate it and am tired or whatever, I am allowed to stop. I can count on one hand the number of times this has happened, but by giving myself this out I take the pressure off of forcing myself to do it.

My main suggestion is finding something you actually enjoy doing. I remember hearing this and thinking people were crazy that I would ever find anything I enjoy, but it turns out I love to dance. I will still dance if I never take off another pound.

I'm currently doing the Couch 2 5k program and my motivation comes from the fact that I signed up for an actual 5k in September (plus the Colour Run in August but I consider that one as practice). I want to be able to run the whole time and finish under 40 minutes. Right now, I can only run for about 3 minutes without stopping so I have a lot of work to do.

Thank you all for sharing your methods! I think you all have great ways of getting yourselves active. Hopefully I can find something that I'm never too tired to do. I have an active job, so not feeling tired and sore is a rarity. Maybe I'll look into a marathon or something I can really commit to. Thanks again! =)