[socalfelicity]

what keeps you motivated? what makes you want to eat healthy and workout more than lay in bed and eat food?

for me:

-photos of myself- both at my heaviest and at my thinnest- are motivating.
-thinking about being able to run and play with my kids
-not wanting to be embarrassed of my size
-wanting to like the way i look

...that's all i'm coming up with at the moment. what about you?

[Sunday]

Becoming free of food addiction and compulsive eating and the peace and freedom that will come with it.

Being able to enjoy pretty clothes and shop in normal stores.

Not feeling like I could beat up my 240 lb/6'4 boyfriend and wind him if I sit on him.

Taking control. I'm 22 and a lot of my peers coming into their own now with their careers and bodies... enjoying proper adulthood etc. I want to leave my weight struggles in this phase of my life and enjoy the rest of my 20s feeling slimmer, sexier and in control.

[Beverlyjoy]

These are some of my advantages/motivations of eating and living healthfully...

- I will feel better physically.
- I'll be able to get up and down off the floor more easily.
- I will be able to wear a smaller size.
- I will be much happier when I look in the mirror.
- I will be in better health.
- My pieces & parts (back, knee, foot, shoulder, etc) & those pains will improve.
- I will feel that I have really accomplished something important.
- I will feel less self conscious when I perform.
- I will do more things.
- I will feel more in control of this aspect of my life.
- My lab numbers will be in a normal range.
- I can avoid becoming a diabetic.
- I will have food sanity - which I have wanted for a long time.
- I will be able to look at myself in a photograph and smile.
- I will be more active with my grandson.

I have these on note card that I try to remember to read daily.

[Eliana]

I lose motivation often, but I don't realize it until I find motivation again. For instance, I've recently reverted back to my "baseline" of exercise which is my must-do even if I don't want to. It's so routine now there is no "I don't want to". But my friend mentioned wanting to go to the gym yesterday (Saturday) and I tried to push her off to next weekend. I wanted to sleep in! LOL! Saturday is not part of my "must-do". Not only did she want to do the body + abs class, she wanted to spin too! So we did an hour lifting class and then immediately did a spin class. I can't describe how wonderful I felt afterwards! It just felt good to breath! Amazing. And I hurt today.

That scenario is highly motivational to me. I hadn't realized I was in a slump until I got that feel-good-bug.

Motivation now is like icing on the cake. It's amazing when I have it, but it isn't necessary.

I know I throw this out there ALL THE TIME, but all I have needed is a commitment to staying on plan each and every day for a set period of time. For me, that set period of time has been one year. I'm now into my second year. (Barely...LOL!)

[JOLINA]

I want to look good and wear all those old business suits of mine.
Size 14,12,10.
They are beautiful and are just collecting dust in my closet.

And I want more energy to do everything I need to do next summer.

I have to plant over 200 trees and put in an orchard, grape vines, berry bushes, and do sooo much more outdoor work next summer.
I can't do it all carrying around so much excess baggage.
My feet won't hold up unless more weight is gone.

[Bac0s]

Not wanting the last five or so months of effort to be for nil.

The fact that I feel so much better since calorie counting and getting regular exercise. No more hobbling in the morning b/c of plantar fasciitis, no more heart palpitations from the massive amounts of caffeinated soda I was drinking, no more sllllllow walking, lots more energy.

Fitting into "regular" size clothes for the first time in 10 years.

[socalfelicity]

thanks guys! i just needed to hear what keeps others going- some days i really don't have motivation and it's hard to remember what all the effort is for-i think maybe i need to make a list and put it on my fridge to remind myself why hard work will pay off...

[ubergirl]

Very, very early in my journey, I started a thread about motivation and several 3FC stars jumped in and told me that I needed to focus more on commitment and less on motivation, and for some reason, I really took it to heart.

Recently, I've definitely been less motivated and I think a lot of it is because what it felt like to be morbidly obese is starting to fade from my mind.

One thing that motivates me is that I walk up seven flights of stairs to get to my car in the parking garage every day, and every day, it surprises me that I can make it, even at the end of the long day, even carrying a heavy bag.... I don't even break a sweat. When I was morbidly obese, two flights was my limit... I'd drag on the way to the third, and feel dizzy with a pounding heart if I tried to do more than 3. So that reminds me every single day how far I've come.

[time2lose]

Reading through these posts, I kept thinking, "yes, that is one for me", and "Yep, that too!" Most of all, I have to agree that commitment is more important to me than motivation. My motivation comes and goes. Having said that, , several of things BeverlyJoy listed are motivation for me.

- I feel much better physically, how good will I feel after losing 10 or 20 more?
- I get up and down off the floor more easily but can use improvement there.
- I wear a smaller size but want to wear petites.
- My knee pain is much better but I still have some.
- I love feeling less self conscious in public but I still worry sometime that I am noticable .
- I fit in chairs much better but still avoid fragile looking chairs.
- My lab numbers are good and I want to keep them that way.
- I want to avoid becoming a diabetic like my mother and grandmother.
- I will be able to look at myself in a photograph and smile. (Love this one Beverly!)
- I am more active with my grandchildren but still want to improve that.