What keeps you motivated has to be in the top five questions I am asked by my clients and readers. Motivation is such an individual thing; what works for one doesn’t always work for another. I decided to list some of the things I found helpful along my journey. Maybe you will find something on my list that motivates you or that you want to try yourself.
1. The love of my child and husband are my number one pick for motivation. I can’t think of anything better than a mother who will put her desire for a bag of Cheetos, a piece of cake, morning donuts, fried chicken, or Ben Jerry’s in its rightful place…the GARBAGE! By choosing to change your health picture and eating better quality foods, you teach your family how to eat better AND you change your family’s lifestyle for generations to come. Stop the obesity cycle in your family. End the cycle of generation after generation succumbing to heart disease and diabetes. You have the absolute power to give your loves ones more time on this earth simply by giving up the junky foods you love in exchange for fruits, veggies, lean proteins, healthy grains and fats.
2. Sporting Events…training to do runs and triathlons was a huge motivator for me. If you don’t know already, I was a very obese child. It literally STRETCHED into my adulthood. I never dreamed I could ever run, bike, or swim any distance let alone do them at the same time! Just having races on my calendar kept me moving. Some of my proudest moments in life are when I crossed finish lines dead last. My motto is always the same: Last place is the guy on his couch every Saturday morning!
3. Other people who have been there before me who lost their weight motivated me so much. I remember looking at success webpage after success webpage dreaming that it would be me one day. Just knowing someone else did it gave me motivation to keep on trying.
4. My deceased grandparents…Man, I miss them and they absolutely left me way too soon. Every day of my life I wish I had been able to help them change their eating habits so that they could still be with me. Cancer took them both in horrible and painful ways. Watching someone you love suffer and painfully draw their last breath is too sobering. The one thing I can say with my whole heart is that I will do everything in my power to not only live a full life, but a long, full, healthy, no-regrets life. The last thing I ever want is to look in the mirror and say, “If only I had lost this weight, maybe I would enjoy ten more years with my grandkids.”
Motivation. It comes in all forms. You have to decide what’s important in your life. Is your current lifestyle getting you closer to that goal or setting you back?