As you work on your fitness resolutions in the New Year, what will keep you motivated to reach your goals?

1. My dance classes help me! I wanna be able to do the splits!!!!!
2. looking at old pics and seeing how i once looked and felt. i want to be energetic and full of life again!!!!
3. My wonderful boyfriend who I entend to be married to in a couple of months, as soon as i can loose 20lbs-30
4. I am 56 years young and I am 5′ 3″. I weigh almost 190lbs and I am not feeling good about myself. I have very little funds to go on a diet or purchase a lot of expensive weight loss stuff and I am trying to go back to College to get my Degree in Elementary Education. I am an Assistant Teacher and I don’t make much. I am trying to get a Scholarship/Grant or something and being so depressed with my weight is really stopping me from getting a lot of things done.

   If you-all can give me something that does not empty my pockets or cause me even more hardship I’d greatly appreciate it.

   Thank you in advance.

   Respectfully;

5. Once upon upon a time (a year and a half ago) I was 50 lbs overweight and at 39 going on 40 I was starting to feel the consequences of being that overweight. In the past I had been in really good shape (I was a Marine for many years). So I decided to lose the weight and get back into shape. I did it for my wife who deserves to have me around and I did it for myself. I have lost 45 lbs and I am in the best shape of my life. I lost the majority of the weight in about 3 months by changing my eating habits and drinking water instead of sodas. I added the exercise in after losing most of my weight. I went from 28% body fat to 12% over the next year. I started slowly and built myself up. I did not go into the gym and start killing myself right off the bat. I took my time and did it right. Now I routinely outperform people half my age in the gym as well as in my National Guard unit. Not bad for an “Old Man.” It is awesome to be able to look in the mirror and see the muscle instead of the flab!!!
6. I think joining the support group would be helpful as I have a hard time doing it by myself.
7. My two granddaughters ages 10 and 11 love to go shopping for fashionable clothing and I used to love to go but now I am overweight and am embarrassed to go. So, I need to loose 25 lbs. so they can see Gram ma in some fashionable clothes again. All my weight has gone to my midsection and the older I get the harder it is to get the weight off. So here I am and need all the motivation I can get.
8. I had a standing gym membership but the thought of driving to and from the gym, getting dressed, working out after a days work were not exactly motivating me to go. So I froze my membership a year ago and did not exercise until a week before my 45th b-day (Oct. 25). I think at this time my weight was around 215 lbs.
   I bought a hip hop dance video since I can’t think of any form of activity I enjoy more than dancing. I did the 30 minute video every day resting only for one day each week (stretch for 10 minutes and actual dance time was 20 minutes).
   Today, 2.5 months later I am 200lbs. This despite the holiday parties we had to attend. I think being 200 lbs is a good round number to start 2008 with. To motivate myself , I figured a year has 52 weeks. If I can manage to lose 1 lb. a week for the next year I will be down to 148 lbs by this same time next year. I have put up a 52 week calendar on my wall and will use this to monitor my pound a week goal.
9. I am 100 pounds overweight. I do not like how I look or feel. I want to be able to participate in the activities that my children enjoy. I want the energy and vitality I once had. I am going to have to summon the inner strength that sustained me through previous hardship to take the weight off. I am glad that I have found this group for motivation and support also. I am also fortunate to have a supportive husband and wonderful children who are willing to help me.
10. The thought that I want to lose 50lbs to be down to a size 10. That I want to be slimmer and more sexual in the bedroom. So i can do all the tricks that I used to do with my husband.
11. Feeling better is my motivation. I want and need more energy. I want to lose the weight I have gained since my surgery. It seem like it has become harder to lose then a few years ago. With a very busy schedule, with little time for myself between a full time job and full time student, what little time I have I give to my family. How does one find time for exercises? Any suggestions?
12. I am hoping to find a buddy to help keep me motivated. Someone willing to email, call or come by and check with me to be sure I am not being lazy. Someone to go to the gym with me and who wants to help me as much as themselves to keep on track.
13. Yoga. This exercise not keep us fit, reduce fat but also increase motivation, will power and keeps us in peace
14. I converted my 16 year old sister to diet with me and shed some grossly unwanted pounds. With her nagging at me and kicking my butt when I need it I’ll stay on track and stick to my wieghtloss plans.
15. I am trying to get a full time job and want to be able to wear the work clothes that I have (which I can’t fit into right now).:( that’s my motivation, to fit into them.
16. I monitor my weight everyday. Joining sparkpeople.com allowed me to monitor my weight while I was dieting, and was really easy and free!
17. My dog is old and needs to lose weight if he is to live much longer. I keep to my running for him. I also bike with my little brother. It helps me exorcise if I’m doing it for someone else.
    Yoga is strictly for my pleasure
18. My motivation is my health and knowing how good I’m gonna look this upcoming bikini season!
19. Going to Hawaii in October. Have been recovering from 2 back surgeries and Bacterial Spinal Meningitis and my PT has taken a real hit over the last 15 months. I have not been able to push like I want to. Am just now feeling like I won’t damage something. Gotta look good for my wife.
20. I have a couple motivators this year… I want to lose about 30 pounds by april, that’s when my 10 year class reunion is. But I want to lose maybe 10 more and keep it off, cause I’m getting married the end of August. I started low carb today, and I plan on really sticking to it. It worked great for me a few years ago, this time, I’m going to try and add some more exercise to my routine.
21. 1. I have to be willing to do this as a personal goal. No one can force me.
    2. I accomplish the goal with positive friends who want to do the same thing.
    3. I reward myself every 2 weeks with something, like going out to a movie or eating out, etc…
22. Looking at everyone else and seeing them do nothing motivates me to be better than them. Thus, I do better. Once I start seeing positive results, I continue to do what I am doing, and seeing others fail because they do nothing. Kinda sad, I know, that I use the failures of others to motivate me to be better.
23. It’s really tough for me due to a number of physical issues I have - arthritis, fibromyalgia, depression - and the fact that I live in a cold weather state. Over the summer I realized that walking was really helping to keep the fibro at bay, but with the frigid January temperatures and the recent blankets of snow here, it’s getting tougher to get myself out.

    One of my alternatives is to go to a mall or even just a big store and walk there. At least it’s warmer and there are things to look at (unfortunately too many things to buy as well!) Another would be to join a gym, but without an income it’s hard to justify the price, especially since I wouldn’t be using very much of their equipment or services (I can’t do a lot of lifting do to the fibro, can’t do treadmill, running or most classes do to a bad knee.)

    So, I’m open to suggestions as to what else I could do (cheaply) and how to get (and stay) motivated. Any ideas you have would be welcome!

24. the way i felt before!
25. a workout journal if i can read it i can track my progress
26. i want to lose weight, i’ve already lost 20lbs so far and want to lose another 20 by june. i may not look like it in my pics but i am overweight, i weigh 177lbs right now and want to get down to 130lbs.

    I stay motivated by giving myself 2 choices - i could either stick to my diet that day and feel good about it at the end of the day OR i could blow it off and feel horrible at the end of the day. it only makes sense to choose feeling exceptionally good over feeling exceptionally horrible.

27. thinking how would it be to get fatter and then stay in home because of “inferior-fat-complexity” , and cuz ur home, u get fatter…. i have this, so i know.
28. I have probably one of the best reasons to lose weight: our daughter is getting married in June !

    Not only do I want to look good for her sake, but I also want to look good for myself since we will be seeing lots of old friends that we’ve invited. I used to be a sexy siren, but now I am more like yo’ big mama !

    And, the more weight I lose, the more energy I’ll have — planning a wedding is not all that demanding, but I want to have the stamina to enjoy all of the hustle and bustle !

    Looking good and feeling good for our daughter’s special day is enough motivation for me !!

    AND … I read what Antoinette M. wrote — her story is very similar to mine — if I lose 50 pounds, I’ll be between an 8 and a size 10 — and a lot more agile in the bedroom !!!!

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 10th, 2008 at 11:26 am and is filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.