The best motivation I ever heard of was a guy who gave his lawyer a check for $10,000 (I think it was 10 grand - it was big money either way)

If he didn't hit his weight loss target in the defined time period, the lawyer was instructed to give the check to the American Nazi Party.

Needless to say, he lost the weight.

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Health Habits
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Im doing this for 2 reasons: The first is to improve my athletic ability so that I can keep up with the rest of my team at practice.
Second, is to feel better about myself. Maybe wear shorts for the first time since i was 14. To boost my self-esteem and go out and enjoy life rather than avoid it. I dont want to feel self-conscious anymore.

What the heck, I'll add my $0.02 into the mix.
1. Because I've been abusing my body with food and tobacco for too long and I'm 43 now. When the heck am I supposed to start this out right? NOW!!! If I expect to make to 44...

2. Because I love my Wife, and when your weight and lung condition start to reduce your stamina and make... err... certain activities more difficult... DAMMIT, its time to fix that....

3.I'd like to see my kids graduate from college...

4.Because it sucks feeling like crap all the time...

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have just began to have a healthier life style and trying to obtain healthier eating habits. i do have regular work hours but still stay up very late and cant help myself to have a bunch of snacks all the time. My significant other is doing her best to motivate me but most of all im fed up with "THAT" bulge that is falling out of my jeans every time i have to bend over to put on my shoes or pick something up. Still trying to push myself to go to the gym, so far no luck. Any ideas anyone ?

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Well...where do i start? I've always been big, i've have always been fairly active but always found it really difficult to lose a significant amount of weight. Then I met my husband who loved me for who I was and actually found me sexy! I still wanted to lose but only lost motivation after just not losing much weight regardless of healthly diet and exercise, and besides, My husband loved me, I was happy.

In February this year, my world as i knew it ended when my husband died suddenly. I lost some weight, but through grief, and i decided that I'd try to keep it going. I needed something to focus on but I also felt that I wanted to be different, if i couldn't be with my husband then i didn't want to be the person that i was, no-one else would have the same me that he did, if that makes sense, i don't want to be alone forever, i'm only 35. I also went to the doctor to find out why It was so hard for me to lose.

I have polycystic ovarian syndrome, am insulin resistant and have developed diabetes. Now i know, its harder for women like me to lose weight. finally i have a reason (not an excuse) I just need to put in more effort than others or nothing happens.

So thats what i do.

I do it for me because i need more confidence, because i lost the person that made me confident and now I have to go it alone.

I do it for me for my health, because i finally know its not because i'm lazy, I sit there on my exercise bike in front of the tv (x-factor is usually best!) knowing that although he's laughing at me he's also incredibly proud.

I do it for me because i know that if i didn't i would be sitting on the sofa crying every night and it distracts me from doing that.

I also do it for my husband because i love and miss him so much. It will be a tribute to him when i have reached my goal weight and can start to think about building a different life for me, carrying him in my heart.

Its hard to have a new life forced on you when you were happy with your old one. However i also know that the health change is good and so try to be positive about it, i have yet to reach the stage where i feel that exercise is fun and makes you feel happy and energetic :-) but after 6 months i will admit that recently it has got easier and i no longer dread coming home from work knowing that its bike night!

Betty.

Betty, My heart goes out to you. With all of the adversity that you've had in your life recently, you are pushing forward. Don't give up, keep it going. Stop in here and get publicly involved. You'l find lots of good people who'd like to hear what you have to say, and help out in any way that we can.

It's nice to get some support sometimes

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Betty, you and I are close to the same age and I can't even imagine what you are going through. I am so sorry for the loss of your husband and wow...what a strong person you must be to have survived that and even be able to talk about it now. I'm at a loss for words but honestly, my heart goes out to you too.

And you're not alone as far as insulin resistance and PCOS... I was just diagnosed last year and finally seem to be figuring it out and getting a handle on it only recently. There are a few of us here in the forum with it so hope you stick around and we can encourage eachother . Drop me a line any time at my journal or pm if you want. Hopefully you start a journal too and I promise to swing by. *hugz* ~Lisa

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alright..what i'm inspired by is looking at myself in the mirror and hearing judgment and criticism..i don't like it.
another inspiration is my siblings and friends, how they can eat and stop when they are full, and they get in exercise without even trying; they just live their lives and don't worry about their weight, which is why they are healthy.
inspiration comes from the feeling of fitting into clothes that are a smaller size, and seeing that i lost a few pounds in the past months from the scale.
it's a great feeling when you ate healthy all day, and got an hour or two of exercise in, ya know?