You know, sometimes motivation is overrated.
If you've lost weight, everyone wants to know what your "motivation" was. If your weight loss is stalling out, you cast about (or ask others for) something to motivate you.
I began my journey several years ago, with health as my motivator. In 1999, I got out of breath just sweeping off my front porch. That's right . . . just wielding a broom. Furthermore, my ankles were starting to swell up, and my blood sugar was heading toward the danger zone. The broom incident propelled me to get off the couch and move my butt. I slowly got back into shape (first getting into bicycling, then weightlifting).
Then, in 2001, I met someone who had lost 50 pounds on Weight Watchers. This was a program I had never before considered . . . and as I was doing a terrible job of trying to lose weight on my own, I vowed to try it.
I joined Weight Watchers on January 7, 2002. And the rest, as they say, is history. WW provided me with the perfect framework for changing my approach to food and eating, and it helped me lose more than 80 pounds.
These, then, were my motivators: the incidents that got me started. But what kept me going was a "just do it" attitude.
I don't wait for "motivation" to pay my bills, do the laundry, clean the cat box. (Well, OK, my husband cleans the cat box, but you know what I mean.) I do them because they need doing; it's part of daily maintenance -- body and otherwise. Likewise, I show up at my job every day, whether I feel like it or not.
Weight control -- including weight loss -- is the same way. It starts out wonderfully, but after the "honeymoon" phase, it can be a chore. Now, whether it's an onerous chore or one that's relatively easy, lies in how you regard it. Some days you'll be totally gung ho! Other days you'll be ho-hum. But it's on those "ho-hum" days that you just have to DO it.
You could wait all your life for just the right motivation to strike, for the perfect moment to begin. But if you just "do it," this time next year you'll be at goal, or a heckuva lot closer.
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As I'm known to belabor a point, I've actually talked about this before:
So, Like, What's My Motivation?
And, if "just do it" just won't do it for you right now, bolster your flagging momentum with these tips for mustering more motivation:
What's My Motivation? Identifying Why Weight Loss Matters
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