On the weight loss site that I'm on, someome recently posted a topic that she wondered if revenge was a "valid" reason for lising weight. Basically she was dumped by a guy and wanted to show him by becoming thin and hot and show him what he was missing out on.
There were a lot of interesting responses to that query. Some people were very disgusted by her and commented that she should be losing weight for herself and no one else.
I don't know how I feel about this - I mean who is to say anyone's reason for losing weight is right or wrong as long as it gets the job done. Most of my clients are only clean and sober because they will go to PRISON if they use drugs and alcohol. Is avoiding prison any less of a valid reason then say doing it for your kids? I would say the same about losing weight.
When I was losing weight, I truly never gave much thought to what other people thought. I was just focused on what I needed to do. But I was just talking the other day to Marc and remarked that I bet that people talked behind my back - making remarks about whether or not I would keep at this - especially the exercising, since it's pretty noticable when I go out to run during my lunch hour.
Because I know human nature, there is no doubt in my mind that people did talk about me and certainly said things about how I would not continue this commitment to a lifestyle change and probably were a little snotty about it.
So there's a part of me that would like to know who said what so I could be like "That's right, bitch, I did it!" Does that make me petty? Probably. But it doesn't make the weight loss any less real.
What is your main motivation for losing weight? Yeah, yeah, getting healthy, blah blah blah. But what about some of your less admirable reasons?
I completely agree. I will admit the first reason for me losing weight and becoming fit and athletic is for my wife and daughter. I don't want to be coach potato dad, but don't think for a second there isn't other selfish reasons that I wanted to get in shape... In fact its funny my best friend and his wife just started running with us and during our day 1 run of the C25K he mentioned something about "according to the internet, I'm losing weight for the wrong reasons" his reasons are primal and selfish, but who cares!!! If that's the motivation that gets him out of the door and running/eating healthy then what does it matter??
ReplyDeleteI have been yo-yoing for the past 9 years since I had my daughter, but I have an unhealthy relationship with food so usually I ended up gaining more than I ever lose. In the past 5 years I've bounced back and forth between the same 30 lbs. My husband also has packed on the lbs over the past 10 years and last year he had finally had enough (he doesn't have nearly the emotional attachments to food as I do, or the aversion to exercise) so he started going to the gym and eating better. He lost over 40 lbs between Dec 2011 and April 2012. During this time he started feeling better and started bugging me to go to the gym with him. I finally gave in just so he'd stop bugging me, but I never enjoyed going and would use any excuse I could to get out of it, usually some excuse to do with my menstrual cycle ("I have my period." "I just got over my period." "I'm ovulating, I can't go" "My period will be starting any time" - you get the point. Well in November 2012 I had a hysterectomy because of all these menstrual issues, so in January when I was released from medical supervision my hubs says "Now you have no excuse not to go to the gym!"
ReplyDeleteWe have always been within 20 lbs of each other but with his weight loss progress he was easily 60 lbs lighter than me at that point and it kind of kicked my butt into gear because he can't get all thin and sexy to other women, while I'm just a fat blob and get pitying looks when we're out together! So we switched to a gym that's closer to home so I am more likely to go, and I also signed up with a personal trainer who I am working with twice a week. That is a HUGE motivator because we're not rolling in extra cash, and I get charged every 2 weeks for the trainer whether I use the services or not and I can't stand to see that much money go to waste.
I will stick with this,and once I reach my goal I WILL maintain it because losing is a heck of a lot harder work than maintaining should be and I don't EVER want to do this again.