Your Monday morning thought provoking question :
No… it’s not “should you get another cup of coffee” that… is never a question 😉
It’s this…
Why… do you want to lose weight?
Seriously, I want you to stop and think about it. Assuming, you, like many of my readers have a goal to do so. It could be as little as 5 lbs. or as much as 50.
If you are one of the rare, and few readers who doesn’t need to/want to/ or has hit their goal… you might want to just go grab more coffee and head into your day…
Or read along with us.. choice is yours… 😉
But why? Why do you want to? I don’t mean it in a flippant way, but more of a thought provoking way.
I recently overheard someone saying she wanted to lose weight for her boyfriend and it was all I could do to keep my big mouth shut and tell her she was doing it for the wrong reason then.
At the starting point of thought… weight should never be about someone else. And by that I mean, that you are doing it to please them.
So.. the question.
Why? It’s important that you really understand that because the idea will be what helps motivate you, keeps you going, gives you something to center your goals around.
If you just have a blind thought like this… “I need to lose weight! I need to lose 30 lbs!”
It’s just vague. There is nothing connected to it to help you get to the goal of losing 30 lbs… or 5… or 10.
It’s abstract with no solid plan to get there.
So may I suggest if that idea has been rolling through your head, you take steps to make it more of a concrete thought with reasons why you need to?
I’ll give you an example.
8 years ago when I was at my yearly appointment with my doctor he simply told me.. hey… you look good.. your labs look good… but you could lose some weight.. it will help you in the long run..
When I left his office that day I had to think about some things and make a decision for myself. I certainly knew what my family history was ( Grandmother and Mom both in the obese categories. grandmother had heart attack at 50 and a dad who had health issues and chronic diseases who died of heart disease)
That should be enough to make anyone sit up and take notice with their own health, right? So roughly at the age of 44, I needed to make some choices. I needed to examine how I was living and did I want to follow the paths I’d seen in my family already?
I had to ask myself… why do I want to lose weight? What was going to motivate me to get the job done? How would I do it?
I didn’t want to live like my family. I didn’t want health issues. I wanted to be strong and healthy for my husband, kids and ( now) grandchildren.
Please note.. I wasn’t losing weight to please them… or make them happy…
it was about wanting to continue to have a good quality of life and take care of the body I had that was still free of any chronic diseases I could prevent.
You understand don’t you, that most chronic diseases, we have the ability to prevent in ourselves?
I’ve seen the ugly toll they take on people you love. I wanted no part of that… I want it even less at this point in my life.
For me, that was the “why” question answered.
From there, I had to be proactive about making things happen. No one was going to do it for me. I had to have a plan and goals and day by day make them happen.
The goals were small and attainable. In the beginning I set out to walk, every, single day.
2 miles. No matter what. I did it.
I also began slowly adjusting my eating… day by day… choosing better foods and learning portion and moderation sizes.
I didn’t beat myself up if I had a day I felt wasn’t “spectacular” I just kept going.
I made weight loss goals small too. I focused on 5 lbs at a time. I celebrated when I’d hit the next “5” or “0” number on the scale.
Pretty much it’s what I did for awhile as the scale slowly crept backwards and my clothes started getting to big.
As time went on, I kept readjusting my goals and ideas of what I wanted for myself.
I eventually lost the weight I wanted and my goals continued to shift.
A stronger, leaner body led to me running more which led me into running big events like marathons and a 50K to celebrate my 50th birthday ( yes, crazy I know)
My goals and desires are still flexible and changing. I run and cycle now. I love spending a couple days inside lifting heavy stuff and doing strength training.
My “why’s” have changed a lot.
Yes, I wanted to lose weight for a healthy life. Yes, I wanted to lose weight to not have health issues. And honestly, yes, I wanted smaller jeans 😛
But the other things that came along with it were just as valuable.
Losing weight and gaining confidence in what I can do athletically is empowering! Learning about myself and taking on new challenges showed me what I’m made of. The mental muscle and internal strength I’ve gained can’t be measured. Being strong in my daily life is another huge payoff. I love having lots of energy for all I do in my day!
As time has moved on, I’ve also been able to teach, encourage, and mentor others on the same road. Nothing is more rewarding than seeing others be successful at the same thing.
Now, I don’t feel a need to focus on weight or losing it. I did however, have that starting point.
I had the “why” question. I then took steps to live it out.
You… ask yourself the question… then make a concrete plan to see it through.
You’ve got all you need in you to be successful and accomplish it 🙂
sassyfitnesschick 