I Want to Lose Weight, But I Don't Have the Motivation

Making the statement "I want to lose weight, but I don't have the motivation" is like saying "I want to win the lottery, but I'm not going to buy any lottery tickets".  It's just not going to happen.  If you want to lose weight, you have to find the motivation.

When you make a statement like "I don't have the motivation", what you really mean is "I don't want to do the work".  I'm not going to sit here and say that there's no work involved - there's lots of work..HARD work...but the rewards at the end make it all worth it.  I want you to take a second to think about what type of person you are.  Let's use a job as an example.  If there's a job or a promotion you REALLY want, are you the kind of person who sets their mind to getting it no matter what?  Are you the kind of person that applies for the job and believes if it's something you're supposed to have, then you'll get it?  Or are you a person that will long for the job, but never make a single attempt to show your interest or apply for it?

If you're a person that's willing to do whatever it takes to get what you want - then you shouldn't have a problem facing the hard work of losing weight.  If you believe that something will happen for you "if it's meant to be" or just longs for something without ever revealing your desires, then you're going to have some major problems when it comes to losing weight.  Before you read on, you need to really spend some time thinking about how bad you want to lose weight.  If I was to tell you that you can start off making minor adjustments and doing very little exercise - would that increase the motivation? 

Well, I can tell you that you can start out easy...but for major results, you're going to eventually have to work harder.  If losing weight was easy, do you really think there would be so many obese people in the world?  Of course not!!  If you want a high end career, chances are you're either going to have to work your butt off in college or spend years working your way up and earning experience.  Yeah, yeah I know that there are those people that have everything handed to them on a silver platter - but there are also people that are able to eat whatever they want and never gain a pound.  Chances are, you're not one of those people.

I'm not going to pretend that this post is going to magically change your life, and give you the motivation you're looking for.  I am a firm believer that you won't change until YOU want to.  No one can tell you that you HAVE to lose weight.  I know many people that have been told by doctors that they need to lose weight or they are heading towards all kinds of medical problems - and that news has no effect on them whatsoever, so by my blogging about needing motivation isn't going to change a thing. 

I also can't answer the question "how do I get motivation?"  Several things motivate people to make the changes they need to make in order to start their weight loss journey.  For 10 years I struggled to find the right motivation to stay with what I was doing, and not let anything stand in my way.  In the end it came down to the fact that I was so tired of being tired.  I'm 28 years old, and felt like I was 80!! I couldn't run, I couldn't play with my kids, heck - I could barely walk up a few stairs without feeling like I could pass out.  I didn't want to go into my new profession of being a teacher and try to promote kids to be healthy, when my own body showed them that I didn't believe what I was telling them.  I didn't want to stress to my kids how important it was to be active and eat less junk, when they watched me devouring junk food and never moving off the couch unless I had to.  It all hit me at once - and when it did...I knew I was in this FOREVER!!

Six and a half months have gone by since I started my journey.  It's not a lifetime, but it's the longest I've EVER lasted with trying to lose weight.  I'm 3lbs away from losing 50lbs.  I weigh 216lbs - a weight I haven't seen since I was about 19 years old.  It's not super fast weight loss...but it's healthy, maintainable weight loss.  I can now run - yes RUN - a mile in 12 1/2 minutes.  I can jog for more than 30 minutes without stopping.  I can fit into a size 16 - when six months ago I was in a size 24-26!!  I feel stronger, I feel healthier, and most of all I feel BEAUTIFUL!! That is a word I have NEVER had the desire to use to describe myself.  I still have a long way to go - but I have no doubt that I will get there, and when I do my life will continue doing the things I have grown to love...like eating healthy, exercising, and helping others find their way to the success that I have achieved.

I'm sorry if you thought reading this post would give you that urge you needed to get off the couch.  That's just not how it works.  You have to look to yourself to find it.  Living a healthy lifestyle and doing a little exercise can be hard work, especially when you first start out - but if you're willing to see it through...get to the point of total comfort in the lifestyle - you will see dramatic results, not only on the outside of your body but within it.  You have to buy the lottery ticket to win the lottery.  Unlike the lottery, however, once you do make the TOTAL committement to a healthier lifestyle the odds are in your favor and you will WIN!!

My only advice that I can give to maybe help get you steered in the right direction is by asking you to stand in front of the mirror or take a picture of yourself.  Look at the person looking back at you - spend some time really studying that person.  Are you happy with what you see?  You have the power to change that image - tell yourself that....then, well, do it!
Good luck!

Till next time.  ;)