Motivation

People ask me, when they hear about my weightloss, "What motivates me?"

It's hard to come up with an answer.

First, I want to say I am proud of the fact that I actually lost the weight I wanted to and then some. I didn't think I would. I just hoped that if I followed the plan it would happen. And I did, and the weight came off. And I am maintaining through watching my points and exercise.

I'm stubborn. My husband would be the first to tell you. So, back up against the wall, I made a commitment, dug my heels in and fell whole heart into WW. (Of course paying $12 a week was also an incentive. I did not want to be the one who "wasted" hard earned money by failing. Money doesn't grow on trees, you know.)

Along the way, I made a lot of discoveries about myself. I hadn't realized how much of me I'd buried under the weight. The funny silly creative Me began re-emerging as I posted on the board with my fellow Weight Watchers. I found an outlet to help others and myself. The more I wrote, the funnier I got and the writer in me surfaced again after a long, long hiatus.

I found I was much stronger than even I thought I was.

Words that became important to me: Perseverence, Motivation, Determination, Fortitude, Attitude, Faith, Hope, Love.

I did a lot of reading. Reading books like Chicken Soup, reading sites like Sparkepeople and Prevention. I kept the quotes that touched a cord in me close at hand. I found motivation in other people's stories and other people's words until I could feel it in myself, believe it myself.

Yes, I first started WW to lose weight, but I ended up changing my health and my way of thinking about food and myself and life. WW is not just about losing weight. It's about control of me.

As far as continued motivation in the maintenance phase, fear of failure is a motivator. I don't want to fail. I don't want all my hard work to just go down the toilet. I made it, and I will do my best to stay here. That means I cannot feel too complacent about where I am. Maintenance is an everyday monitoring that I cannot slack on.

I believe that WW works. I need to follow the plan and keep following the plan all my life. I need to persevere through the rough times when motivation fails me. I need to keep a fighting spirit, a sassy positive attitude. I need to use the tools around me, WW, BCB, friends and family. I need to search for the things that will help me when I need it.

So to answer the question, in a nutshell, I motivate me.