What Motivates You?

Hello, everyone! In my last post I told you I would be more accountable to you and I am going to follow through. The other day my cousin sent me a text to ask how I got started running... and I asked which time? In all reality, it's hard to stay motivated and we all have periods in which we fall short of what we know we need to do. But that's okay. Just because I might have eaten a little to much during one meal doesn't mean that the whole day's efforts are moot and I can go binge. Just as we can apply Christ's Atonement to our lives by repenting and starting with a clean slate every day, multiple times a day, we can use the same outlook for working on our goals, whatever they may be. And I am going to focus on weight loss... of course.
Starting is, and always will be, the hardest part of our journey. Sometimes we have to keep starting over, and over, and over again and it can be frustrating. But each moment is a chance to change. We just have to find the things in our lives that motivate us to change now. Here are some of those things for me:

• Wanting to be healthy and live longer.
• As you all know, I've been suffering with health issues, and a lot of them will be lessened (and might even go away!) if I lose weight. Plus, those added years of life that my current weight is taking away is also some motivation, which leads me to my next point.
• Wanting to be there for my husband, kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, etc., etc.
• If I keep up the way I had been living, I won't have the strength or energy I'll need to take care of my future family. Or the added years I referred to earlier. How sad would it be if I didn't get to see my grandchildren because I didn't take the time to take care of myself? I feel like if I don't take care of myself I'm essentially telling my children "I love you, but I like living an unhealthy lifestyle more." What is your treasure?
• Wanting to feel good about myself.
• Yes, wanting to feel good and healthy is great, but sometimes it's just not enough. Sometimes my motivation to change lies in the moments when an outfit I think is really cute won't fit or when I see the fat rolls that become more visible when I sit down. These are the moments that my thoughts turn destructive and it's hard to see how beautiful I truly am, and I don't want to degrade myself like that.
• Knowing that my body is a gift from my Heavenly Father that he has entrusted me to take care of.
• This is probably the biggest one for me. God loves us so much that he gave us these wonderful masterpieces to dwell in while we are on the earth. And though our masterpieces may not always function as well as they should, they continue to work for us no matter how badly we treat them. Show God that you love Him and don't treat His gift to you like garbage. You're going to need it for the eternities!
• Being able to see my progress.
• This is something that you can't see at day one, or maybe even for a few days, but there are many ways to track your progress. And sometimes seeing how far you've come goes a long way. In earlier posts I've shown progress pictures and apps that have helped me along the way, as well as measurements and other various things. But there is something I am really excited about that I found yesterday on Excel. Yes, Excel. They have multiple templates for various things and weight logs are some of them. There are a few options, and it is awesome. Here is one of the ones I'm using (the data isn't mine, it's from the template):

So, those are some of the things that motivate me. Find things that motivate you and please share them in the comment section below! I'm always up for more ideas! Have a great day and keep working hard to make your dreams a reality!

My Progress:

Pounds lost: 4.2