Welcome to part 3 of the discovering your why for weight loss series. In this part it’s all about the motivation to lose weight that your internal health inspires. If you missed the introduction article that explains what finding your why is and how powerful it can be for long-term motivation in reaching fitness goals, check out the article below!
Discovering Your “Why” Part 1- The Strongest Motivation for Weight Loss
Depending on your size, age, and situation, your health just may be one of your biggest motivators for weight loss.
Some people are in a situation that is beyond where they would call health “motivation”, especially when it’s life or death.
But you’re not going to find just another article that lists all of the endless health risks associated with obesity here… this article is about motivation and I don’t believe in trying to scare people to grab their attention so I intend to focus on the positive.
For internal health to be a major motivator for you, you want to know and connect your mind with how amazing things can be when they change.
To me there’s nothing motivating about when people say “if you don’t do this, this will happen, and if you don’t do this, this will happen.”
I want to know about all of the good stuff that will happen when I do succeed.
Prevention or reversal of diabetes
Diabetes is one of the conditions that you hear about the most in relation to being overweight and eating unhealthily.
The healthy diet habits that will lead you away from this condition will also lead you to lose a significant amount of weight.
I am not a doctor and cannot give medical advice, and so you should consult a healthcare professional on your specific food choices.
But you hear all of the time about people who beat diabetes with healthy food, and so let that be a motivator for you if you find yourself in a situation where you are concerned about diabetes.
Reduced risk for an assortment of diseases
Again, without creating a long list of diseases that are no fun to read and think of, simply think of how short that list of risk becomes for you when you eat whole and healthy foods, in place of refined and processed foods.
I prefer not to think so much in terms of reduced risk for disease, which of course is a real thing… but I like to think in terms of improving my chance for a long and happy life.
Different mindsets all lead to the same destination when successful, it’s all about finding the one that leads you to consistently eat healthy, lose weight, and improve your health overall.
Stronger pumping blood
Although internal health wasn’t my main driving motivator, one of the things that motivated me concerning health quite a bit was the thought of actually making my heart stronger, my arteries clear, and my blood pump stronger.
The thought of having better blood circulation just clicked with me, since blood brings life and energy, for the body and the brain.
Part of why I like this idea so much is because when I was really heavy I would often get really light-headed, and the thought of clean free-flowing blood circulating easily around my body really motivated me not just to reduce my fat and weight, but to love exercise and become stronger.
More Energy
The amount of energy you have/feel on a daily basis and in specific situations, is a very serious thing that I didn’t always realize could vary so much depending on your weight and diet content.
Maybe it’s because I didn’t pay attention to my energy levels and how they affected me until my later twenties, and maybe also because I didn’t realize how bad my energy levels were suffering when I was overweight, until I lost weight.
The drop in energy I experienced was gradual over a long period of time, for 8 years after graduating high school, but the same change was reversed in only 1-2 years.
So it took a while for me to realize that when people said they had so much more energy after losing weight, that they weren’t just talking about being a little less sleepy or having a little more energy to do physical activities, they were talking about a giant and profoundly life-changing difference in the energy they were experiencing in their daily lives, in a variety of ways.
It’s feeling more awake, having more physical and mental energy in your daily routine, having the energy to do something highly active, breathing more easily… it’s in everything you do.
From carrying less weight around, to being stronger, getting more water, getting all of the good and clean nutrients from the healthy food, and confidence itself… all of these things stack together to give you an amazing amount of energy.
How to lose weight and improve your health
Eat whole, natural foods. Focus on adding more foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and lean meat into your diet. Ditch restriction, counting calories, and trying to completely cut foods you love, and simply eat MORE healthy foods. Doing this will easily and naturally replace junk foods.
Exercise as well. It doesn’t take an hour of grueling cardio… get 15 minutes of intense exercise or weight lifting in 3 times per week, and you’ll not only lose weight faster than with healthy eating alone, but your end result will be better as well because you’ll retain your muscle.
Take things in steps that you can manage. Only make changes that you know you can handle, and step things up when you are ready and know that doing so won’t be to difficult and make you want to give up.
By doing this you give yourself time to adjust to changes, and find healthy foods and exercises that you actually enjoy. This is exactly how I was able to lose 80 pounds and keep it off.
Want to read more about how weight loss can improve your health? Check out how losing weight improve my health.
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This is part 3 of the discovering your why series. Here are the rest of the articles in the series:
Part 1- The Strongest Motivation for Weight Loss
Part 3- For your health
Part 4- For love and attraction
Part 5- For improved physical ability
