Welcome to Part 5 of the discovering your why for weight loss series! In this part it’s all about the motivation that improved physical ability gives lots of people to get in shape.
If you haven’t learned about the overall concept of “finding your why”, check out the first part of this series below to see how amazing the method can be for staying motivated with long-term weight loss.
Discovering Your “Why” Part 1- The Strongest Motivation for Weight Loss
There are lots of different amazing rewards that you can look forward to after losing weight… but for some people the absolute most amazing thing to be excited about after a successful transformation, is having the physical ability to live life the way that they want it.
The heavier you are now, the more life-changing your transformation will be.
Something catchy that I like to say, is that “the more you have to lose, the more you stand to gain”.
Of course, how you will look after you get in shape is something awesome to look forward to, but the things that losing weight actually lets you DO, can be even more incredible.
If you have a little bit of weight to lose, a transformation can mean being able to do ordinary tasks much more easily, and giving you the ability to do things that you couldn’t do before.
If you have a lot of weight to lose, getting in shape can potentially mean gaining your quality of life back.
The ability to explore and enjoy the world
Being lighter, smaller, and stronger affords you the opportunity to explore the world in a variety of different ways.
This can range from simply making something easier for you… to actually allowing you to perform a task that you couldn’t do at all before losing weight.
For me one of the most profoundly freeing things to happen when I lost weight, was the ability to go on difficult hikes again. Or for that matter… enjoy any hiking all.
I love the mountains, and I never really lost that childlike wonder of wanting to explore the forest, beyond the trails.
When I was at my heaviest it took awhile for me to admit how much my size and weight were limiting me from doing things like hiking, but even on flat trails I would get winded much too fast to enjoy the experience, and my knees and ankles would start hurting quickly as well.
As far as being able to leave the trails and keep my balance when crossing big rivers, climb steep hills, and jump from rock to rock with my friends… forget about it.
It’s funny because this picture of this tree with yellow leaves that I took and used for the 8 week challenge pin on Pinterest, was taken by me in a place in the forest that the former fatter me could not have accessed… let alone carrying a camera with me.
It was a deeply rewarding and freeing feeling to be able to keep up with my friend on the hike.
Another common aspiration for post weight loss dreams that you hear people talking about, is wanting to be able to ride a roller coaster.
If your current condition prevents you from riding a roller coaster or perhaps even being able to easily walk around a theme park, that can be changed completely with consistent healthy eating and exercise!
For some weight loss is a concern of simply being able to get up and get out of the house more, which to those who take it for granted may sound like a small thing, but it’s a profoundly life-changing thing for those who find themselves housebound so often.
It’s the small things that others take for granted
If you are really big/heavy, there may be a variety of everyday tasks that are either really hard or even impossible for you to do, which other people take for granted every day.
If things like going up and down the stairs, doing housework or yard work, or even getting out of the house at all are difficult because of your size and weight, those are some of the things that will improve first, when you begin to lose weight.
It’s all the little things that weight loss brings that makes such a huge difference in life.
Being able to walk casually around a fair or festival…
Being able to do repairs on your house in the crawl space or on a ladder…
Or riding a bike with a friend.
When you go through a significant weight loss transformation there are many different levels of rewards to look forward to along the way, well before you reach your ultimate goal.
Things change really fast when you are consistent with healthy eating and exercise… and reclaiming the ease of everyday activities begins to happen right away as a consequence of becoming lighter, stronger, smaller, more confident, better able to breathe.
So being really big and losing a lot of weight means changing your life many times over, and the first and most profound set of those changes can be right around the corner!
Reaching a level of physical excellence
The ultimate fitness goal that you envision may even go beyond simply getting back into normal condition.
Maybe the idea of getting in incredible shape is a vision that will continue to motivate you and drive you forward on your fitness journey, beyond just a normal level physical ability.
This is exactly what motivates me to not just maintain my weight after losing it, but keep getting leaner stronger and healthier… the thought of becoming a stronger and fitter man, and ultimately being the healthiest and fittest version of me that I can be.
First you get in better shape, then eventually you’ll be in good shape all around, at which point lots of people decide that they want to be in the best shape of their life.
If that same type of vision about yourself motivates you to change, use that motivation to constantly drive you towards making that vision, become a reality.
Having energy itself
With all of the physical improvements combined that you experience from getting in shape, you will have and feel lots more energy on a daily basis.
Carrying around less weight and fat, having more muscle, eating cleaner and more nutritious food, having a stronger heart and more freely pumping blood, all of these things add up to having a lot of extra energy on multiple levels.
You will feel less sleepy
You will have more energy for physical work tasks
You’ll have more mental energy for office work
You will even have more energy on a motivational level
Losing a large amount of weight will not only enable you to do a wider variety of physical activities in life, it will actually give you the energy to take action and live life the way that you want it.
Getting in shape is a profoundly life-changing experience, not just when you reach your ultimate goal but for every step along the way as you continue to improve your own health and there for quality of life.
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This is part 5 of the discovering your why series. Here is the rest of the series:
Part 1- The Strongest Motivation for Weight Loss
Part 4- For attraction and love
Part 5- For improved physical ability
