What's your Why?

I'd first heard the concept of having a "Why" from David Greenwalt, a fitness expert who has helped many with his program "The Leanness Lifestyle". He emphatically stresses that until you have good, solid, concrete reasons for taking superb care of yourself (he calls these reasons your "Why") it just can't be done. I've come to find that he's right.

Until I just recently found my true motivation I went through the motions, and that was good. Without going through the motions I'd weigh easily 75 pounds more than I do now, have cholesterol through the roof, and more than likely I'd be a diabetic headed strait for heart disease. But if I was going to be successful at this over a lifetime, I knew I was going to have to find my true Why.

In the course of mulling this all over (which, by the way, has taken about 5 years since first hearing the concept of a Why) I did some counseling about weight-related issues and the counselor observed something that was revealing to me: I am more motivated by running FROM something than TOWARDS something.

I just had to find something that scared me bad enough to run from it for the rest of my life.

Then, something shifted: I started to acknowledge my family history of heart disease and diabetes. The reality that these things were more than likely eventually going to kill me sunk in. And when it sank in, it scared the devil out of me! I started doing whatever was necessary to keep these things at bay and maybe even avoid them all together:

-I upped my game and got more organized and methodical about how I lifted weight
-I started incorporating more aerobic activity into my workout regime
-I cut back drastically on white flour, sugar, and diet sodas (I'm not convinced enough research has been done on diet sodas to have a steady stream of them pouring through my body.)
-I stopped drinking alcohol
-I started eating less processed foods
-Probably most importantly, I joined Weight Watchers and began the process of losing weight.

I had finally found something truly worth running from.

I'd heard the term "Lifestyle", and phrases like "It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle", countless times. But it wasn't until my trainer, Ross, said that he wanted to work with me because he can tell I have a passion for this lifestyle that it finally clicked for me. I really HAD made it a lifestyle- he saw it, and now I see it. I have found my core reasons for taking care of myself. Not something I do just because I should, but something I do because I want to. Now, it's a part of me.

And last night I was able to write out my true Why. I'll share it with you if you'd like to see it, but I'm not going to bore you if you don't. :-)

I realize that me sharing this is not going to help anyone to immediately figure out their Why, but it may be the seed that starts the process growing within you. I'm relieved I've found my WHY. I'm grateful for the process it took to get me here.

This lifestyle is who I am. It will be until the day I die. I'm sure of it now. I want you to be sure of it, too.