Last week I asked the question, "What's your motivation for losing weight?" and I was secretly terrified of the responses I was going to receive. When the poll closed, however, I was pleasantly surprised with the results. I offered four possible answers and each person could only choose one. The people taking the poll could choose from these answers: myself, my spouse, family or social acceptance.
When I originally posted the question, I was scared that the majority of the responses would be for the spouse or social acceptance, but in reality, most people said they were losing weight for themselves.
Here's how the poll turned out:
Myself - 66%
My Spouse/Significant Other - 6%
My Family - 0%
Social Acceptance - 26%
What a fricken relief, seriously!
The reason I asked this question to anyone willing to answer was because I have spent a lot of time thinking about why I'm losing weight, and likewise, I've also spent a fair amount of time defending why I'm losing weight to other people. With my wedding right around the corner (less than 9 months away), when I tell people I started losing weight recently, they automatically seem to believe that I'm losing weight for that purpose. WRONGO! If I wanted to drop pounds for one day of my life then I'd probably choose a crash diet or something that allows me little hassle over a long period of time. However, I chose to change my entire lifestyle and every single eating habit I have because I want to be healthy again, I want to learn how to lose weight and keep weight off, and I want to look my best over a long period of time.
When thinking about the why, I've examined all of the options I listed, my family, my spouse-to-be and social acceptance, but none of them are my driving factor. I'm almost 26 years old, I gave up giving a crap about what society thinks of me a long time ago. If I got discouraged every time I saw some hot twenty-something in a short dress and long legs then I would have moved from Las Vegas and entered hibernation two years ago. I just want to be happy. That's it. And, I know I won't be happy with myself or happy in general until I make the changes necessary to get that way.
When it comes to my family and my spouse-to-be, I've never felt pressure from either category to look a certain way or be a specific weight. I've honestly never been around more supportive people. Like my personal goal, I've been told time and time again that me being happy with myself is the most important thing.
I'd be lying if I said looking amazing on my wedding day didn't cross my mind, but if I haven't reached my ultimate goal by that day it really doesn't matter! My wedding day isn't the end -- of my diet or my life -- it's exactly the opposite. My wedding day is the start of something new, and I hope by that point I've instilled in myself the necessary skills and habits to move forward with the best intentions and a happy state of mind.
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