Find your "Why?"

All the professional fitness trainers on those hit television weight loss shows talk about your emotions and getting to the bottom of your feelings before you try to lose weight. It always sounds like a bunch of baloney. But is it? I think it's important to find your "why?" Why do you want to lose weight? Why do you want to get healthy? Why is it important for you to exercise? Why eat clean?

A lot of popular answers to these questions include things like: "I want to fit into a dress for a party next month," or "Everybody wants to lose weight," or "It's that time of year. I've been bad all year but it's my New Year's Resolution to get fit." I'm going to be very honest right now, and it might not be easy to hear, but if those are  your reasons, you're kidding yourself. Those aren't the REAL reasons. You have to find your "Why?" And it's going to be different for everyone.

For me, I wanted to stop feeling ashamed of my body. I wanted to be able to take family photos and not hide behind every object or person I could find. I wanted to feel better, because when you're fat, you don't feel good. I wanted to get control of my body because I felt like I'd lost so much control after being diagnosed with thyroid disease. I wanted my daughter (and my sons) to be proud of me and not ashamed to be seen with me. I wanted to give my husband back the wife he married. I wasn't fat when we got married, and he deserved to have his sexy skinny wife back. I've never had high cholesterol or diabetes (even when I was fat), but I knew that with a family history of those and other health issues, I had to get my weight in check for my health. I wanted to challenge myself and do crazy things like one armed push-ups and run a half marathon, and do all the things that "fit people" do. I wanted to eat healthy real foods, not processed chemical food-like substances.

Those are some of my reasons why I started this journey. I encourage you to think long and hard about what your reasons why would be. If you take your health and fitness journey seriously, you only increase your chances of succeeding. If you treat this as a quick fix, or a New Year's Resolution, or just something you think you "should do," you're only dooming yourself to fail. You are worth more than that.