Fitness Friday: Motivation!

One of my girlfriends had been piling on the pounds at an alarming rate over the last year initially it did not bother her because she was finally getting what she considered a proper black girl booty. That was until a “mean” mutual friend of ours sent her a video of excessively obese people with the caption “this will be you if you do not do something about your weight soon” LOL extreme but effective next thing I know she is out shopping for workout gear. Those images were a wakeup call for her she started her fitness journey by jogging daily in the evenings and is slowly changing her eating habits.

I am the type of person that if I want to do something I get right on it and do it but I am human too and get discouraged every now and then and need motivation to keep going. I remember how being able to pay my rent and go on holiday among other things was the motivation I needed to get up and go to work in the biting English cold a few winters ago. The alarm would go off and I would turn it off, go right back to sleep until I remembered my bills next thing you know I was sitting on my desk at work. Same applies to my fitness journey there are some days that I can’t be bothered to eat healthy or even workout. So what keeps me going? I have two major things that keep me motivated. First is me in a vision of that lovely dress two sizes down that I can’t wait to wear or those jeans that I just have to have but the last size they come in is a size too small for me. I remember working out one day with the vision of me in this elegant cocktail dress that has been sitting in my wardrobe for a while now because it doesn’t quite fit right; I pushed myself to the limits that day. The second one is watching videos like “ExtremeMakeover Weight loss Edition” and “600lbStory” on YouTube among others. I also watch some YouTube vloggers on their weight loss journeys.  I watch these videos for two reasons as an inspiration that if they can do it I can too and also as a reminder that I never want to be anywhere near where these people were when they started their weight loss journeys; these are people who were 300lb/136Kg/21stone plus when they started their weight loss journeys. There was a video I watched of this man in his thirties who was too heavy to leave his bed he had to be washed, fed and helped with other bathroom activities all while lying on his bed, his weight affected his self esteem and dignity, he couldn’t get out of the house and all I could think of was I never want to be in his shoes ever.

Here is one of the vloggers whose weight loss journey inspires me in a big way; she not only shed off the weight but has managed to keep it off. Consistency and determination definitely is the key.

How do you stay motivated on your fitness journey?