My WHY

 

WHY? 

If you want to be successful at losing weight, and keeping it off, you need a strong WHY. An upcoming wedding or high school reunion does not count as a strong WHY. What happens after the wedding? There is no more reason for you to continue losing or maintaining your weight loss.

Your WHY needs to be so powerful, that when you are ready to give up, you remember your WHY and you don't quit. Your WHY is what keeps you going. When the going gets tough, the tough have a strong WHY and that's how they get going. Your WHY should shake you to your core.

My WHY - or So I Thought 

I am going to share with you what I thought was my WHY. As you read it, you may think it was powerful; but it was not powerful enough for me. I mistakenly thought it was, but it didn't go deep enough.

My father died at 53. He had high blood pressure, diabetes, gout, and sleep apnea. He went blind for a day from his diabetes, and that wasn't enough to make him want to lose weight. I looked exactly like my father. I recently turned 49, and I knew that I was on the same path, and if I didn't make a change, I didn't have much longer on this earth.

Of course I knew that when I turned 25, 30, 35, 40, 45. It was not enough. I lost weight dozens of times over my life, only to put it all back on. I was either losing weight, putting it back on, or at my heaviest. I never stayed at my goal weight. The fear of dying never bothered my father, and it wasn't bothering me.

I Found My WHY 

One day I was looking in the mirror and I saw my father's reflection as I occasionally do. With a heavy sigh, I looked into my eyes. I saw my father's eyes. I looked deeper, and that scared the hell out of me. I saw my father in those eyes.

I have many great memories of my father, and those are the ones I choose to keep. He was involved in my life growing up, and for that I am thankful. People who knew my father thought he was a great guy. He was friendly, funny, outgoing, and happy.

At home, we knew that was just a mask. My father hated himself. I remember several occasions where he was sitting on the floor with a gun in his hand, threatening to kill himself.

As I looked in the mirror, that's what I saw in myself. I was going to bed at night, hoping to not wake up in the morning. I would never try to kill myself; the voices in my head told me I would mess that up. On several occasions, I had the brilliant idea to eat myself to death.

When I saw that I had become my father, not just physically, but emotionally, I found my WHY. That is what got me going, and that memory is what keeps me going.

Finding Your WHY 

Your WHY may not be as dramatic as mine, or it may be more so. We all have our own baggage, and a WHY that is meaningful to you is all that counts. When you decide to make a change, and commit to a plan, take note of what got you there. If you are reading this, you are probably looking for a solution. What is it that got you here? What was your last straw? That is the starting point for your WHY. Examine that, then dig deeper, and keep digging until your WHY makes you cry.

By the way, I no longer hope to die. I'm enjoying life now and paying it forward by helping people achieve the same success I have found.

Michael

Michael Freed is a health and fitness coach, and a certified Insanity instructor. http://www.coachingbymichael.us

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