Finding your motivation.

Well, Punxsutawney Phil says we have 6 more weeks of winter, so the thought of yourself in a bikini may not be the most realistic source of motivation for getting yourself to the gym or keeping your paws off of a second brownie while watching the Super Bowl. (By the way, I made THE BEST brownies for the game last night. But I limited myself to just one small one :)  While it's good to like how you look in your skivies or daily attire, it's probably not the most important or inspiring reason to make the commitment to a healthy lifestyle.  So what is?

Understandably there are going to be different things that motivate us, but I think we would all agree that spending another day with the ones we love is high on all our lists.  Having that dance with your daughter on her wedding day.  Being there the day your first (or last) grandchild is born.  Or watching them walk across the stage of their high school graduation.   Do you think about these things when you choose whether or not you go to the gym today? Or at all this week?  Probably not.  But you should!

This is kind of heavy stuff to think about. But my goal is to motivate you.  Put the idea in your head that there are real, very serious consequences to not living a healthy lifestyle.  Diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke... they happen to people like you and me because we make poor choices for one too many years.  Have you ever met someone that had their foot amputated because their diabetes was uncontrolled? Or had a stroke and could no longer lift their right arm to feed themselves? It's hard to think about, but these are all real things that can happen to us if we don't take care of ourselves. Starting now.

This week, find the time to be physically active.  Whether it's 15 minutes when you get up in the morning and 15 after work or 30 minutes after the dishes from dinner are cleaned up and it's time to sit down and relax with some tv, get at least 30 minutes of physical activity in 3-4 times this week.  You'll feel so good about yourself! And in the long run, your family will be thankful to have you around; healthy, able-bodied you, for another day. 

PS. Saw this and thought of my motivation post. Reinforces that we have all different motivation, but similar goals :)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-9EYFJ4Clo