What's My "Why?"

It wasn't until our foray into "Network Marketing" that I heard about the concept of your "Why." What's your "why?" What's the reason behind the effort? Why do you want to be successful?

In the case of weight loss, the question is "Why do you want to lose those pounds?"

It hasn't been until this year that my "Why" behind weight loss has been this strong. Before I reveal my strongest "why" let me go over the other top five whys over the years:

6. Circumstances

This isn't a why, which is why it's my lowest rated option. But when I spent two years in Venezuela (heat, walking, parasites, remember?) or played High School Football I naturally lost weight because of the circumstances. In 2006 I played a lot of basketball because I had a good group of guys to play with so I slimmed down a bit because of all the exercise. It didn't motivate me to lose weight, I just did.

5. Fear 

I have a family history of diabetes, cholesterol, high blood pressure, and heart problems. My dad died at 54 of a heart attack. Mom has Type II diabetes. I don't want to get diabetes and I don't want to die young.

4. Incentive

The first time I lost a significant amount of weight my brothers in law offered me one month of a health product for free if I lost a certain amount of pounds. I've lost weight as part of a weight loss challenge with family members. I lost weight when my company offered to pay for my Weight Watchers membership. Monetary incentives can certainly help.

3. Worthy Goals

Before I was married someone made a comment to me about how I needed to get into "Naked Shape." That was a very good goal to have right before the marriage and honeymoon! In 2007 I wanted to hike the Grand Canyon "Rim to Rim" and needed to get into better shape for that.

2. Spite

I hate to admit it, but the thing that prompted me to do HCG back in 2011 was a comment someone said to me. In anger over something completely unrelated to weight and health this person said, "Steve, get your fat a$$ out of my life!" That was the first time someone had called me fat since I was a kid in school and that motivated me. I didn't want to remove myself from this person's life, but I decided I'd get my "fat a$$" out of that person's life by not being fat. It worked.

1. Love

Love is my strongest why. For three reasons:

1c. I love my wife. She believes in me. She wants me to accomplish this goal and she's shown me a path to health and been super supportive. I love her so I will do my best to reach this goal.

1b. But loving Jenny isn't enough. I need to love me. I need to love the person I am, but more importantly love the person I can become. When I was dating Jenny, I chased after her. I did whatever I could to be with her and win her love in return. Now I need to chase that man (that sounds weird) but what I really mean is I need to chase with love the person I can be. I need to pursue him with the same intent I had when I was dating Jenny.

1a. I love the Lord, Jesus Christ. He is the one who can help me become what I can be. I have felt promptings over the years that encouraged me to cease to be idle, to work hard, to not spend my labor and my money for that which is of no worth. I feel like my extra pounds are a personal symbol of the extra sin I have. I love Him and I want him to help me purify my life, even in this temporal arena of weight loss.

And that's what makes a lifestyle change stick. Love. Love of self, of that special someone, of the Lord, and love of the journey.