My brother sent me an email after I talked to him about my difficulties following through on my weight loss new year resolution. He challenged me to come up with ten, non-shallow reasons for me to lose weight, and five things that are painful things that are happenning because of my weight, and then use that as my motivation. The first two for me are pretty easy. The first is confidence; I know I would be a lot more self-confident if I wasn’t carrying extra weight, and I know that confidence would show up in many arenas in my life: work, relationships, social, etc. The second is my blood pressure would be easier to manage, and I might even be able to get off my blood pressure medication. A third might be my snoring problem, and my girlfriend would definitely appreciate that. What are some more? A fourth would be that I would be able to feel the triumph of completing a small triathlon like I’ve wanted to do for a long while now. The fifth might be that I would have more fun at places like the beach and pool because I would not be self-concious about my weight. I think I would be happier, but that might be more a combination of all of these reasons. A sixth would be that I would not be out of breath when I’m walking up more than on flight of stairs, which leads to embarrassment. The seventh would be the knowledge that I can succeed at the goals I truly give my full effort to complete, so I would be more confident in challenging myself with other goals. I just need three more, but it’s pretty hard to come up with ones that aren’t shallow or relate to confidence, which I’ve already mentioned. I think number eight could be about clothes, and how it would be easier to find comfortable things to wear if I was skinnier. Another reason might be a financial reason, in that I don’t think I would spend as much money on food once I’m skinny. And the last reason that is not a shallow one like the fact that I would look better would be all the things mentioned above, plus more shallow and various reasons, would make me happier and in a better mood most of the time.
I think it is actually easier to come up with 5 painful things happening to me because I’m out of shape then 10 non-shallow reasons to lose weight. I think that is because I’m going through it now. My first one is my blood pressure. I have to take a pill everyday to make sure my blood pressure stays in the normal range. Not being exactly as happy as I could be is definitely number two on my list. Maybe weight is just one of the many things holding me back from my being completely happy, but it is at least on the list. I think that sometimes I feel uncomfortable in my own skin because I’m not in the shape I want to be in, so that would be number three. Since it runs in my family and I’m a big guy, at number four, I would put the threat of me ruining my blood sugar levels and getting diagnosed with diabetes. Of course there are plenty of other health complications that being overweight could lead me towards in the future as well. The fifth reason is the opposite of my number one reason to lose weight. I think I’m a little bit timid and non-confrontational right now, and a lot of that has to do with my self-confidence and appearance. I’m ashamed to say it, but my weight has a lot to do with that.

Summary:
10 Reasons to lose weight:
1. Confidence
2. Better Blood Pressure
3. Less Snoring
4. Triumph of completing small triathlon
5. more fun at “sun” places
6. not embarrassingly out of breath
7. knowledge that I can succeed
8. more comfortable clothes
9. spend less money on food
10. better mood

5 Bad Things Because of my Weight
1. High Blood Pressure
2. Depressed
3. Uncomfortable
4. Threat of Adult-Onset Diabetes adn future health
5. Timid-ness

To get to the weight loss goal and feel all the things in my list of 10 reasons. I need to…
Keep Steppin’

Filed under: fitness, resolutions, self-improvement, weight