The Only Thing to Fear

"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself" - Franklin D. Roosevelt

It's not that I don't understand the quote, of course it is the fear of (fill in the blank) that is the problem and not the actual thing we are fearing. Perhaps this is true but even if fear is the only thing we HAVE to fear, it most certainly isn't the only thing we DO fear. There are a lot of things that we fear and everyone has their own private fears. When it comes to living a healthy lifestyle, the fear of change plays a big part.

Change scares a lot of people, probably because "the unknown" scares a lot of people and that is essentially what change is. You are doing something new, something you don't have experience with and that can be scary. It is much easier to go on living life the way you always have than to potentially experience discomfort by changing your ways.

The reason I bring this up is because I think this fear is what has prevented me from making the changes to my lifestyle that I know I need to. Well that and my lack of willpower/possibly addiction to unhealthy foods. If I make the decision to eat healthy, I'm afraid I'll miss eating all of the crap I shouldn't be eating anyway. If I stop watching TV (as much) , I'm afraid I'll miss something exciting and interesting. But you know what? I'm pretty sure that in the long run I'll be much happier if I am healthier and have the potential to live a better and longer life.

If I focus on the things that will truly make me happy then I'll be able to overcome the fear of change because I know the change is for the better.

What's Your Motivation??

I went ahead and signed back up for calorieking....no more blissful ignorance denial about the calories in my meals. Take today for instance, I went to Burger King and had a Whopper Jr. with cheese. Completely inappropriate! I felt even worse when I had to put that into my calorieking database and saw exactly how many calories that contained. :( The point of this is not to make myself feel worse but to hold myself accountable. If I don't write it down, if I don't know for certain how many calories are in what I'm eating then it is a lot harder to actually stick to a plan and truly lose weight/improve my health & body. This isn't really the point of the post, just a little update on what I'm doing as far as diet/nutrition is going. I will keep you posted.

As a part of the calorieking program you have to list your motivators and barriers. That made me start thinking about my motivation. Why do I do this? Why do I worry about what I eat and how much I exercise? Why don't I just sit around and eat whatever I want until I get big and fat and can't walk so I have to use one of those scooters when I go to the grocery store to get more unhealthy food so I can get even fatter? Ohhh that's right....I want to give myself the best chance as possible to live a long and healthy life free of the complications caused by obesity and obesity related diseases (diabetes, high-blood pressure, etc.)

That is my number one motivation - a healthy body and mind. I have other things that motivate me as well. I thought that listing them out would help me and hopefully help spark your mind to think about what motivates you.

*I want to look great naked. (This is a completely vain motivator but so what, it motivates ME)
*The sense of accomplishment I feel when I finish a race or a particularly hard training session
*"Runner's High"
*My friends and family - knowing that they fully support me is one of the best things in the world
*The fun of it

Those are the main things that make me want to eat healthy and make me want to exercise.

What motivates you?