Why do you want to get in shape?

[JillLars]

I thought it would be kind of fun to start a thread and share our reasons for wanting to get in shape. So, I'll go first

I want to lose weight and get in shape for a couple of reasons,

1. I am getting married in 2 years and I want to look good.
2. I want to be in the best shape possible when I decide to have kids sometime after I get married in 2 years, having kids is very important to me and I want to make sure I'm healthy so I won't have high-risk pregnancies, and so I won't have to lose so much weight after.
3. I know that losing weight will help with my knee and back problems.

I know it can take a long time to see results so my reasons are long term too

 

[New Creation]

1. I'm tired of carrying around this extra weight and feeling it in my back and knees.

2. I can't fit in any of my old clothes anymore and I'd rather be healthy than buy a new wardrobe!!

3. I'm getting married this year and I want to look good too!!!

4. I'm already 35, I'll be at least 36 when/if I have my first baby so I want to be as healthy as possible.

5. I know that God wants me to be healthy!!!

6. I want to live longer!

7. I miss being fit!!

 

[BeABerean]

I started getting in shape because problems with my feet were making it very hard to walk.

So I want to get in shape for ~
1. to be able to walk.
2. I don't want to have to take hormone replacement for perimenopause.
3. It makes me feel so much better.
4. Grow old gracefully.

 

[peterc]

I started to focus more on my health when I discovered that my cholesterol and triglicerides(sp) were high.
Plus I want to look better for my wife and be a good example to my kids.
lose weight to lessen my back problems
get rid of my beerbelly
be stonger,feel better, and live longer

 

[Spicy McHaggis]

1. The fence at the softball park is 310 ft. I know I can hit a softball at least 260, and one of my goals is to hit one out.


2. If you don't need a shirt, you have one more choice for what to wear today.

So yeah, performance and vanity. And I want to live long enough to see my kids (if I have them) grow up.

And chicks dig guys with six packs.

 

[Kelly]

I don't want to die of heart disease at age 55 - I want to watch my grandkids grow up.

The longer I live the more I can do whatever it is that God wants me to do here on Earth.

 

[retooferab]

GREAT QUESTION!!! When I'm working out at the YMCA, and there's such a variety of people really working hard, I'm just dying to ask them: What are you training for?

For me, it is to live long and healthy. But my shorter term motivation is to hang with the pups on our local waterski show team this summer. That means being strong, flexible (my weakness) and having reasonable endurance. Besides carrying partners around and building human pyramids, I dig barefooting most of all... and the falls can be brutal. So I weight train to keep my body connected more or less like it is now. Also... ahem... waterskiing involves being shirtless before covering up again in suit or costume... and... well, I'd like to look my best.

By the way, though, what really kick started my workout regime was having fairly serious surgery, long recovery, then the doc saying to go gave fun! I figured I better take good care of what God gave me, and enjoy it while I can. I've been at it ever since, 18 months now, which is some sort of record for me!

 

[mgarza2]

I want to stay in shape because it reduces stress and helps me feel better about myself. I have been weight training for a number of years now. I suppose i'm not as big as I should be but I feel like I have gained a signifigant amount of strength and confidence. Also, I have started running since the beginning of this semester. I can only run up to a mile at a time but that's certainly better than being out of breath from just going up and down the steps.

 

[Mother Vashti]

I want to stay in shape so that

1) My legs will stop hurting
2) I will have more energy
3) To stay active and have a youthful appearance

 

[J3sus-Is-Alive]

Well

1)im 5'4 and stoped growing and im 16 so i have always wanted to be buff and small
2) I love the way body builders are soooo ripped! so im entering a body building comp soon becuase of my progress
3) i would always get called SKINNY! always i hated it so i started lifint every mournin from 7-8:30 at school then from 3:30-5:30 after at school, btu i got a gym at my house too!

 

[catalyst]

I am an athlete, and being in shape is a requirement.

 

[Spicy McHaggis]

I am an athlete, and being in shape is a requirement.

What do you do Cat?

 

[retooferab]

Yeah, what up, Cat?

 

[Lived]

I want to get in shape becase im an ugly fat loser and nobody love's me

 

[~Wisdom Seeker~]

Okay, well.....

I'm a 41 year old woman. I have Lupus Disease, Fibromialgia, and am borderline Manic/Depressive. (The M/D is hereditary unfortunately)

I've been pregnant 7 times, had 4 miscarriages and have 3 children. My first child was born just a couple of months before I turned 30. My youngest is in Kindergarten.

I exercise, eat healthy, and take specific vitamins and minerals for the simple reason that I have to. The illnesses I have are the ones that make me catch every bug that goes around, keep if for what seems like an eternity, feel completely exhausted, experience (abnormal) mania and depression, and unfortunately make me look older than most healthy women my age.

There have been whole years where I was in so much pain that even doctors didn't know what to do for me. After cortesone therapy, chiropractic, accu pressure etc....I stumbled on the fact that exercise is a natural pain reliever. And eating healthy helps.

So...although the idea of "getting in shape" is a goal that drives some people to take care of their bodies. For me, I take care of my health...because being in pain, tired, looking older than I am, or not being able to find joy in life...isn't really living.

Taking care of your health...as with other things like houses and cars need upkeep. If you take care of them...they will look better and serve their function longer. It's just foolish to think health issues won't catch up to you. Because they always do.

I don't obsess about weight or size. I don't even own a scale. (head trip mechanisms if you ask me) I do it to handle being alive in the way I believe we all were intended to. I don't really think about this anymore than I think about taking a shower or brushing my teeth.

 

[retooferab]

Inspirational, Wisdom Seeker!

Thank you.

P.S. Is that not you in the picture??

 

[Bear]

Most people who have become couch potatoes, live on junk food and don't exercise are not living... they are dying.

Being in shape from eating right and exercising regularly may not prolong life, but it does enhance the quality of life.

 

[Jenna]

1. I wanna be able to play with my daughter without running out of steam.
2. I want to walk into my bedroom with little to nothing on and have my husband's eyeballs pop out of his head. lol
3. I want to be able to shop for clothes with my sister and actually be able to try stuff on instead of being the go-for.
4. I want to be able to run again. I miss it.
5. I want want to modify my metabolism so I can eat what I enjoy, without agonizing over every blessed calorie.
6. I want to stave off the bad cholesterol problems that run through my family.
7. I want to have a bit of grace about me

 

[catalyst]

What do you do Cat?

Powerlifter. I used to do quite a few other things, but now that I am pushing 40, that is about it. I compete in the 242lbs. class currently, but assuming I still compete over the next two years, I will probably move up a weight class as it is getting difficult to diet down and make weight without it adversely affecting my strength levels. While a small loss is often necessary, at the point where I decide the loss is not worth the effort to improve my placing, it is up a weight class I go.

 

[~Wisdom Seeker~]

Inspirational, Wisdom Seeker!
P.S. Is that not you in the picture??

Thanks. Just sharing.

Yes. That picture was taken in 1999 when I was 37. I don't have anything more recent. But, aside from a few more wrinkles around my eyes and shoulder length hair instead of middle of the waste length....it still looks like me. I wish more people would use their own picture as their avatar. It just feels more personal to be looking at someone's face when you're talking to them.