What keeps me going:
I am not perfect, I strive for 85-90% or better compliance with my goals - I know I'm human and I will stumble occasionally but I will never stop trying. I know this is for life, no all or nothing attitude for me, that sets me up for failure and giving up. No can do!
My family history. Cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, mental illness...all run in my family and eating right (and exercise) has helped me avoid all of it so far (okay well I'm only a little bit crazy). I want to keep up that trend!
My children: I want to be a healthy vital example for my kids and my spouse. I also like having the energy to take care of the ones I love as much as I can. I like being someone they can depend on for things.
My work: my job is physically and mentally challenging. If I don't stay on course I make myself more prone to catching viruses, getting sick, and overworking myself to the point of weakening my immune system. Plus I have to touch other people's keyboards and mice everyday as part of my job which used to make me sick a lot. I don't get sick like that hardly at all any more. I used to get pneumonia, my allergies were worse and that led to other problems like ear infections, laryngitis, sinus infections, colds, etc. If I eat right then I just manage minor allergy symptoms, have no signs of asthma anymore, can rest one day and bounce right back if i get tired or run down or can avoid getting what the whole rest of my family catches which is amazing to me in itself. I used to be the first to catch everything!
I like fitting in my clothes consistently or having them get loose is even better and since moving to FTS from Atkins, it's happening! I had a small head start since I didn't really have to detox much (I've been moderately low carb since Jan 2010) but now I'm finally getting the results I started after way back then. Yay! That's enough motivation in itself, however my next reason is funny...
Habit. Yep. Eating this way is already a habit so I've just had to tweak it and retune it to be more effective. I'm happy about that part because certain habits are pretty easy to stick with like ordering my hamburgers without a bun and getting it wrapped in lettuce, no ketchup, add mustard and mayo.
It's much easier now. There's a flip side to it though. I've had to unlearn a few habits that i found were detrimental to this process but it hasn't been too bad so far. Not at all.
That's about it!
-Michelle
