What keeps YOU motivated?

The thought of the day is motivation and I am wondering....how do YOU stay motivated to be healthy and eat right? Is it a specific goal in the future? Is it a picture from your past? Is it blogs of other, like-minded fitness people?

For me, motivation is a very personal topic. If you know me, you know that I have never been a small or petite. I've been big my whole life and not just overweight big, I'm 6' tall and big boned too. I'm pretty sure my bones, skin and guts weigh at least 160. You see, my whole family is made up of (mostly) large, hardworking, Midwestern German/Welch/Russian people. We work hard, play hard and LOVE our food. Thin people in my family have to constantly fight their genes in order to be thin. It is an uphill struggle that I was ok with not fighting (the key word here is "WAS").

I enjoy going to the gym and getting my sweat on. Freeing my endorphins is a fantastic feeling, but when weight loss is my ultimate goal and I find myself working out a ton and not losing anymore, I lose ALL motivation. See, my motivation comes from RESULTS. Maybe it's because I am part of the "Instant Gratification" generation, but I almost get a high when I step on the scale and see the number steadily going down. I was OVERJOYED last night when I took my measurements, 12.25 inches lost so far on this crazy HCG journey and I could not be happier with the results.

So, back to my question... What are YOU motivated by? Please leave a comment and let me know.