It was another good Biggest Loser week for me. I lost 2.2 pounds at the scale, for a total of 5.8 over three weeks. I’m happy with my progress. I’ve been changing my eating habits for the better, and I’m exercising much more, and actually enjoying the ride this time.

This is hardly my inaugural ride on the weight loss roller coaster. The first time I lost a significant amount of weight was for my wedding. And considering I just had my twentieth anniversary, that tells you when this all started. It was even earlier, actually, since I can remember most of my teenage years being spent worrying about my weight. But that’s a subject for another column.

I’m back at this point again, which means I’ve gained the weight back again. This got me to thinking about what my motivation is this time.

The first time I wanted to look good in a wedding dress and in all those skimpy honeymoon clothes. Not too long after that there were three pregnancies and all the body “stuff” that goes along with them, and the desire to shed baby weight. Now what? I’m not getting married, and I’m certainly not having any more children! So what’s the reason to keep going?

I truly believe, or at least I sincerely hope, that it’s my desire to stay healthy into old age. The fact is, all three of my children are at or near the age that I was when my mother died. I know how terribly I missed my mom when she died. I would rather not see my kids go through that right now.

I’m also not all that far away from the age that my mother was when she died. While she was a smoker and I am not, she was also overweight, not a healthy eater and not much of an exerciser. Even though smoking was the main contributor to her death, I’m sure her eating habits didn’t help.

So that’s it. Simply put, I want to be healthier. I want to live to a ripe old age, watch my children grow up, travel with my husband and just generally enjoy life. Now let’s see if that will be enough.

What’s your motivation for losing weight? Share it with us in the comment section below.