No disrespect intended Debtdummy, but I think the comment about dairy could be misconstrued. It is perfectly achievable to eat healthily without eating dairy. There are plenty of dairy replacement products on the market and the two are not mutually exclusive from one another.
For me, I have several motivational purposes. I now have a family history of type 2 diabetes as my mother has developed it and I do not wish to end up heading down that path myself in the not too distant future.
I have suffered forever with long term depression and anxiety issues. Some of those are either directly or indirectly related to the fact that I was very big, both tall and wide. If I am ever to stand a chance of improving my self-esteem and self-confidence I MUST improve how I view myself in the mirror. The amount I ate was in part to build an emotional wall of protection from hurt. Losing weight is therefore a little scary, I am making myself more vulnerable, but hopefully the upside of that is that I can also become more open and take risks I wouldnt have ordinarily taken without being so damaged when they go wrong.
I want to be a good role model to my family too, but also not be so hard on myself. I am my own worst critic and I need to stop giving myself reasons to beat myself up.
I dont want to be ashamed of my body any more, or have to be the fat funny one. I want to find out who I am behind the mask.
Thats not all of it, but its enough to keep me going for now...