Accountability

Weight loss and exercise is a private matter. If I want to change the way my body looks, no one needs to know about it except for me, right? Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Too strong? Okay, hear me out. One of my classmates and I are kindred spirits when it comes to having a decades long tumultuous relationship with healthy eating. We quickly discovered that we both had the tendency to talk about our eating habits out loud, and before long we gave each other carte blanche to talk about all things health/food/exercise related. It turns out not everyone wants to talk about that stuff...weird, huh? Today my friend and I upped our impromptu chats to a weekly 20 minute meeting. We outlined our fitness and eating plans for the week, and challenged each other to be as specific as possible. It's amazing how differently I pursue my goals when I know that someone else is going to ask me about them.

My health is a personal concern, but in order for me to take it seriously, I have to include other people. Are you this way too? It's hard for me to do the things that I want to do or need to do sometimes even when I know it's for my own good. I realized this about myself when I started living alone. Basic housekeeping tasks that I thought came naturally to me, like washing the dishes and cleaning the bathroom, fell to the wayside when no one else was around to notice. Many formal weight loss programs are based on this premise of accountability--Weight Watchers for one. It's a proven fact that people who commit to losing weight in group contexts are more likely to sustain lifestyle changes over time. So even if you don't want to pay for service or join an official group, consider finding a designated person who is willing to hold you accountable and help you hash out the details of your plan. Even if that person is in another part of the world, and you only check in via facebook once a month, don't go it alone!