Monday Motivation Series: Accountability

Top:  Rebellia

Accountability can play a huge role in your health and fitness journey.  Whether you hold yourself accountable on your own, or if you decide you need to team up with someone for them to hold you accountable as well (keep reading for more information on a group I might start on Facebook).  There are steps that you can take to hold yourself accountable if you feel that you can definitely do this on your own.  I have decided that because of the giant life changes that have happened in the past 6 months, it really hindered my ability to discipline myself to get back on track, I need to stop making excuses and just do it.

I used to be so incredibly good at being my own cheerleader, and with everything that has gone on, I think I kind of just put my health to the side for a little bit.  That, I will take full responsibility for.  I cannot blame anyone but myself.  Sure I can make up excuses, but ultimately in the end, I know that whether I have a good excuse or not, it’s definitely my own doing.  However, I did want to go over some steps on how you can stay accountable.

Remember Why You Started

When I was a Beachbody Coach (ugh, cringe), I always told people to remember why you started.  A lot of the people in my groups would get super discouraged and that was the last thing I wanted them to feel.  Some would lose weight and then plateau and get really upset about it.  The thing is, it’s not just about weight loss.  Being on a health and fitness journey is so much more.  It’s about improving your health, it’s about those non scale victories of fitting into that pair of jeans that were too small just a few years ago.  You have to remember why you started this journey to begin with in order to keep going.

Plan

Whether this is meal prepping, or planning out your workout schedule, you have to plan.  If you aren’t as disciplined as you’d like, you have to set time aside to make sure you have no excuse.  If you meal prep on Sundays, you have no excuse to go and eat a bag of chips from the vending machine at work because you already have your food for the day.  That is just you caving and going back to old habits.  If you’re a really busy person with no time, make sure to set a block of time aside each day for even the shortest workout.  Not enough time to go to the gym today?  Well, that’s not a problem with how advanced technology is nowadays because you can watch a ton of good workouts on Youtube now.

Track Progress

Make sure to take befores and afters.  Whether this is just taking pictures, or doing a full blown measurement system.  You can even track your progress by going to the doctor.  Doctors like to monitor you when you have major issues hindering your health.  You may be able to track progress with bloodwork and things of that nature.

Non Scale Victories

Don’t just step on a scale.  Always remember that muscle weighs more than fat.  This means, that if you are working out while eating clean, that weight that you have is turning from fat to muscle, so you may appear to be heavier on the scale at some point.  Make sure to take progress photos, whether it’s once a week, or once a month.

Have a measuring system that shows not just your weight, but your inches.  Once you see that you’ve lost 10 inches around your waist you’ll be happier with that, rather than 10 lbs in total.  You might also notice that you have more energy.  Your body will overall feel better.  These are the non scale victories to look for, because it’s not all surrounding weight.  Of course if you have a goal of 10lbs, after that 10lbs, don’t get upset if your weight goes up a bit if you’re working out.

Buddy System

Sometimes, we just can’t be our own cheerleader.  Sometimes, it’s fucking hard to hold ourselves accountable.  That’s when we need to either team up with a friend or family member.  However, I did have this idea for a team effort thing.  No, this is not associated with an MLM.  I just really did enjoy the group atmosphere part of when I was a Beachbody Coach many years ago, and I’ve had so many people approach me recently about dieting, or how to stay on track.  I might not be a licensed/certified person, but one thing I’m good at is being other people’s support system.  With that being said, I’m thinking about possibly starting a closed Facebook Accountability Group.

I don’t want it to be public because I want it to be a place where some of you can feel comfortable enough to share your stories, struggles, triumphs, etc.  I don’t want anyone to feel pressured and I want it to be a place of support.  I had a poll on here before, however I just realized it wasn’t working.  So, with that being said, just write yes or no in the comments, or feel free to email me directly with your response!

xoxo Monica

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