5 Easy Steps to Stay Accountable
It has happened to all of us. We start off a health and fitness journey with the best intentions. Perhaps it was a New Year's resolution or a milestone birthday. The facts are that most of us, no matter how good the intentions are wind up giving up after six weeks. Michael Bloomberg said "There is no accountability today...No willingness to focus on big ideas". Let's look at 6 easy steps to take to prove Michael and the rest of the world we can stay accountable to our goals!
1- Create an accountability network: Most of us are spending our fair share of time on social. Start off by letting your friends know you are taking on a healthy journey and when they should expect your results. You will be amazed on how often you pre-bragging about dropping 10lbs will stop you from eating a cookie as you think about all your friends who liked your post! If you want to take the next step find a training partner/group or personal trainer to crank up the amount of personal accountability!
2- Find three ways to measure success: Most of us choose the scale to measure if we are making progress or not. The reality is that your body will gain or lose up to four pounds daily! One day you may step on the scale and be super excited and the next day your dreams could come crashing down! (See tip 3 to overcome this). This can be emotionally exhausting causing your willpower to achieve you goal to plummet. Some other ways to measure your progress: Find an article of clothing you want to fit into, track how you are feeling (energy, emotions, digestion etc.) or use a tape measure to record if your dropping inches. If you want to step your game up find somewhere that has a reliable body fat reader and get regular check ins!
3- Stay focused on your habits: The scale can be very deceiving. Your weight could change up to four pounds from day today based on a variety of factors that don't have anything to do with losing any body fat. Stay focused on the behaviors that will help you to achieve your goals and results will follow.
4- Keep the end in mind: With most health journeys success doesn't come in a week. As the days move on motivation tends to dip. Keep yourself accountable to your goals by keeping a visual reminder in front of you often. This could be a picture of your desired results on your fridge or post it notes on the side of your office computer and fridge. One of my client favorites were notes of positivity written on her bathroom mirror. Every morning she was reminded she was awesome and that she had this!
5- Start the day off and stay positive: The mind is our most powerful tool. Each morning repeat this statement: "I will achieve (insert your goal). I will do this by (insert the behaviors you need to achieve your goal)". For example: "I will drop fifteen pounds. I will do this by exercising four days a week, managing my stress with meditation each night and sticking to my meal plan". Keep that in mind as you go through the day and you will be on the fast track to success!
Bonus- Set a reward system: Once you have achieved yourself take some extra time to appreciate it. A day at the spa, a weekend vacation or a new outfit can be a big incentive to help you keep your eye on the prize!
Consistency is the key to achieving your goals. Think about how long it would take you to finish school if you only went for two weeks and took one week off. Keep yourself focused and accountable to your health and fitness journey. It doesn't matter if your end goal is eight weeks away or five years. Find your network, get a professional if you need one. Find ways to measure your success and focus on the habits that will get you there. Start each day on a positive note and reward yourself when your journey is done.
The fact of the matter is that the most successful people in health and fitness have professional accountability in either their exercise, diet and/or lifestyle. If you are serious about reaching your goals reach out get started in one of our fitness programs and find out how together we can help to shape the ideal you.
