Accountability has been a key factor in keeping me moving forward on my weight loss journey. There have been many, many days where having to “give a report” on what I did or didn’t do inspired me to do what I was supposed to do. The one thing I will say about accountability, is that you have to know what works for you. You have to know what type of accountability inspires you to do your best. For me accountability showed up in the following forms and each were very effective for various stages of my journey.
Weight Watchers Meeting – In the beginning of my journey I attended Weight Watchers meeting every week with great anticipation. My leader used to say, if you had a good week, the group needs you, and if you had a bad week, you need the group. That was so true. The accountability of knowing I had to step on that scale each week kept me honest and on track (most weeks at least :-). Also knowing that I could possibly give hope to someone who was struggling, through sharing my stories of success or even my “bounce back from failure” stories, kept me accountable to the program and inspired me to do my best. I really enjoyed those meetings…I think I’m gonna go back
Blogging – Here’s what I know about myself. I am a great starter. I’m pretty gung ho about the new things I take on. But I also know that after about four months into my “new thing”, I fizzle out pretty quickly and I’m onto the next shiny apple. When I started this blog, I did so as a way to hold myself accountable to my weight loss journey. I figured if I went public and gave myself the challenge of sharing my journey via blogging, I would “stick” with it AND try new and exciting things for the sake of blogging about it. Not only did that strategy work for me, but opened up a whole new world for me. Quite honestly, since returning to blogging on a consistent basis, it has helped me to reboot my journey this month, and I couldn’t be happier.
Teaching Zumba – It’s no secret that I love Zumba. I love the music, I love the moves, and I love the fun I have in each and every class. Midway through my journey I decided I wanted to teach Zumba. I looked at taking on this responsibility as a way to challenge myself and as a way to hold myself accountable for moving my body at least two days out of the week. By teaching each week I am held accountable to the people in my class. I’m happy to say it’s close to two years that I’ve been teaching and I have not fizzled out. In fact starting next year I will be adding another teaching day to my schedule. How’s that for accountability?
Accountability has been and continues to be a key factor on my weight loss journey because on those days when I don’t feel like doing a thing, it’s accountability that gets me out the door AND closer to the person I want to be.