Day 12: Accountability

                When it comes to your personal health & fitness, nobody is going to hold you accountable except for yourself. Your mom or significant other may suggest you turn down that second serving of desert, but ultimately, they are not going to be there at all times & it is up to you to hold yourself accountable to the health & fitness goals that you have set for yourself.

                Many people are more than capable of setting up fantastic exercise & nutrition programs, & even following them for a week or two. They gain momentum & then life happens & they fall back to square one. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of health & fitness is holding yourself accountable to the plan that you develop.  

The ability to set & execute an exercise plan to achieve a fitness goal is a skill that will transcend into all other areas of your life. Below are some of the tips that I use to hold myself accountable in terms of diet & exercise.

Remember your ‘why’

                When you’re thinking about skipping that workout or going off the rails on your diet, remember why you set your goal in the first place. The goal of weighing 10 pounds less may not have a strong enough emotional pull because it seems abstract, but the goal of living longer, feeling more energetic, or having more confidence may hit closer to home & give you the motivation you need to get yourself into the gym.  

Channel your post-workout self

                I spoke in my goal-setting post about making mental notes whenever you achieve a small win along your road to achieving your goals. It is important that you take a second to be mindful after your workouts or a nice healthy meal to take account of how you feel. Inevitably, the answer will be pretty good.

                When you’re thinking about skipping that workout, channel that feeling that you felt after your workout, it can often be the motivator you need to get you into the gym. The more often you practice these positive mindful moments, the more momentum you will build & the easier it will become to push through discomfort on your path to fitness.

Tell your spouse, co-workers & friends

                Telling the people around you that you’ve set a fitness goal for yourself as well as the reason why can dramatically increase your chances of success.  Even if those around you aren’t imposing enough to intervene or say something when you go for that extra slice of pizza, letting everyone around you know that you are working towards a goal creates a positive form of peer pressure. Once you tell everyone about your goals, you will have a stronger drive to achieve them as even if they are non-judgmental & supportive, part of you will inevitably feel as though you have let them, & yourself down. 

Do not think in terms of ‘all or nothing’

                Many people make the mistake of an ‘all or nothing’ mindset. They may stick to their diet for 3 weeks, but one morning they cheat & stop at McDonald’s for breakfast. Instead of thinking, ‘that was not the best breakfast, I’ll make sure I have a healthy lunch,’ many people get in the mindset of ‘well I already messed up today, it doesn’t matter what I do now.’

                You are human. You will slip up. The key is to maximize the amount of time between those slip-ups. You do not need to be perfect to achieve your goals, but you do need to be consistent.  

Find a fitness friend or group

                I am going to be running the Spartan Race with my sister who is a seasoned triathlete & marathon runner. When I’m feeling unmotivated, all it takes is a quick text to her saying something along the lines of ‘man burpees suck’ & all of a sudden I don’t feel so alone; she’s going through it as well.

                Similar to telling your friends about your fitness goals, having someone to work towards your goals with can help create a sense of ‘peer pressure’ to get your repetitions in, as well as a sounding board for what you are going through. An added bonus is if you can workout together, as you will not want to let the other person down by taking a night off.  

                A strategy that others use is hiring a personal trainer. Paying for workouts is a great way to ensure you get into the gym & work hard each time you’re there, however if your bank account looks anything like mine you may be better-served to find a friend with similar goals to go through your fitness journey with.

Start a Blog

                When all else fails, start a blog! The major reason I started this blog was to find a way to hold myself accountable. By forcing myself to write one blog post per day, it makes me think about health & fitness for at least 30 minutes every single day.

                As a bonus, just 12 days in I have already learned a lot about diet & nutrition in doing research to back up my blog posts. I can only imagine the wealth of information that is waiting for me over the next 88 days & I know I will be healthier & more fit for it.

                Although you will meet a ton of positive, inspiring, & uplifting people on your fitness journey, at the end of the day it is up to you, & you alone to ensure you are getting the proper exercise, nutrition, & rest that you need to achieve your goals. By utilizing the strategies above, I have been able to make it through 12 of 100 days on this journey, & the momentum is starting to build!  

100 Day Spartan