Accountability Online and IRL

kevins13

As an on and off user of MFP for a few years with success and failure along the way. I had previously used MFP, Bill Phillip's book - Eating for Life (EFL), and worked with a trainer to lose 70 lbs. but life intervened and without going through the whole list of reasons why, I have distilled it down to a couple of key things for me:

• We moved and I stopped going to the gym without a trainer keeping me accountable
• Portion control went out the window
• I started travelling for work at least one week out of every month

Eventually, I realized I had slowly but surely gained back every single pound I had lost. I kept telling myself I would get back to MFP and EFL and the gym but never did so what motivated me to finally do it? What motivated me to do it? I'm not sure it was one thing, a few that come to mind are:

• Having a dress shirt tear because it was too tight when I buttoned it up over my belly
• One more year of having my doctor tell me I needed to lose some weight
• Trying and failing to adjust to a CPAP to help with sleep apnea
• Squeezing into slacks that no longer fit but refusing to buy a bigger size
• Running out of holes in my belt at the wrong end
• Squeezing myself into the ever shrinking economy seats on planes and asking for a seat belt extension

Ultimately, I pondered all of these things during a church retreat I participated in over the summer and decided to do something about it. I slowly went back to the EFL method and recipes and focused on portion sizes. So much so that I now drive my wife nuts because I weight everything I eat when we are home. I have refrained from taking a scale along with me when we go out for dinner but I have been tempted. I also started working with a trainer again. I have had setbacks along the way, including a torn meniscus from running too much too soon, even with the run/walk method advocated by Jeff Galloway. I cannot stress how important it is for me to have the trainer for a source of knowledge, a guide in setting goals and his ability to motivate me but keep from overdoing things and injuring myself or getting burned out for the exercise part of the process. I also realized that having a few friends on MFP goes a long way to holding me accountable online when I don't feel like logging my intake or exercise. I am also trying to be more active in the MFP community this time around to help keep me on track and also share what works for me as a way to pay it forward a bit.

As I already posted in the success board, I am proud to say that since I started back up this past summer and achieved my initial goal to lose 50lbs before Christmas this year. How did I do it? The old fashioned way, eat less....move more. Although I gained 5 lbs. over the Christmas holidays, I am back on track and now I have a new goal, lose another 50 lbs. before my birthday in June. Once I have lost 100 lbs., I plan to reassess and set my next goal which I am hoping will be a non scale goal of some sort. If you are interested being part of my online motivation/accountability network or looking for someone to keep you motivated/accountable to your own goals and whatever methods you opt for in striving for them, feel free to send me a friend request.