Help me with accountability please

wildlifehugger

Hello everyone! This is my first time to open a thread.

I'm Erica, a college student. I'm currently at 74.0 kg and I hope to be 50 kg by the end of the year, or at the least reach the normal spectrum of the bmi.

However, I have to admit to everyone in here that I suck at being accountable. I currently have only two friends on MFP and have been mainly using MFP for logging. And to be honest, I'm starting to feel indifferent when I see that I go overboard with calories.

I tried participating in forums, like that one where the goal is to lose 55 lbs by December, and I completely forgot that I joined in there.

I guess what I'm saying is I really suck at being accountable all by myself right now, so I'm hoping that I could have more friends amd be extra motivated. I will do my best to encourage you guys also, even if I have a tendency to be shy.

I feel like making a thread like this is sort of a big thing, a public declaration. So I hope that I wouldn't forget all about this thread, and I would add all who is interested to be friends and motivators.

Thank you!

notreallychris

Don't take this harshly, but the journey starts, keeps going, and ends with you. External accountability, and other people motivating you will only get you so far. You have to want this for yourself. We could tell you "hey, log your food" or "hey, don't forget to excercise" but you really have to do it for you. Not us. Once you figure out WHY you want to lose weight, you will not need motivation, you will have the will for yourself. Good luck to you!

lireina624

While I agree to that with an extent, oftentimes people will shy away from a behavior when they think someone is 'watching' versus if they're left to their own devices. I'm very much the same, and I think getting out there to find people that are the same helps, if for nothing more than a "huzzah, you're making progress!" or a "yep, bad calorie days suck, but you can do it!" reinforcement. Reaching out for help is admirable, I think- good for you, @wildlifehugger !

HopefulMeD

Hi Erica. Unfortunately, I just lost my entire response to you! Let me just say this much, which will be far prefer, it is very difficult to lose weight when you're in college. Been there, done that, and have been up and down my whole life. But college can be especially difficult. You are surrounded by food, often fattening and not necessarily nutritious, plenty of temptations with alcohol which is also easily consumed and high calorie, not to mention peer pressure and stress.

None of that is easy! And, accountability is something that we learn to do better and better as we get older. (Do I sound like your mother? Probably. No doubt, I'm your mothers age.)

I do agree that you need to know why you were trying to lose weight. And if you can be specific relative to your motivation, you can also, possibly, set yourself some very short term, specific motivational tools. For example, maybe want to fit into a particular pair of jeans. Maybe you simply want more energy. Maybe you want to feel better and more confident about yourself.

Set small, manageable goals that are easy wins. Then give yourself a reward! And not a reward that's food either. Maybe it's an hour of some kind of "playtime." Maybe it's using a fashion magazine to motivate yourself. Maybe it's looking yourself in the mirror and saying Great Job! And when you can get through one day, it's easier to use that success to get through a second day, and so on.

And of course we all need a support system. So if you need a cheerleader to help you feel good about what you're accomplishing, even if it is just one meal at a time, I'm happy to check in every day with you and cheer you on. And feel free to cheer me on, too!

Buddy system can work wonders. And I get the feeling there are a lot of people here who would be happy to be a buddy to others.

Wishing you good luck. YOU CAN DO THIS!

Cheers,
Hopeful (Me) D