Tips for accountability?

slalfano

Hi everyone,

I’m ready to start again and need some help/encouragement along the way. About 6 years ago I was incredibly successful, lost over 40 lbs and felt better than ever. I maintained my loss for about 2 years and then before I knew it the weight was creeping back on. My life got incredibly stressful with school and I just stopped focusing. I’ve now gained back all my weight.

Well now my career is finally stabilized and my husband and I are really wanting to start our family. But I don’t want to do so until I am healthy myself. So I’m here to do just that!

I’m fine with the exercise portion of this process. I do Orangetheory fitness 4-6 days per week. So I know I’m getting an insanely good workout and calorie burn. I just need to focus on my diet. When I track and pay attention, I know I can do it. So how do you keep yourself accountable with this? What are your tips and tricks? Would love to hear what has been successful for you.

And if anyone is just starting out (or starting again), I would love to have a few partners in this journey. Add me as a friend. I’m 32 and from the western suburbs of Chicago (originally a Jersey girl) and would love to find someone of similar age/background.

kommodevaran

I eat food I like.

iowalinda

Honestly logging my daily food intake and exercise seems to make the biggest difference for me.

bigordmommy

Feel free to add me.. I have about 40 to lose and looking at getting back on track.. after much soul searching and monitoring my intake.. I can track all day but tend to pile on the veggies thinking it's good for me.. Just bought a portion control lunch box to help during the work week.. We can conquer our plans in 2018!!! I am turning 37 in January so definitely want to get healthy so I can keep up with my hectic schedule along with taking my 7 year to all of his practices and games.

optionsguy88

I'm also married and turning 30 this upcoming year. I want to get as healthy as possible going into my thirties and my wife and I also want to have kids at some point. So fitness is a goal for us as well. Feel free to add me and best of luck to you.

martini087

I’ll be 31 and this will be another round of getting fit and losing some weight. I had an ankle injury earlier this year and kind of lost the my fitness motivation and with that gained unnecessary weight. Looking to get fit again, fort by eating right and tracking. A few years ago I tracked my caloric intake and lost around 40 lbs and looking to lose that again! Good luck everyone!!

mpirie86

feel free to add me, I need to loose about 40 lbs at least, more if I want my doctor to be happy. I am just started back at it and need some motivation and support. I am in the chicago area as well.

ggirgis44

Hey, Slalfano! Awesome job on the previous weight loss! You've proven that you can do it before; you can assuredly do it again. This time, you have an incredible motivator in wanting to start a family with your husband. I've found that the most helpful accountability tips is having daily self-awareness and keeping my goals at the front of my mind.
Losing weight is not a pleasant task for the long haul -- let's face it, we're human and discipline does not come easy -- but discipline DOES come! Because of the human tendency to err towards comfort at the expense of long-term goals, we have to continually remind ourselves of our goals. Why are we doing what we're doing?
If that reason(s) isn't strong enough, then it's incredibly difficult to garner that discipline. It's a daily task and it begins with us. Once we can set our minds to our task, then we'll see the results that we long for. That's what I love about the human spirit. We can achieve that which we set our minds to.
Practically speaking, that means mapping out our nutrition and sticking to it. What has worked for you in the past? If you're happy with your previous nutrition plan and you find it manageable to stick to, map out that plan and stick to it. All [successful] plans call for a reduction in processed foods/added sugars, and this is the part that's the crux for most humans (myself being one of them!). When temptation calls our way to add an extra 300-500 calories of junk, those are the moments we stop and ask ourselves the question: does this fit my goal? If I do this, will it bring me any closer to my goal? If the answer is no, weigh that in your mind. Is this food so safisfying that I would sacrifice the joy of achieving my goal? And certainly, we have good days and bad days. The bad days don't define us. But if the bad days are habitual and not mercilessly attacked by our determination/self-awareness, they become our ultimate reality of not reaching our goal.
I apologize for the long post! I've gone from 283-143 myself and I've struggled through (and still struggle through!) those questions, moments, plateaus. It's not easy -- but your goals are achievable and you can smash them!
26 Female, by the way!
Godspeed!