Is there a way to find a person who provides accountability coaching?

scigirl23

I am just restarting mfp and am aiming to lose 15-20 lbs that has been stubborn since my second kid. I know I need to track food to help curb my eating but it would be helpful to find someone who reviews my food diary to provide input / also increase accountability. Who would I try to connect for this? A nutritionist? A coach? Any ideas are welcome. Thanks!

ddsb1111

If you eat in your calorie goal, your diary won’t matter. Food and satiation is personal and there’s no cheating or off limits foods. You would be paying someone for really no reason I’m afraid.

MargaretYakoda

If you’re interested in talking to a nutritionist, I don’t think that would be a waste of money as long as the person you talk to is a registered dietitian. They’re the most knowledgeable about nutrition.

However, unless you have a specific medical condition like diabetes or a thyroid disorder, I’d still hold off for a couple months and try just drilling down into what information you might discover after keeping track of your your food log and exercises for a couple weeks.

It is true that “carbs in / carbs out” is the most basic fact of weight gain and weight loss, but there are often things we don’t really pick up on until we really really think about it for a while.

Things like: Are you nibbling too much between meals?
Is emotional eating an issue?
Could you be experiencing a slowed metabolism for some reason? (Often thyroid but …. Worth discussing with your GP if nothing else seems to be working)
Perhaps you aren’t getting enough sleep?
Stress can cause water retention, and being chronically exhausted can lead to craving sweets or carbs in some people.
And sometimes people aren’t very good at eyeballing portion sizes, and have more success with a kitchen scale, a divided plate, and/or measuring scoops and spoons dedicated to dishing up their meals.

I’m not saying that any of these things are true for you…. Just that one or more might reveal themselves after you’ve logged some meals and participated in the forums.

Ask questions here or in a challenge or group on the forums.
Review some of the discussions about motivation (a fickle beast) or meal planning or other things that interest you here.

This works if you work it.

cmriverside

scigirl23 wrote: »

I am just restarting mfp and am aiming to lose 15-20 lbs that has been stubborn since my second kid. I know I need to track food to help curb my eating but it would be helpful to find someone who reviews my food diary to provide input / also increase accountability. Who would I try to connect for this? A nutritionist? A coach? Any ideas are welcome. Thanks!

I'm not sure what the previous posters were answering...

Here's my take on your question: Accountability is something we all have to develop for ourselves. No one is going to do the food logging, the planning, the discipline for me.

These days I spend maybe 5 minutes a day looking at or adding food to my food diary. It's not an onerous chore.

When I started logging food it was such a game changer in every way that I immediately saw the value in it and have continued logging food for the better part of 15 years. Do I do it perfectly? No. Do I guess or miss some days when I'm on vacation? Yes. The things I've learned about food choices, appropriate portion sizes, nutrition, limits, planning, restraint, celebration with food, using food for comfort or for any other emotional issue - all those things were learned on this site or reflecting on my food diary and learning from it.

It's such a valuable resource for me I couldn't imagine my life without it. Oh, and when I tried going wild and free without logging? Within a few months I was off in the ditch again so - food logging it is. :flowerforyou:

ddsb1111

cmriverside wrote: »

scigirl23 wrote: »

I am just restarting mfp and am aiming to lose 15-20 lbs that has been stubborn since my second kid. I know I need to track food to help curb my eating but it would be helpful to find someone who reviews my food diary to provide input / also increase accountability. Who would I try to connect for this? A nutritionist? A coach? Any ideas are welcome. Thanks!

I'm not sure what the previous posters were answering...

Here's my take on your question: Accountability is something we all have to develop for ourselves. No one is going to do the food logging, the planning, the discipline for me.

These days I spend maybe 5 minutes a day looking at or adding food to my food diary. It's not an onerous chore.

When I started logging food it was such a game changer in every way that I immediately saw the value in it and have continued logging food for the better part of 15 years. Do I do it perfectly? No. Do I guess or miss some days when I'm on vacation? Yes. The things I've learned about food choices, appropriate portion sizes, nutrition, limits, planning, restraint, celebration with food, using food for comfort or for any other emotional issue - all those things were learned on this site or reflecting on my food diary and learning from it.

It's such a valuable resource for me I couldn't imagine my life without it. Oh, and when I tried going wild and free without logging? Within a few months I was off in the ditch again so - food logging it is. :flowerforyou:

My post was that a coach can’t say much about her diary because food choices and satiation are personal. Tracking her calories, rather than paying a coach to comment on her food, would likely be a better use of her time (and money) IMO.

Apologies if this was confusing.

ddsb1111

It is true that “carbs in / carbs out” is the most basic fact of weight gain and weight loss

How is this a fact? Do you mean calories?

yirara

What the others said. But if you're uncertain whether you're logging correctly, or you feel like you're struggling you can share your diary for a bit and we'll have a look.

scigirl23

How do I find an accountability friend or someone who checks in to help me stay on track. After my first kid I was able to get back to my original weight with exercise and logging but am having a harder time post second kid and feel very stagnant. This is my second day of tracking and i feel like it’d be helpful to have some accountability or support and don’t know how to find it.

springlering62

Developing a “friends” network on here may be helpful. Although they come and go. Half of mine are inactive within a week of me adding them but the long term friends are motivating, and take each other to task when need be, as well as dispensing “be kind to yourself and start again” passes.

Tbh, what’s kept me accountable (besides the desire never to be obese again, and the fear of GERD sneaking up and tapping me on the shoulder) is being active on these boards.

You can’t very well dispense advice etc when you’re screwing around yourself. I keep my diary open for that reason, too,which is why you will find two weeks of massive calorie overages earlier this month while traveling. You can’t very well blah blah blah and not get back on task (I already am) when that’s lurking on your diary, available to anyone who cares to look.

And jawing with great posters like the ones above, I feed off their energy and success.

I have a wonderful trainer with a masters degree in some kind of exercise science. I haven’t bothered to ask her because she does what I need her to do. She seldom asks me about what I eat, unless she sees me thinning out and then she’ll start to question me. I did use the gym’s staff dietician when I first started, which , considering I only did three sessions, was astonishingly helpful.

bTW, I also find that making a financial investment in training, equipment, nice fitness tracker, gym and yoga studio membership, quality (and especially tasty) proteins, as well as a steady drip of colorful new leggings keeps me accountable, too. I’m cheap and can’t bear the thought of throwing away money.

Someone here yesterday mentioned treating his calorie goal like a bank balance, and not overdrafting. That’s how I thought of it, too. Control of money and calories are very similar and that concept made it easier for me to toe the line.

AnnPT77

scigirl23 wrote: »

How do I find an accountability friend or someone who checks in to help me stay on track. After my first kid I was able to get back to my original weight with exercise and logging but am having a harder time post second kid and feel very stagnant. This is my second day of tracking and i feel like it’d be helpful to have some accountability or support and don’t know how to find it.

Like the others, I think accountability is pretty much a solo sport. I didn't go anywhere until I committed for real, in my own head. No one else could flip that switch for me. (YMMV, of course.)

Another option you could consider is to join one of the accountability/support threads or groups in the MFP Community. You can learn about a bunch of those here:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/categories/challenges
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/categories/motivation-and-support

There are some other kinds of threads in those areas, but you should be able to pick out the active, relevant ones pretty easily.

As a bonus, participating in those is a good way to virtually-meet like-minded people who would provide good support on the MFP friend-feed side of things.

Even participating actively in general threads here in the Community can be helpful, both from reading answers to other people's questions, or posting your own threads to ask things. There are the full range of communication styles here, from tough-love to warm'n'fuzzy, from brief and pithy to hyper-detailed (I'm the latter ). I absolutely believe that nearly everyone truly wants to help others succeed, and many have useful, experience-based insights. If you can roll with the communication styles that don't suit you, and pick up on the ones that do suit, there can be benefits.

You have the reins in your hand. If you use them, and drive yourself toward success patiently and persistently, you will succeed long term. Bottom line: You are accountable for your results. You will be the one who experiences those results, good or bad. The issue, IMO, is about whether you take control of those results, or just let things happen willy-nilly.

Best wishes: IME, the quality of life improvement is worth the effort. I'm cheering for you to succeed!