Accountability

As we enter the summer months, schedules begin to relax with kids out of school and vacations. That can be a landmine for sticking to our diet and exercise plans.  It can be so easy to let healthy habits go in the summer months so how do we stay on track?  One word: ACCOUNTABILITY.  One of the reasons personal and small group training works so well is the accountability factor.  If a trainer or your small group will notice if you do not show up for your exercise session then you feel a bit more inclined to attend.  We find this to be true with diet as well.  People who food journal are much more likely to stick to a favorable diet then those who don’t.  Entering what you eat makes you think twice before putting something unhealthy in your mouth.  The accountability factor increases if that same food journal will be read by another person. Accountability is key in helping you reach your fitness and weight loss goals but how do we achieve this accountability?  Here are some great tools to keep you on the straight and narrow this summer:Make a pact with a friend.  This pact may be about diet, exercise or both.  Once you have agreed to what you both want to achieve then check in with each other at regular intervals to make sure you are both sticking to the agreement.Create a Facebook group and have a contest to see who can exercise the most consistently throughout the summer.Enlist a friend to be a workout buddy.  Set up appointments with each other to exercise and don’t allow the buddy to get away with excuses for missing your appointments.Download an app like Lose It.  Apps like this allow you to food journal and join challenges in their online community.  Enlist a friend to journal with you and share your journals.  When you have to show a friend what you’ve eaten you are much less likely to indulge in that giant piece of chocolate cake.Set up a reward system for yourself that is non-food related.  Every time you exercise and every time you food journal for a day put some money in a jar.  At the end of the summer take that money and go on a shopping spree or treat yourself to a spa day!Set yourself up for success not failure!  As the great Clint Eastwood once said,

 “Sometimes if you want to see a change for the better you have to take things into your own hands.”