There’s nothing like knowing someone is watching to keep motivation stoked. Whether it’s the friendly competition, camaraderie, encouragement or just plain fear of public failure, accountability makes it a little harder to bail on your plans. Looking for some ways to be accountable for your diet and exercise goals? Try these…
Join a workplace challenge
Sync those fitness trackers or watches, toe the start line and go for goal gold. Workplace challenges are a fun and easy way to stay on track and away from pitfalls – like break room doughnuts. You spend most of your waking hours with your work crew, so why not let all that togetherness work for you? Talk with a manager about setting up a challenge within or between departments. If that isn’t possible, recruit a few coworkers and lay the ground rules. Encourage each other to skip heavy meals and walk together at lunch. Have weekly weigh-ins and offer incentives for meeting benchmarks along the way.
Download an app
There are so many good ones to choose from. Options like MyFitnessPal and Lose It let you set goals and get reminders. Think of apps like road maps to success. They help you plan meals, count calories and track your progress. You can even participate in community forums and challenges so you don’t feel like you’re going it alone.
Invest in a wall calendar
Visual cues serve as both reminder and encouragement. Write out weekly goals as a commitment to yourself and track your progress on a large wall calendar. Use margin spaces to write things that help you remember why you made the commitment to improving your health in the first place. Give yourself a pat on the back as you see the days you met your goal add up.
Plan a reward
Making the commitment to better health is an accomplishment in itself. Everything you do to support that goal is a win. Don’t wait until you’ve lost all the weight to celebrate. Build in small rewards and treats along the way. Did you work out four days this week like you planned? Score! You get a prize – just be sure it doesn’t break the calorie bank or your bank account.
Hire a coach
Investing in a coach will be a frequent reminder that you mean business. After all, would you really plunk down hard earn money and still skip your workout to cruise the couch? Not likely. Money is real skin in the game, and when you’ve got something to lose you might find it easier to lose – weight that is.
Accountability is your secret weapon for developing healthy diet and exercise habits that stick. Go for it…you got this!
