Shape Up Kickboxing Cumming GA | Being healthy and fit have been challenges throughout my entire life. I admit to trying fad diets, exercise crazes, and everything in between. Over the years, I experienced small successes here and there, but ultimately nothing stuck, and I would inevitably fail to find consistent good health and fitness. This continued in a never-ending cycle.
Fast forward to the spring of 2021. I had my “aha” moment like many of us do. We all have that defining point when we gaze upon a recent unflattering picture or we get a less than stellar health check that drives us into action. It was time for me to dump the never-ending cycle and forge ahead with simple goals. The most pressing issue in my health and fitness journey is consistency. Without this, goals are simply not achieved. In an effort to provide myself with consistency, I instituted an Accountability Buddy. I hadn’t heard of this concept until my good friend, RJ LoPresti, mentioned it in one of our conversations. Here’s how my version of this works:
Choose An Accountability Buddy:
Be very careful with this one. Your accountability buddy should not be just anyone. Be diligent when choosing the right person. This should be someone you respect highly above all else and one that will tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. As you work through becoming more intrinsically motivated, your accountability buddy is going to fill in those gaps for you with honest feedback, coaching and calling you out when you need it the most.
Share your Food Diary:
I choose to keep my food diary in a running Google document, but this can be housed anywhere you would like. In the diary, I add my daily intake for breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as snacks. I am purposefully very honest with myself, so I can see exactly what I put in my body daily, what I need to keep doing, and what needs to change. By giving my accountability buddy access to the diary as well, he too can comment and provide course correction where necessary.
Share your Exercise Calendar:
I choose to keep a paper calendar, but you can easily do this in an electronic format. In the calendar, I mark every day that I exercise at least somewhat intensely with an “X”. The key here is not going more than a prescribed number of days without some form of exercise. I started with not allowing more than 3 blank days in a row on the calendar, and now I am down to not allowing more than 2 blank days. The idea is to see a month of as many “X”’s as I can marching across the weeks on my calendar.
Each week on an agreed upon day (same day every week), I take a snapshot of my calendar and text it to my accountability buddy. He holds me accountable for sticking with my plan and being consistent. I will let you all in on a secret though. I have been doing this for long enough that I am no longer as worried about what he will think, but I am more worried about letting myself down.
Be Open to Feedback:
Let your accountability buddy help you. We all need someone to let us know when we are doing well, but also to let us know when we are kidding ourselves or making excuses. This relationship only works if you are both committed to the process and honest with each other.
Be True to the Process and Stay Consistent:
The most important part of this journey is to do the work and do it consistently. If you fall off the path, then get right back on. Pretty soon, with the support of your accountability buddy, you will hold yourself accountable for sticking with the important lifestyle changes you have made.
What have I learned on this journey so far? Instituting an accountability buddy has truly been mindset altering and life-changing. About eight months into this journey, my accountability buddy has made all the difference. I have lost weight and inches, gained strength and tone, but most of all, I have gained confidence in myself and the ability to do the hard things.
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