Stay Accountable on Your Fitness Journey
Getting fit, healthy, and in shape is far from easy. If it was easy, virtually the entire population would be sporting a six pack that a Greek Adonis would be jealous of. Instead, many societies are plagued by obesity and chronic illness. If you make the decision to change your life for the better, lose weight, and get in shape, accountability is hugely important. No matter how motivated you are at the start, there will be times when your energy and motivation levels crash, and you may be tempted to start skipping your workouts or cheating on your diet. This is where accountability proves useful. If you are accountable you are less-likely to skip/cheat. Here are some useful tips proven to help hold you accountable as part of your fitness journey.
Hire a personal trainer
Okay, personal trainers may not be the cheapest in the world, but they certainly aren’t going to break the bank either. When you consider the benefits that a personal trainer can offer you, this in turn makes the price seem more than fair. If you hire a personal trainer, you get expert knowledge and advice, and you get put through your paces as you train. Furthermore, a personal trainer also holds you accountable. If you cheat on your diet you will likely gain weight and when you weigh in with your PT, you will need to explain yourself. If you pay for a personal training session you can’t just not turn up because you’ve already paid. This again holds you accountable.
Train with a workout buddy
Workout buddies are fantastic for a variety of reasons. Finding a training partner means that you have somebody to exercise with, so it becomes exciting and enjoyable. There is also a bit of a competitive element thrown in there as you will be competing against each other, even if you fail to officially acknowledge it. In terms of accountability however, having a workout buddy is useful because it means that you can’t just skip the gym because you’re tired or too lazy today. If you arrange to train you have to train, otherwise you let your buddy down and also have to explain yourself and your actions. Most people would much rather force themselves to train than explain that the reason they didn’t turn up at the gym was because they wanted to sit and watch TV instead.
Weigh yourself once a week
Weighing yourself too frequently is not healthy as it can lead to obsessive behaviour, plus most scales cannot distinguish between fat, muscle, and water. It is however, advisable that you weigh yourself once per week so that you can monitor your progress. Set aside the same day each week and weigh yourself first thing in the morning. By giving yourself a weekly weigh-in day you have something to aim for and you will be accountable because any cheat meals or skipped workouts will likely show up on your weekly weigh day results.
– Nathan Hitchcock