Accountability and Support = Greater Success

For most of my life I have struggled with my weight - most women do, it seems. Since J and I got married, especially since I graduated, we have been trying to be better about eating more healthy meals and getting more exercise. We took golf lessons last summer, signed up at the YMCA in town, and have been making an effort to change some of our habits. For him, he cut out regular pop and seriously decreased his fast food intake - and lost over 80 lbs in the last year. For me, I cut down on my sugar and sweet intake and also decreased my fast food consumption - and lost a total of 10 lbs last year.

While I'm very proud of both of us for taking the steps to getting more healthy, and him for having had such great success, I'm nevertheless a bit frustrated with my lack of progress.

Most of the women I know have had difficulty in losing weight and keeping it off. I'm wary of diets, and as such have not tried them. Instead I have been trying to make lifestyle changes that I can keep up for the long term - things like cooking most meals at home, packing lunches, eating more vegetables and other fresh produce. There has definitely been some improvement for both me and J, and we have been a great source of support to each other. However, comparing my success rate with his is a little depressing and I think I need something different to keep me motivated.

The plan is this: start an accountability and support plan with some of my lady friends who are also trying to lose weight and get healthier.

How:
Emails to our little group giving an account of something we've done throughout the week to strive toward getting healthier: some workout or exercise we've tried and how it worked, and/or some healthy option we chose over something less so. Then we can offer feedback and support to each other, holding each other accountable while also offering encouragement and understanding from a female point of view.

Also, I'm proposing a food swap at least once a month. We can make a healthy dish - enough for at least two servings for each member of the group - and then swap. We'll have a dish for at least one meal a day for a week. The hope is that we can try new (healthy) foods and share the recipes, learn a little more about healthy options, and have at least one meal a day for a week that we don't have to worry about preparing.

I'm hoping that we ladies can give each other some support and keep each other accountable, which will hopefully lead to greater success. Healthier habits and living style, happier outlook on life.

Lets go, ladies!