In my previous article, Reevaluate and Be Real With Yourself, I spoke about some issues you might be facing on your fitness journey. In this post I'd like to expand on one of the issues mentioned in that article. I want to talk about finding some accountability. After all, I am in the middle of Mission Accountability and feel like I should share some tips with you.

Why Do You Need Accountability?

Even the best fitness plan in the world will fail if you don't follow through. That's just a fact. By being an open book about your progress you force yourself to make better decisions. I personally do the best when I am publishing my progress in a public place (ie. a blog, forum, etc.). When I know people are watching I make better decisions. I think several times before giving in to something. My planning is better. My consistency is better.

Five Places to Get Accountability

1. An accountability blog. You could start a real time accountability blog where you publish very short posts about what you ate that day, the workouts you did, etc. You could even go so far as posting daily pictures. Whatever it takes to ratchet up the heat, you can do it with a blog. Adam Waters seems to have invented this concept via his Real Time Physique Transformation blog. You don't have to go as far as he did, but you can certainly learn alot from his approach. Have a look and see what ideas you can pick up. I have learned alot from his approach. At one point I had the time to do daily posts, but that has all changed. Now I utilize other means of accountability, but if I was in dire straits, I would go back to the blog format. If you choose this format, please leave a link to your blog in the comments below.
2. Facebook. You can post your progress on Facebook. Post your goals on your Facebook wall and you instantly let all your friends know your intentions. Make it a point to start a Facebook note about your accountability needs. Update that note (with new notes) that outline the progress you are making on your plan. Ask your friends to check up on you. Publish your daily eating for everyone to see. By doing so you will think 2 and 3 times before making the wrong decisions. If you would like, post your Facebook link in the comments below and I will follow your progress myself.
3. Twitter. Admittedly, this is a tougher way to go, but you can tweet what you eat (use the hashtag #tweetwhatyoueat) and what your workouts are. Let your followers know what you are after–accountability. They will most assuredly hold you accountable. Used in conjunction with a blog or Facebook, this is a very effective way to be held accountable.
4. Tumblr. I have a Tumblr that I use for personal issues. On this Tumblr I post a video from time to time (at least weekly) giving an update on my progress. I don't like Tumblr for blogging much, but for short posts it is more than adequate.
5. Personal friends. Talk to the people closest to you–family and friends. Tell them what you are trying to do and ask them to hold you accountable. You will find that there is less pressure on you when you go out with friends. By virtue of them understanding what you are after they will be less likely to ask you to make bad choices. They will be right there to hold you accountable.

Encouragement and Transparency

Accountability is all about the encouragement you will get from others as you achieve your goals. Your transparency will force you to think before you act. There is no better way to assure your success, so get going on this now. Don't wait another second. Pick one or more of the accountability methods I list above and do them now. Let me know in the comments below what you've chosen to do. I will be right there to support you along the way.

Related Posts:

• Reevaluate and Be Real With Yourself
• How to Maximize Your Workouts
• 5 Tips for Staying Motivated
• Mission Grand Prix: 108 Days to Go – Why I Am Doing This
• Positive Pressure for Accountability

My Story

Have you been working out hard, but you are still struggling with seeing good results? Are you doing cardio with intensity, but jsut seem to hold the fat on your frame? Are you one of the people who works out consistently, but is still “fat”? If so, this post is for you, so open up your mind and heart to what you are about to read.

I began working out in earnest a little more than 5 years ago. I got involved with a group that was formed by Adam Waters. Adam is a guy who became somewhat famous by transforming his body real time in front of followers on the internet. He posted daily accountability photos and blogged daily on what he ate and how he trained. He called his approach “Real-time Accountability” and it clearly worked for him.

I joined Adam's very first “Group Shred” mission and set forth putting up photos daily along with a blog entry. I never missed a day and soon began to see some progress. I lost a ton of inches in my abdominal area, but could only get things to go so far. I trained harder than anyone at my gym. I did my cardio. At the end of the day, nothing really changed regarding my body fat.

At one point I even thought that maybe I just needed more muscle, so I went on a bulk. I was very successful with the bulk, adding mass to my back, shoulders, arms and legs. I am very proud of the hard work I did on that bulk, but the gut still remained.

I've tried alot of approaches the past 5 years, but the biggest problem hadn't been overcome. I was lying to myself. While I was convinced that my nutrition was good, it really wasn't. The problem wasn't the majority of my meals, it was the little binges I would go on.

Just this past week I realized that I needed to reevaluate. I realized that I needed to be real with myself about my nutrition. I had to figure out the real cause of my failure in this area. As I examined all the evidence it became very clear that what was lacking was something I have personally written about in the past. I wasn't planning ahead properly. I was finding myself caught in a tight spot nutritionally far too often. This was sabatoging my ability to burn the fat. I quickly realized that I needed to make some drastic changes.

How Does This Help You?

If you find yourself relating to what I'm saying so far you are probably asking how you can be helped by this. Hang in there because that is the next step in the process. I want to help you the way I've been helped.

Four Steps to Being Real With Yourself

There are 4 steps to being real with yourself.

Admit that you've been lying to yourself

In order to change the cycle you've been in you must admit to yourself that you are really the problem. You have to stop blaming other people and other things. If you have been blaming others, you have been lying to yourself. Admit it!

Find a source of accountability

After you admit that you've been lying to yourself, you must take immediate action.  The fist piece of business should be finding a source of accountability. You must find accountability amongst like-minded individuals. Think about what I said.

“You must find accountability amongst like-minded individuals.”

If you want to get a better body you do it by seeking accountability from others who have the same goals as you. I found a place that is called Serious Lifters and that's where I am currently getting my accountability. The people there don't judge me. I get nothing but encouragement. They have vowed to hold me accountable. The site has a place to enter what you eat and it can be seen by anyone clicking on your profile. Remember, public accountability ratchets up the pressure on you.

I also recommend setting up an accountability blog. I am using Welcome Inside My Mind (my personal site) for this very purpose during Mission Accountability. You can also find accountability on Twitter.

Plan Your Meals

It is absolutely imperative that you do this step. It is truly the key to the entire change you are trying to make. This is what will keep you from being caught without the right food to eat.

Fat loss guru, Tom Venuto has said that counting calories is easy if it is done during the planning phase. What he means is that you don't actually have to count if you plan ahead correctly. I just used this approach this past Sunday to insure that I ate well at my daughter's soccer party. Bringing your own food insures you comply with your nutritional needs. If you are really not sure what to do about your nutrition, I highly recommend Tom Venuto's Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle book.

Plan your workouts

Just like not planning your meals will defeat you, not planning your workouts will derail you. Your weight training and cardio workouts are going to help you succeed, so be sure to have a schedule of when you will be doing them and what you will be doing. This is the key to great programs like Lean Hybrid Muscle Reloaded.

Wash, Rinse, Repeat

Now that you know the four steps, all you have to do is execute them over and over again. It is a repetitive cycle that you must stick to for teh long-term.

Conclusion

It is my belief that you will see much better results if you follow the pattern laid out above. It is a process that takes time. You approach it with baby steps. One small success that builds on a previous small success is the way to victory. String together a bunch of successes and you will be amazed at the results!

Related Posts:

• Accountability is Waiting to Be Found
• How to Use One Arm and Increase Intensity
• Cardio Timing for Fat Loss
• Mission Grand Prix: 108 Days to Go – Why I Am Doing This
• Holiday Tips – 2012 Edition

I recently posted a video at Welcome to My Mind (my personal outlet for my thoughts) regarding the difficulties I've had this week gettign my workouts in due to a change in how I am working these days. The video is entitled “Confession” and tells of my plight this week and my plans to handle that plight. Doing the video got me thinking about accountability.

I originally got my start blogging with accountability in mind. It eventually evolved into something larger, but accountability was at the core of my reasons for doing this at all. I feel like I need to go back to that system. I need to be completely transparent with what I am eating and how I am training. I need you, the reader, to comment and push me hard. Call me out when I don't do what I am supposed to do. Praise me when I do well. It all adds up to enhanced results in the end.

Starting tomorrow (which is Saturday), I will be back to posting daily photos. I will be doing this daily on my site, Welcome to My Mind.

I will then post a weekly entry here that gives the links to all of my daily posts on Welcome to My Mind. This will enable you to either follow my progress daily or weekly, whichever works for you. Either way, I would really appreciate being held accountable for my actions.

As another means of holding me accountable, you should definitely follow me on Twitter via @mikemahony. In addition to my accountability tweets, I post information daily that you will find interesting and fun to read. We will also be able to get to know one another. Any comments on this situation are welcomed. I have found that using social media for accountability really works, so I appreciate your time and effort on this.

Related Posts:

• Mission Accountability Update: Week #2
• Mission Grand Prix: 119 Days to Go – Back Training
• Mission Accountability Update: Week 3
• Plan Your Training Success
• Time to Reload