Sue and Steve at the VERY FIRST Fitbloggin’,
Baltimore, 2010
The thing that is awesome about the health/fitness/weight loss blogging “tribe” is the unwavering support, compassion, and empathy/sympathy for the trials and tribulations of living healthy in this fast paced, instant gratification, supersized world. We have walked in each other’s shoes, stared down many of the same demons, eaten so many of the same feelings. We GET each other, and that makes this monumental task much less daunting, getting to do it together.
THIS discussion, however, will focus less on the warm fuzzies, and more on the cold pricklies.
At what point does all of this love and support allow us to fail?
When we make our goals public, the tribe rallies. When we make our challenges public, our tribe rallies. Don’t believe us? Try it. Go post on your Facebook status a frustration about your most recent weigh-in and count the number of comments you get that go a little something like “throw that scale away,” “take your measurements instead,” “muscle weighs more than fat,” “just get back on track tomorrow” or the ever popular “you just need to love yourself right now.”
None of those is altogether bad, or mean, or wrong.
But also?
None of those is “Well, what are you eating?” “Do you exercise? Even when you’re tired, or busy, or don’t want to?” “What are you really doing to try to get that number to move?”
Our discussion seeks to examine the different ways we can maintain the supportive, judgment-free atmosphere, but build in more real, plain, honest accountability. Because the truth of the matter is, if losing actual weight is your real goal (and maybe it isn’t, but if it IS) then you WILL have to deprive yourself sometime. You WILL have to say no to things. You WILL have to find time in your busy schedule to prepare food and to work out. You WILL have to do all of the hard things that make us want to quit. You WILL have to face the fact that a weekend full of beer and wings is going to slow your progress, and that, no, that 2-pound increase last month is not muscle gain. But hopefully you can do it with BOTH love AND accountability for your tribe.
- Steve Gray, when he blogs, can be found at SteveIsGettingFit.com, on Facebook, or on Twitter.
- Sue O’Lear, when she blogs, can be found at MrsFatass.com, Facebook, Instagram, and MyFitnessPal.
So glad to see this on the agenda. All the tactics classes & articles in the world are useless if the mental & (self-)accountability aspects aren’t addressed.
Steve, Sue – looking forward to this!