Episode 144: The Power of Accountability

[00:00:00] Welcome back to the Back on Track Achieving Healthy Weight Loss,

[00:00:04] where I help you get on track and stay on track with your weight loss journey.

[00:00:09] I'm your host, Dr. Alicia Shelly. So let's get started.

[00:00:13] Welcome to the Back on Track Achieving Healthy Weight Loss podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Alicia Shelly.

[00:00:35] There is an African proverb that says, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far,

[00:00:41] go together. So the other day, I was working out with my trainer and I realized how grateful I am

[00:00:48] for her. I realized that I do pay her to work out with me, but she doesn't let me slack off.

[00:00:56] She doesn't let me just not show up to the training. And whenever I may have to change

[00:01:01] the date or just cancel all together, she takes me through the inquisition on why I

[00:01:07] haven't missed a session. And then when I'm like, Hey, don't worry about it. We'll just cancel that

[00:01:12] session. It's not a big deal. She's like, Oh no, you're going to make up that session with me.

[00:01:17] And even though I do my best to kind of say, Hey, don't worry about it. She always finds

[00:01:23] time to make up that session. And I've been with her for years. So I know how she is.

[00:01:28] She's conditioned me that I really need like if I have to take off or I have to cancel,

[00:01:33] it really has to be a good reason. It can't just be because I don't feel like it.

[00:01:37] And over the years, I have seen a difference with her. I've seen that I've gotten stronger.

[00:01:43] I've gotten faster. I'm more flexible. I'm more confident. I mean, there are moves that I could

[00:01:49] not do like burpees. I hate burpees, but I do them now. She's like, do the burpees and I do

[00:01:56] them. No problem. But when I first started, it was hard. It was difficult. I wanted to cry.

[00:02:02] I'm just being honest with you. But what I appreciate about her is that because she is so

[00:02:08] consistent with me, I've been consistent and I've been able to continue to work out. And even

[00:02:14] in the weeks where it's just so hectic and so busy, I still find time to make time to work

[00:02:21] out and number one, to be that healthy person. Because right now I'm trying to be healthy for my

[00:02:26] life. So I'm not don't really have a goal at the moment, but I'm trying to be healthy just for life.

[00:02:31] So in order to maintain this health, I need accountability. And so it got me thinking,

[00:02:37] why is it important to have an accountability partner? And there was a six month study published

[00:02:43] in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology where it showed that 66% of

[00:02:48] dieters with a social support system were able to lose weight and keep it off. While just 24%

[00:02:56] of those without a social support system were able to maintain their success. So it pays to have

[00:03:02] an accountability partner. And I have to admit, she is part of my success because she's there

[00:03:08] to kind of keep me accountable, make sure I make it to the sessions. And then when I'm there

[00:03:13] that I'm not phoning it in, that I'm actually doing the workout, it really has helped me to be

[00:03:18] successful and to maintain my weight and lifestyle and still stay healthy. So today, we're here to

[00:03:26] talk about to bust four myths about having an accountability partner so that you can be able

[00:03:32] to stay consistent in your wellness journey. So the first myth is an accountability partner

[00:03:37] has to be somebody that you pay. Now, I know I just talked about my trainer who I do pay to work

[00:03:43] out with me, but you don't have to pay that person. You should pay your personal trainer,

[00:03:48] but you don't have to have an accountability that you pay. It can be a friend. He could be a family

[00:03:52] member. It can even be your spouse who can help be that accountability partner for you.

[00:03:58] I had a client, she had her families during the pandemic and her family would get on Zoom

[00:04:03] at five o'clock PM and they would work out together. And this was just her family and they would sit,

[00:04:08] they would talk about their day and whatever drama and gossip that was going on at the time.

[00:04:14] But they were able to meet at five o'clock PM on Zoom to work out and no one paid for anybody.

[00:04:20] So you don't have to pay to have an accountability partner and you just kind of

[00:04:25] elicit your friends, your family members, people who have your best interests at heart.

[00:04:30] Now, myth number two that you can only have one accountability partner. Well, I have to admit when

[00:04:36] I was training for my Ironman, I had multiple accountability partners and you can have multiple

[00:04:42] too. So when I was training, not only did I have the lady who worked out my personal trainer,

[00:04:47] I had an Ironman coach. I had a nutritionist. I had a swimming group because guess what?

[00:04:52] Swimming was my least favorite sport and to get to the pool, I needed to know there's

[00:04:58] going to be people there with me that would encourage me. So I joined a swimming group,

[00:05:03] I joined a triathlon club so that we would work together like we would have different events.

[00:05:08] We would meet up to go run, we meet up to go bicycling. So I had this group, this togetherness

[00:05:13] that was my accountability partner. I knew they were going to be working out on Sundays and going

[00:05:18] for a long ride. So I would ride with them. So sometimes by having more than one person,

[00:05:24] it kind of makes it a little bit easier for you because number one, you may be trying to

[00:05:28] do different things. And so by having maybe that exercise group that you guys go to the gym and

[00:05:34] work out for that one hour in Zumba or you may have a walking group like Black Girls Run or Black

[00:05:40] Men Run where you guys meet up at certain times to go run, you have these different groups that

[00:05:45] kind of help you stay accountable. You know they're going to go and exercise because

[00:05:49] they're going to that group and they're going to keep you accountable. I remember I had one

[00:05:53] client, she would walk with her neighbor and they were so consistent. They'd walk every day,

[00:05:58] but then one day her neighbor moved away and she found it so hard first of all to move on to get

[00:06:05] back out there walking because she was so used to having her neighbor. And so she only had one.

[00:06:10] So maybe by having multiple people that may be helpful in case like one person can't show up

[00:06:15] or things change in their life and they're just not available for you at the moment.

[00:06:19] So that's why having more than one is better. And then myth number three, that you have to have a

[00:06:24] partner that's doing the same thing that you are doing. That's not the case because you know what?

[00:06:29] Not everybody may have the same goals that you have. Your goal may be, hey, I want to make sure

[00:06:34] that I meal prep on Sundays or you may have like, hey, I want to go running, but your friend

[00:06:39] likes to go to the exercise gym to go to the exercise class of the gym. You all don't

[00:06:45] have to do the same thing. And so I had my friend where I was training for, I'm still

[00:06:50] training for an Ironman, but she kept me consistent because she enjoyed dancing.

[00:06:55] Her thing was she wanted to dance on a daily basis for like 10 to 20 minutes. And so what we would

[00:06:59] do is we would text each other once we finished a different activity and for Ironman training,

[00:07:04] it was like every day with some type of activity that I had to do. So I would text

[00:07:08] her when I was done with this in my workout and she would text him when she was done with

[00:07:12] her workout. And we just kind of kept each other accountable for several months. So it doesn't have

[00:07:17] to be somebody who's doing the same thing. You sometimes can have somebody who you're just kind

[00:07:22] of checking in with that you've done it. And that may make it a little bit easier for you

[00:07:26] to complete your goals. Myth number four, having accountability can be more complex and

[00:07:32] overwhelming. Now it doesn't have to be. You decide how simple and how complex you want

[00:07:38] to make it. Now I know I told you about when I was training for an Ironman and I had like

[00:07:42] five different accountability partners, but I was training for an Ironman. And in Ironman,

[00:07:47] it was swim, run and bike. And so you had so many different pieces. So I had to have things in

[00:07:53] place that I could stay consistent. But if your goal is just to exercise three days a week,

[00:07:59] you can make this just as simple. You can have a friend who you guys meet up on the weekends

[00:08:03] to go for a walk, or you can have a colleague, you guys walk around during lunch, or you can just

[00:08:10] have your spouse who's kind of making sure that you're eating a healthier dinner. So you decide

[00:08:15] what you want this to be based on what your goals are. And everyone's goal is different. You

[00:08:20] don't have to be as complex as me and you can take it just as simple as you need to in order

[00:08:26] to get the job done. So as you are training, as you are considering choosing your accountability

[00:08:33] partner, I want to make sure you follow the following tips. Number one, pick someone who has

[00:08:38] your best interest at heart. And this could be a friend, this could be a colleague at work,

[00:08:42] this could be your spouse, this could be just somebody who you pay, somebody who wants to

[00:08:47] see you do well. And then number two, know that you can have more than one accountability

[00:08:52] partner. And it doesn't have to be even a person, it can be an exercise class, it could be CrossFit,

[00:08:57] it could be whatever it is that you make it or group that you're going to just show up for.

[00:09:02] But you decide what you need and how you're going to make it. And once again, this does not

[00:09:08] have to be complex, you can make this as simple as you need it, you structure this in any way

[00:09:13] that you can conceive of, because the goal is just to have that partner or have that group

[00:09:18] that you're able to stay consistent with and to meet your own goals. Well, I hope that you've

[00:09:24] gotten some information from this episode and I thank you again for just joining us on the Back

[00:09:28] on Track Achieving Healthy Weight Loss podcast. If you liked this episode, please share it with

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