Sometimes the best weight loss tool can be a support group. If you’re not ready to fork over part of your paycheck to a big online weight loss program or follow a rigorous calorie restriction diet, you might mimic a few of our favorite food, family and lifestyle bloggers and look online to find a community that will help you reach your healthy living goals.
Food bloggers Sarah Caron of Sarah’s Cucina Bella and Cate O’Malley of Sweetnicks launched Eat. Live. Be., a healthy living challenge for a diverse group of bloggers who are trying to meet healthy living goals in 2011. Some are trying to exercise more (or more regularly), some are pledging to cook more healthy dinners each week and others are giving up Diet Coke.
“I am working toward losing 40 pounds — and having the support of this fabulous community makes me more accountable,” said Caron. “I hope it makes others more accountable too.”
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This week we have a guest blog from Israel at Fat Man Unleashed. He’s a self-proclaimed fat man who uses his blog to share his diet, weight loss and fitness experiences. It’s one of those true-life, weight loss reality checks from someone who’s been there and continues to work hard. His message this week makes me feel better about all the hours I log blogging! – bk
Did you know that blogging can help you with getting in shape? It can also help you with your accountability issues and peer support.
First, just to clarify, blogging itself will not help you lose weight since it is not a physical exercise. However, blogging does help you stay in shape and lose weight indirectly. It can provide you with the motivation you need to stick with your goal. If you start a weight loss blog, you will most likely stick to your diet and exercise. Why? Because you want to prove it to yourself (and others) that you can achieve your goals. Having readers makes it easier to stay in shape and blog about it. The community and support group feeling they provide is comparable to some paid membership sites. Would you want to let your friends down? I wouldn’t, hence motivation to stick to your goals. This helps to make you accountable for your actions.
Blogging can also help you with your self-esteem. When you blog you are writing down all that occurs during your journey. This includes the ups and the downs. As you write down the progress, you can look back at the positive changes you have made. This should motivate you and help you keep up with your newly found good habits. It’s like taking before and after photos. The hardest part is opening up and showing/telling someone. You can also blog about the negatives. These posts will remind you of the mistakes you should not repeat. You would be surprised with the level of support you receive when you post about a “relapse.”
More people should try blogging if they are trying to lose weight or get in shape. If you have not started a blog about your health goals, you should give it a try because it will benefit you in many ways.
Thank you, Israel. This is a great tip for anyone trying to lose weight. If you aren’t comfortable blogging for the world to see, but still want to keep track of your progress and relapses as Israel described- check out the free journal at FitDay.
