Over the last couple of weeks I’ve come to the (now glaringly) obvious conclusion that the major key to my continued weight-loss success is accountability. That, and that alone, is the single largest reason why I was so insanely successful on the SlimGenics plan.

When I was on the plan, not only did I have to weigh in 3 times a week at my SlimGenics center, but I was also surrounded by friends and family who were well aware of my journey and what I was doing. I also used this blog regularly to keep me accountable, but it had even more meaning since most of the people reading it were close by and could see me in person at any time. Knowing this was motivation.

Then… we moved to Texas. I did a very good job maintaining for quite awhile. Then, as anyone who’s read this blog for any amount of time knows, Zach got sick. And then he got sick again. Then again. While that is NOT a valid excuse (there aren’t any), it WAS the catalyst for my downward spiral that led to me feeling somewhat out of control again. I couldn’t figure out why, all of a sudden, I was latching on to any excuse I could find to make the wrong food choices and then, just like that, 20 pounds were back on the scale.

Over the last few weeks, I have started to really beat myself up about this. Why in the world have I been having such a hard time finding any motivation to turn it around? I have the tools (I KNOW SlimGenics works AND I am very familiar with Weight Watchers), so why was I so loathe to use them?

Two weeks ago, God tried to reveal the issue to me, and while I took his initial nudging, I still didn’t quite see the light.

Friday mornings are one of my favorite times of the week, as I am in a women’s group for moms with some absolutely FABULOUS women. I am so blessed to have these special women in my life. However, none of them had any clue about this journey. They didn’t know me when I was 100 lbs more. In fact, they had no idea that I ever WAS 100 lbs more. I wasn’t hiding it, I just didn’t see any reason to go around shouting it to everyone.

Well, two weeks ago, as we were wrapping up group for the week and sharing our prayer requests, God nudged me to pray for only one thing. This journey. Yes, I know lots of people in your life need prayer, but so do you. This is what they’re here for. So, I told them. I told them I had lost all this weight and now I was starting to struggle with it again. Please pray. And that was it. The light STILL didn’t come on.

Over the two weeks since then, I have continued to struggle. I KNEW I was making bad choices, but I didn’t care enough to stop. Then, FINALLY, the light came on.

Accountability. It’s more than just sharing a simple prayer request. It’s being held ACCOUNTABLE. I know that the people reading this blog don’t live anywhere near me. I know the people who were there while I went through this don’t live anywhere near me. I know I don’t have to go to SlimGenics three times a week and step on a scale. In fact, if I don’t want to, I don’t have to step on a scale at all. I know I’m not really being held accountable the same way I was in Minnesota.

Dangerous place to be…

So yesterday, I poured this all out to my fabulous women. I went into depth about my struggles. I told them about this blog. I plan to invite more people around me to read it. I NEED accountability. I need to know people know. From Lysa TerKeurst’s Made to Crave:

…the vast majority of us respond very well to accountability in other areas of life. Consider these scenarios:

• When you see a policeman checking the speed of passing cars, are you more likely to go the speed limit?
• When you have a meeting with your boss first thing the next morning, are you more likely to be on time?
• If you know you will be called upon to share your answers in Bible study, are you more likely to do your lesson?
• If you are having friends over for dinner, are you more likely to tidy your house?
• When your bank account is low on funds, are you more likely to slow down your spending?

I answered Yes to all five. So, having made this revelation, have I immediately and magically started making the right choices? No, not yet. I am going to do my best to hang on through the holidays while putting more and more accountability tools in place, then I’m going to hit it hard the 1st of the year. I am going to ditch the worthless cheap gym membership (that I’m not using because they don’t have anything I enjoy, like classes) and I’m going to join the YMCA. I am going to start taking classes with friends, so I’m accountable even further!

God designed us to do life with others. We aren’t supposed to go it alone. I can do it through His strength, but His path has now been revealed to me to to include others. He uses those around me to encourage and urge me forward. I find His strength not only in myself, but in others around me. The perfect puzzle, as usual. And guess what? I need to be intentional about it. Go figure, huh?

I was beginning to feel like I couldn’t do it anymore, but now I know that I can! I am thankful He (again) showed me how. And you know what the best part is? This time it’s not 100+ lbs I need to lose as I’m only about 20-25 lbs heavier than when we got here. THAT I can handle.

With His help. With YOUR help.

Thank you for being here for me!! I am sorry that I haven’t used this accountability tool as much as I should have recently. I need to be more intentional about that as well.

Have a great weekend everyone!