Good Things Come in Sets of Three.
Poking about online, recently, I’ve seen some really good advice that has caused me to a) think more about how and why I’m doing this b) evaluate whether my strategies are as effective as they should/could be and c) get my ass back in gear during a period when it’s been *really* hard to stay motivated.
Firstly, John over at John Is Fit wrote a great post with his 9 tips for “Kick-Starting Your Dormant Weight Loss Blog.” This post is *so* good and I’ve seen *so* many “dormant” weight loss blogs lately that I’ve seriously considered just sprinkling this link all over cyberspace — like a little motivational fairy. :) I have to confess, though, I still haven’t done #5 yet, but I *have* done the others and it’s helped me pick up where I left off a month ago. Even if you’re not in a weight loss/blogging slump right now, I’d recommend bookmarking this link — just in case.
In this post, Alice responds to a television program called I Can Make You Thin that claims that weight loss can be achieved by eating what you want, when you want and whenever you’re hungry. Yeah good one. Alice responds in the perfect way by outlining her own steps for success, which as you might imagine, fall in complete contrast to those of the show. I find this kind of self reflection to be so healthy. After all, when we share our own methods for success, who knows, we might even help someone else in the process. That said, I loved Alice’s suggestion #5. I’ve been thinking about it all day and plan to put it into practice the moment I finish this post! :)
And finally, there was this article from MSN that outlined 10 common “Diet flubs” along with suggestions to fix them. Number 10 made me want to write this post. It is as follows:
Diet flub #10: You slim down solo.
It’s tempting to keep your 10-pound goal a secret (and wow everybody later with your results), but coming clean about your diet to pals increases your odds of success, according to an analysis of 46 studies by researchers at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston. People with social support lost 6 percent more weight than those who dropped pounds on their own.
Gosh. That’s pretty straightforward, isn’t it? People with social support lose more weight than those without it.
Of course, I didn’t need the health experts over at MSN to tell me that I owe a great deal of my success to having a network of brilliant and compassionate people to lean on during all of this. But still, having them say it does provide just a smidge of validation. What’s more it also makes me all the more motivated to keep all this writing and reading, posting and clicking up, even on those nights/weeks when I just don’t feel up to it.
So… there go.
Go do some clicking now.
Really.
Go on. :)
Great links.
I have to agree with the social aspect of it. Since I started my blog I have had spectacular success and am doing things I never thought I could do.
Thanks for the kudos!
Truth be told, I haven’t done #5 either - but I’m working up to it.
Andrew: You’re doing so great! And I totally agree, having other people around to cheer you on and kick your ass, when needed, is certainly one of the keys to getting this right.
John: Aha! :) Well… now I don’t feel so bad. Actually, I have confided in a couple of people about my quest to lose weight, and my husband knows about this blog (though he doesn’t read it unless I ask him to)… I just haven’t taken the plunge to share the blog with anyone in the real world yet. Perhaps if you go first… *wink*
cheers!
j
i’m waving back!
you know number 5… i did it!!! and i never would have done it had i not read your post (and found johnisfit through you!)… and i think it helped me today knowing that my friend could stop in and i admire her so much that i don’t want to disappoint her, and i know she’ll be the first to give me a hug when i reach my goals!
so basically… thank you for your post (and all of them actually, awesome!!!!)
Rose: Wow! You are so brave, girl! I admire you so much for opening yourself up like that. Kudos to you! I totally agree that John’s advise is dead-on-right… I’ve just been too chicken (so far) to follow it! :) But… I’m trying to work up the courage. That said, thanks for poppin’ by! You rock!
Cheers.
j
Thanks for the links. It is so true about needing support to do this, sometimes friends and family can’t give you that, but at least we have our bloggin friends!
i write my own diet blog, please feel free to visit http://easydietoptions.wordpress.com and keep up the good work and dont give up :)
With regards to the MSN article about telling others your plans I agree 100%. I started blogging after having lost a little over 100 pounds and loosing steam. Posting my weight daily here helps keep me honest.
Keep up the great work!!!
Fatboyslimmed