Accountability

Addendum: I realized that in mentioning my supporters I left out a very important person. My excuse, aside from senility, is that she rarely comments on my blog which is what I was talking about. Anyway I should mention Jill as she has been very supportive in my efforts to change my eating habits. She's given me lots of information, when we've gone out to eat she asks if it will be ok for my eating, and most importantly, she has informed me a number of times that I now look less blobby. I'm not sure blobby is a word but I'm pretty sure I'm glad that I'm less of it!

As some of you may know, I've been trying, with varying degrees of success, to lose weight since the beginning of the year. As a way to force myself to stick with it, I started a blog in January called Accountability. Every night I post what I ate & how much I exercised that day. It has helped a LOT. I don't think I would have stuck with it without the blog.

The reason it has been so helpful is because I've had people commenting and providing support. There have been a lot of times I've been tempted to eat something & think, I'll have to post that, and I change my mind about eating it. I'm not sure why I came up with the Accountability title and for a while it really annoyed me that I'd chosen it & I considered changing. I've come to realize that it is really very appropriate. Like most things in life, losing weight is about commitment and sticking with what you say you're going to do. But it's difficult, it takes a lot of work and it takes a lot of support.

Today is the 127th day I've been doing this. I've had a lot of great support from a handful of people and I can't begin to express how much I appreciate that. My main support on this though has come from one person who has consistently been there, commented, nagged, and listened. I may some day find words to express my thanks to my other supporters, for my brother I doubt I'll ever find the words. He may disagree, but I know for a fact that if he hadn't been there I'd never have come this far. The willingness to be honest with someone, even when it's risky, is not something many people will do. It takes a special kind of courage and love and he has those in abundance.

So, to get to the point. I know there are people reading this blog (you may wonder how I know but I'm not going to tell you). Clearly none of you are busy because you aren't posting here! Wander over to my Accountability blog and leave me some comments. Anything you want - why did you eat that cake? Don't you think you exercise too much? Whatever strikes your fancy.

I was a little hesitant about sharing this blog but I'm doing it for a couple of reasons. One is that Stephen is leaving for a well-deserved vacation (I just say well-deserved because he signs a check for me every month) on Thursday & I've been worrying that everyone might forget me. Not to be self-centered (well, I am sometimes), but I really need support, I need people to say nice things or negative if deserved! Also, my loyal supporters need help - I'm a very needy person & I don't want to wear them out! If you're reading this feel free to comment, you don't need to be related to me, know me or want to know me!

I love blogging. Don't ask me why, maybe it's just my excessive neediness & desire for attention. There are two things I've come to realize through blogging: 1) Communication is important, it matters a lot, and 2) Transparency & honesty are important. It matters that people know who you are. In the past 127 days, there have been many times I almost mentioned my Accountability blog to people who weren't aware of it. I'm a bit tired of watching what I say. Transparency is much easier to live with. Which, all kidding aside folks, is the main reason I wanted to share this.

Robin, the lonely (but thinner) blog mistress