I discovered something recently and I thought I would share it with you guys in case this might help someone else.

I started a weight loss and fitness program back on January 1 (calorie counting + 5-6 days exercise per week). From January 1 until June I was fairly compliant on my program...probably averaging about 80-85% compliant. I lost 27 pounds during that time. Then I fell a bit off the wagon over the summer...not so much with exercise but with diet...and I gained back 7 pounds.

On August 27th I started back on my program. In mid September, I decided to start a fitness and diet blog to keep myself more accountable.

I have discovered that having a blog has made all the difference in my compliance level. I am much more disciplined now that I blog...I think the idea that I am being "watched" has made all the difference. I am much more reluctant to screw up and "blow it" because I know I will have to write about my screw up the next day. I'd much rather write about how successful I was, so it seems to be keeping me on the straight and narrow.

Since I started blogging, my compliance has been almost 100% and I have lost 11.6 pounds in the past 40 days.

So if you are having trouble sticking with your program and generally having problems with self-discipline, consider starting a blog. Maybe it will make a difference for you too!

Glad that this helped you! We do have the blog feature here on 3FC.

Jay

It has helped me as well. The only thing to keep in mind is that if you happen to fall off the wagon no matter the presence of the blog, by all means, don't stop blogging! I did this once, and it makes just not getting back on easier, so to say. (And lots of weight loss bloggers do it, too. Unfortunately, stopping blogging is not hard at all.)

I've found blogging very helpful as well. During September I fell off of the wagon in a big way, and in particular I ate everything in sight when I was out of town (September is a busy month where I work, so I was out of town for at least one night a week).

I found it very difficult to get back on track, so I set some rules for myself, bought a journal, and carry it with me all the time. I record what I've eaten, how many calories, how much water, how much exercise, and how many of my rules I've managed to stick to for that day. I've found it's kept me from having anything extra when I normally would have given in, if I know there's going to be a record of it.

It's hard to eat something and then pretend it didn't count because of whatever reason (crappy day, out of town, don't want to cook) when you have to write it down.