I have always had a huge appetite and up until the age of 40, I was able to burn it off. I never put on weight and was always on the skinny side. I remember once at my Year 12 graduation celebration finishing off two huge 'pig troughs' - the biggest item on the menu at an ice cream restaurant in America called Farrells. I was a little sick the next day … and have since repented of gluttony … but I soon burned it off. 

Since turning 40, my appetite is still there but I've tended to pack on the kilograms when I have seasons of over-eating. I've tried various diets, with the Atkins diet being quite helpful … but hard to maintain in the long run. Recently, I received a new mobile phone and discovered an application for it called MyNetDiary (there are many similar programs like this available for phones or on the web). You put in your current details and also your goal, or desired weight, which you'd like to achieve over a period of time. Then each day, you are given a target amount of calories to stay within. You enter everything you eat and drink, as well as any exercise you engage in. At the end of the day, there is a report as to how you did. If you stay under or on your target, you will reach your goal – it's as simple as that. 

It is amazing how you think more carefully about what you are doing when you have to give an account for it. It starts to help you change you habits. I've been doing this for 7 weeks now and I have already lost 7 kilograms. I'm feeling better and looking better (even if I say so myself) …  and I even managed to get into a pair of jeans I haven't worn for about 3 years. I'm also not having to starve myself as I can eat anything I like, within reason, as long as I eat less than I am burning off. [As of March 28th, 2011, I've lost 11kgs]

Is there an area of your life where you find yourself drifting a little? Maybe it is your weight, like me … or maybe it is some other area of your life. Think about the power of accountability … a person or a system that helps remind you to stay on track. Accountability can be your friend … to help you become the person God desires for you to become.  

Think about it …

3 thoughts on “The Power of Accountability

  1. It has been said before that you have the body that God gave you until you turn 40, after that you have the body you gave yourself.
    It does not take much to lose weight -> only a bucketload of discipline.

  2. I can’t believe you ate the Pigs Trough at Farrells!!! I was just reminiscing with my kids about Farrells last week while visiting dad in Santa Clara. We used to go and get The Zoo for our birthday celebrations. It fed heaps of kids and comes with all these cute little plastic zoo animals. I have no idea there were still some out there. And well done on losing the weight. That is how I lost mine as well.

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