Tag Archives: accountability

Day 26: Following in the footsteps

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Day 26

  • Weight: 126.8 lbs.
  • No workout today
  • Total inches: 118.6
  • Protein: 136 g (16 g over target)
  • Calories: 2,863

I’m fortunate to know other Birmingham bloggers who used their sites to focus on their bodies, their nutrition, their exercise and their weight. They’ve done amazing things offline and online.

It’s probably one of my favorite outcomes of blogging, real change. That transformation can be on the inside, on the outside or simply becoming more connected with others.

Certainly, they’ve made it easier for me to try this project and also document it on a blog.

Public accountability has done wonders for them. I have cheated, starting this project virtually in the dark (posting in real time, but making the posts visible 30 days after the fact).

I am inspired by those who do it simply to get healthier and track their progress.

For example, photographer Julia Kozerski of Milwaukee, who lost 160 pounds in 1 year. She documented it all through photos taken with her iPhone.

Julia Kozerski, Changing Room

Screenshot of Julia Kozerski’s project, “Changing Room”

The Changing Room series received national attention on NPR’s “The Picture Show” site.

I definitely don’t want that kind of attention. I just want to bulk up as quickly and easily as possible.

What I do enjoy is experimentation. And while I know I’ll learn something, whatever the results, I hope you learn a few things as well.

Maybe you’re next.

Day 16: A control freak

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day 16

  • Weight: 124.4 lbs.
  • No workout today
  • Total inches: 116.4
  • Protein: 171 g (53 g over target)
  • Calories: 3,202

I’m a control freak. Details are my specialty, and sharing responsibility is my challenge.

A project like this is a breeze. I’m doing all the work. I’m accountable only to myself. It’s ideal for my personality, but also limiting.

No coach pushes me to do one more lift. No dietitian holds my hand as I figure out how much to eat. It’s a path I walk alone.

The interesting thing of working on something completely new like this is the occasional minor freakout.

For example, last night, I wondered if I had done the previous workouts correctly. I wasn’t sure if I was increasing lifting weights fast enough. A brief glance at “The 4-Hour Body” [Amazon | iTunes aff. links] reassured me I had in fact done what I was supposed to do.

Another is the daily struggle to accurately read a tape measure. Oh sure, it sounds simple enough. But wrapping the tape around my arms and legs and middle each morning always makes the voice of doubt just a little bit louder. It is imprecise, and I hate imprecise.

If I could, I would tell my arm muscles to fatten up and my chest to ripple. I’d tell my belly to pull back. And so on.

The freak wants what the freak wants.