Seek Support
Surrounding yourself with positive, supportive people during your weight loss journey is critical. Losing weight can be an emotional roller coaster. Going it alone is difficult, if not impossible. Everyone needs someone in their corner cheering for them.
The Purpose of a Circle of Support The main reason to enlist help in your weight loss journey is to find accountability. It often helps just to have to answer to someone else about your food, exercise and weight loss. Emotionally, it helps to have someone who you can relate to and vice versa. It’s also helpful knowing that someone is rooting for you and is there for you whenever you have a triumph or a weak moment.
Your Immediate Circle of Support: People generally turn to their families first for support. If you can get active together as a family and choose to make healthier choices as a group it will help you to lose weight. But often times it isn’t that simple. As much as you want your relatives to understand your journey and your needs, they may not want to help for a variety of reasons.
- They get jealous of your weight loss success.
- They aren’t ready to change their lifestyle.
- They are at a different health and fitness level.
- They don’t have the positive attitude you need to succeed.
- They are comfortable with the role thy have as the smaller person in the relationship and therefore do not want to see you lose weight.
What To Look For:
Your support person (or group) should be:
- Someone you can relate to.
- Someone who will give and take support and advice.
- Someone you can trust.
- Someone who is readily available by phone or email.
- Someone who is going through a similar experience.
The first thing you need to do when seeking a support circle is evaluate your needs. What type of support are you looking for? Do you prefer phone calls, emails or face-to-face conversation? How much time do you have to devote to the support circle? Are you just looking for accountability or a whole lot more?
Once you have the answers to these questions you can find the type of support that is right for your needs. You may want a one-on-one relationship, an online message board or a local weight loss support group. If there isn’t already a group in your area, take the initiative and start a group of your own.
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