Why Do We Need Accountability?

Last year I lost twenty-five pounds as I made a concerted effort to get more exercise. I had felt lousy for a couple years and thought that maybe I needed to take off some weight to feel better. Little did I know that I felt lousy because I had a chronic gallbladder infection.

This past July I had my gallbladder out and I feel like a new man. However, my exercise routine was directly resulted. For about 6 weeks I could not do my exercises because the recovery from my surgery was slower than I would have liked. After I was recovered enough to get back into an exercise routine, I started working 12-15 hours a day, 6-7 days a week helping to get our musical set built and decorated. Needless to say, my exercise routine has gone out the door.

I knew in the back of my mind that even if I was doing a lot of physical labor I still needed to exercise. I could even tell that those long days with quick trips to a fast food restaurant for many of my meals were not helping. I even started to feel as if some of the weight was returning.

Even though I knew I needed the exercise, and even though I felt as if the weight was returning, there was one thing that kept me from actually doing anything about it: I had lost the accountability in my weight loss. Our scale quit working a couple months ago and we had not replaced it. Since my normal routine of checking my weight before breakfast had not happened during all of those busy days, I really did not feel the conviction that I needed to do the exercise.

We did buy a new scale last night, and, fortunately, I have only gained two pounds back, so I do not have that far to go until I get back to my pre-surgery weight. But now that I have my accountability back in my routine, I will think twice before agreeing to a second serving of pumpkin pie with whip cream, I will choose to drink something sugar free over that Mocha Latte at Dunkin Donuts, and I will limit my snacks, even healthy ones, in the evening. Why? Because I will know that my eating choices will affect how much exercise I will need to do. And I hate exercise!

I don’t mind going on strolls around the neighborhood. I enjoy casual walking. But I do not like walking for exercise. It requires far more energy and sweat. I enjoy hiking through the woods or along mountain ridges. But I do not want to do it for exercise, because that takes all of the fun out of it.

But my accountability has taught me that just watching what I eat is not enough to reduce my weight. Every time I check in with my accountability partner, I know what I have done and I can see what I need to do.

We all need accountability in our lives, whether it is to keep us from doing things wrong or to help us to do what we know is right. Sometimes accountability can come from simple things: a weekly paycheck encourages you to work hard, a desire to know God more directs you to spending more time in prayer and bible study, love for your children encourages you to quit smoking, etc. But the best accountability comes from other individuals. Some people are self-motivated and do not need another individual to help keep them accountable, but most of us need others to help motivate us. Consider asking a friend or colleague to help keep you accountable in some area of your life.