Proper nutrition fuels your body so you have the energy to serve others and fulfill your calling. Yet, balancing the demands of ministry, family and personal commitments can make it challenging to prioritize healthy eating.
Being answerable to yourself and others for your choices and progress can make all the difference in staying the course. Accountability can come from various sources, including yourself, a friend or spouse, health care professionals and our Lord. With this support, you can overcome barriers, maintain focus and build habits that lead to long-term wellness.
The Importance of Accountability in Achieving Health Goals
In the context of health and wellness, accountability helps in multiple ways:*
- Provides focus and structure: Having a clear plan and someone to hold you accountable increases the likelihood that you will stay on track and avoid distractions.
- Encourages consistency and commitment: Sticking to a new diet, following a meal plan regimen and tracking your progress requires dedication. When you frequently share your progress with someone, you will be more steadfast in your efforts.
- Offers support and encouragement: Health goals can have setbacks. Checking in with others can provide the support and encouragement to keep going when your journey has some bumps in the road.
- Helps identify and overcome obstacles: As you work on improving your diet, you may encounter obstacles that threaten to hinder your progress. Touching base regularly with others brings an opportunity to discuss challenges and create strategies to address them.
Conquering the Hurdles to Healthy Eating
There are three common obstacles to maintaining a nutritious diet and ways to remain accountable despite them:
- Busy schedules: It can feel like there’s little time to prioritize healthy eating among work, family and ministry commitments. Coordinating weekly check-ins with friends or coworkers can provide motivation during hectic days.
- Emotional eating: Both anxiety and joyful celebration can lead to unhealthy eating patterns. Turn to someone you trust to help you recognize triggers, encourage better choices and offer emotional support. Whether you’re praying together or simply talking, having someone to remind you of your goals can be a powerful deterrent from turning to food for reasons other than hunger.
- Lack of motivation: When you don’t feel like making healthy choices, a committed friend, spouse or co-worker can help you push through. Support might come in the form of a text message asking how your day is going, a shared prayer about staying disciplined or a fitness class or meal prep session you participate in together.
Incorporating Accountability into Your Life
Here are four ways to weave accountability into your daily routine:
- Team up with a friend, co-worker or family member. The easiest way to build accountability is to ask for support from someone you already know and feel comfortable with. It could be your spouse, co-worker, a friend from Bible study or a fellow church member who is also working on improving his or her eating patterns. Share goals and encourage each other to stay consistent.
- Join or start a wellness group. Meet regularly to discuss healthy habits, share recipes or take walks with others in your church, ministry or community with common goals and obstacles. Surrounding yourself with empathetic people who can help you confront struggles and celebrate victories is important in achieving health objectives.
- Request guidance from experts. Seek guidance from a nutritionist, health care provider or health coach who can provide personalized advice and plans that coincide with your values and goals.
- Seek strength from prayer. As you pursue healthier eating patterns, remember that your body is a temple, and caring for it is one way to honor God. Including God in your wellness journey by asking for his guidance, forgiveness and strength will help you stay committed.
Creating Healthy Habits is Easier with Accountability
Having someone hold you accountable increases the likelihood of achieving your goals. So, walk your health journey with others to overcome barriers and improve your nutrition and well-being.
At GuideStone®, we come alongside you with health plans and wellness tools to advocate for your well-being so you can fulfill your calling in ministry. For more information, contact us at Insurance@GuideStone.org or 1-844-INS-GUIDE (1-844-467-4843), Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT.
GuideStone welcomes the opportunity to share this general information. However, this article is not intended to be relied upon as medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
*Ddhwblog.DukeHealth.org/the-power-of-partnering-in-health-goals/
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