Blogging Away Debt Blogging Away Debt follows real people on their journey to debt freedom — with tips on the debt snowball, budgeting, cutting expenses, and staying motivated.

by Beks

Sorry for the radio silence the last two weeks. It’s been a bit of a rough go. Had some family health issues and some work mess tacked on top. I’m not quite ready to unpack it yet but I’ll circle back to share soon.

Instead, let’s talk about accountability. I swore off the Cheetos I’d been devouring but left to my own devices… I jumped right back into that bag very shortly after swearing it off. I kept up the exercise, something that always boosts my mood, but fell off the wagon when it came to food.

My husband is a great accountability partner – except when it comes to food. If I’ve had a bad day, he comforts me with food. If I’m crying, he’ll pour me a glass of wine. Food is his ‘love language’. I wasn’t sure what to do. I needed someone to force me into controlling my eating habits.

My brother and I, while sharing a donut, complained about recent weight gain thanks to being home bound. “Wanna make a bet? We have to pay each other $55 if we don’t meet a stretch fitness goal?” I asked.

Cash. Always a way to make me do something.

“Yeah!” he said.

I started a group text with four of my siblings, three of their spouses, my husband, and my mom. I challenged all of them to set a stretch fitness goal. If it wasn’t met in 6 weeks, we’d have to pay $55 into a pot to be split by the people who did meet their goals.

The challenge expired this week and I’m in the best shape I’ve been in a long time. It forced me to eat healthy and exercise daily. Over the last six weeks, we have cheered, laughed, and taunted each other. I text “GET AFTER IT!” to the group at 6am on a Saturday with a selfie of me running. Without fail, there would be a text 20 minutes later from someone else in the group with a running selfie.

My husband didn’t want to lose $55 and suddenly lost his food ‘love language’. He started passing on the white rice and eating more quinoa. He started reading books on muscle and fitness. He lost 14 pounds. That loss has encouraged him to continue past the end date and I catch him taking second glances at himself in the mirror.

I don’t know who this person is!

This was such a good reminder to me about the importance of accountability. I often take for granted how valuable it is to have someone keeping your finances, your health, your anything in check. If you want to make a change, find someone to challenge you. Find someone to cheer you on, to laugh with you, and to tell you that you fell off track. You will go much further than you would on your own.

Every person in the group met their challenge. I’ve never seen so many smiling selfies on scales and of muscles (geez, lots of muscles!). Find someone to challenge you in your finances, in your fitness, in your whatever, but don’t be afraid to challenge someone else.

We all need a little fire under our butts.