Ladies, years from now when you are married and feeling a bit unhappy with your body, you may want to find someone other than your husband to be your “coach” or accountability partner. Eric is a terrific coach. Coaching is what he does and who he is – and he has a passion for helping people leap from where they are to where they want to be.
However, we have discovered it is unwise for Eric to be my weight loss coach – it is just too close to home (and creates a dual relationship of husband and coach). Even though I know he would love me at 100lbs or 300lbs, a woman’s weight is an emotionally combative area. Therefore, it is a good idea for us ladies to reach outside of our relationships for motivation and an extra push. This will leave your boyfriends and husbands with one simple task they surely will not mind – letting you know how good you look. ~smile~
It is hard for a man to honestly evaluate his girlfriend or wife’s fitness progress without hurting her feelings or causing a rift in the relationship. Not only that, but it is often easier to ignore the advice of our loved ones than the advice of a professional.
Friendly Competition with Others Who Have Similar Goals!
With that being said, I was excited to discover the DietBet a year ago and found it is a wonderful alternative to asking Eric to help me with my weight loss. Oh, he can encourage and congratulate me all he wants; but, someone else should crack the whip. It is safer for everyone. ~wink~
So, back to DietBet – the way it works is simple: you pay a small amount of money and several other people do the same. If you meet your weight loss goal (everyone has the same goal – 4% loss in a month, 10% loss in six months, etc.), you and the other winners split the pot. If you do not meet your goal, you forfeit the money you paid into the pot. It is motivating, especially if you do not like to lose and you are tight with money!
(Note: For best results and less stress, create a workable plan at the beginning of the bet for reaching your end goal and do your best to stick to it. Otherwise, you may be tempted to go to extremes to lose the weight at the very end which is counterproductive to your ultimate goal and can be wildly unhealthy.)
DietBet and similar goal-reaching strategies are based on a principle known as gamification. “Gamification is the concept of applying game mechanics and game design techniques to engage and motivate people to achieve their goals.” (ref: badgeville.com)
We live in a game-playing society. We spend hundreds of hours playing video games each year. We love sporting events and plan our social lives around tournaments and the mighty Superbowl. We stay glued to our TVs, computers, or iPhones watching reality TV competitions. Even board and card games are making a distinct comeback! We love games!
Previous generations may have found the concept of gamification ridiculous and childish, but I think our current society is primed and ready for this technique. We are probably going to play something. Why not use gaming to help us accomplish our goals instead of allowing it to distract us from our goals? Gaming can either make it more difficult to reach our dreams or give us a boost towards our dreams. The choice is ours.
What Are Your Goals?
If using gaming and friendly competition to achieve weight loss is possible, what other goals can we achieve through gamification?
- Education goals?
- Fitness Goals?
- Reading Goals?
- Socialization Goals? (Yes, some of us introverts have to make ourselves socialize and we are proud of our efforts!)
- Nutrition Goals?
- Career Goals?
- Athletic Goals?
- Cleaning Goals?
Where there is a finish line, there can be a fun and effective way to get there. A few years ago, some ladies at church got together and did an exercise bet. The point of the bet was to encourage us to create healthy, livable exercise habits. Let me just say, I was in the best shape of my adult life at the end of that twelve weeks!
Life is busy and it only gets busier with marriage and kids, so setting and meeting goals will become more challenging. Consider infiltrating more areas of your life with games. Set goals and agree on completion prizes with your sweetie, roommates, friends, and co-workers. Make a list of your objectives and get creative! Surely you can turn something as drab as reading a textbook into something a bit more exciting. It can be done, my friends!
I completed three diet bets in 2015 – two successfully and one unsuccessfully. You will not always win, but you can have fun playing!
How have/will you and your sweetheart added gaming into your everyday life to make mundane tasks a bit more exciting? [Comment below!]