How accountability helps you battle excuses and reach your goals: It's made all the difference in my life.

I wanted to share some thoughts I had as I was training for a 10K in October 2015. I mostly signed up for that race because it was a challenge and a goal to work towards. I had been trying to run with a friend but she was out of town so instead I was just going to do my workout at home because that’s easier for me and there are no excuses to not work out at home. But I really needed to get running!! That's the thing: going out in running clothes, putting your shoes on, and going out by yourself is hard because there are so many excuses not to and no one's there to push you on and there's no accountability.

The great thing about the way that I've changed my life in the last year and a half is I have had accountability. I haven't worked out with a person in my living room (besides my husband or daughter) but I have had accountability in my private groups on Facebook and that's been the key. You can have all the tools you need or the willpower but a lot of times that's not going to get you all the way there. What's going to get you there is knowing that someone is going to keep you accountable and that's really what I do as a coach.

I provide accountability for people, listen to their needs, their goals, and their frustrations. I give them suggestions and match them up with something that I think that they can succeed at. And then I am there every single day: checking in, posting, and giving support. It made all the difference for me when I was starting out because I knew that if I didn't work out or if I didn't check in that my coach Toni was going to be there and she was going to ask how I was doing.

During my 10K training I told my coach and I told my husband: “Today I'm going running. If you don't hear from me in 45 minutes: I’m either dead on the side of the road (kidding!) OR I was lazy and I didn't do it." ;) And then, because I knew they were going to be checking in on me, I went out and did what I needed to do. If you are someone that needs that kind of accountability, I would love to be your accountability partner. You can work out in your home! That way you don't have to get dressed up or even put shoes on. You don't have to find someone to watch your kids or pay the daycare center at the gym; you can do it right at home. Those excuses are taken care of and I'm going to be there to check in on you. I will support you if your husband or family doesn’t support you, or if they don't want to try your new recipes, or if they don't want to work out with you. You will know that there's a group of ladies on Facebook that would love to support you and be with you every step of the way.

If you need that same kind of accountability and that I needed when I first started out, and still needed when I did my longest run ever, let me know and I would love to help you.