Fitness 2.0: The Social Media Diet Gets Personal
July 9, 2008 10:22 am Social Media
Fitness has always been very important to me, and with my wedding just a year away I decided to re-energized my efforts to feel comfortable in my wedding gown. I joined Club Fitness and hired an amazing personal trainer, Billy Mosley, for three experimental sessions. During my workouts with him, I felt more challenged and motivated. He understood what my goals were and crafted a wonderful workout for me. While doing my lunges and curls, I wondered if I could actually do all of this alone. Will I stay dedicated and do the correct combination routines sans the support of a personal trainer? After all, having an expert dedicated to helping me accomplish my goals comes with a hefty price tag. Although it would be difficult to equate the personal support of a trainer with social media, I decided that it would be a great experiment to conduct. I would like to test if social media can help me with accomplishing my fitness goals. I have outlined my step-by-step process below:
Step 1: Share the Hard Core Facts
I am openly sharing that I am 27 years old, 5′5″, and weigh 145 lbs (no pic so you have to believe me). According to Billy, I need to lose approximately 20 pounds to reach my ultimate goal. I have successfully avoided junk food restaurants like McDonald’s for the past year. However, I find that I have not watched my food portions and I have a weakness for chocolate and ice cream. After all, I think popcorn and Whoppers are the tastiest combination ever. Plus, I am a Diet Pepsi addict, which is apparently really bad even if it has zero calories.
Step 2: Announce my Effort
I am using my blog in an effort to put social media to the test. We have repeatedly established that it is a great space to establish a strong supportive community. I would like to see if social media can assist me with my fitness goals. Thus, my big announcement: Social Impressions readers - I am fully committed to losing 20 lbs. Mark the date - there’s no going back now!
Step 3: Set a Budget
Although I would love to retain Billy as a personal trainer, I doubt that I can budget it in. Weddings are extremely expensive and I have to save up for that special day. I just invested in a gym membership in a great facility that provides me with 24/7 access, top-of-the-line equipment, aerobic classes, etc.
Step 4: Set Up a Plan
I want to lose this weight in a healthy manner with exercise and a nutritious diet. I am committed to working out three times a week and trying my best to eat protein-rich meals. I will make a conscious decision to check labels before purchasing food to make sure they are low on sugars, carbs and saturated and trans fats.
Step 5: Initiating Support
As any addicted social media user, I surfed the social sphere to find if there are any fitness social networks available that will provide me with meal plans and work out plans. I signed up on Gimme20.com which is an online health community. I also announced my efforts on my blog in hopes that the social media community will be invested in helping me during my process. Additionally, I have recruited my friend Julie Lujan, AKA Calinazaret, to be my online Drill Sargent.
Do you think social media can help with fitness or is it something a real life personal trainer can help with? I will write a follow up post to document how social media has contributed to helping me reach my final goals.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Reem, I think this awesome! While social media won’t be at Club Fitness with you to spy on how many crunches and lunges you’re really doing– I think your social media fan base will give you the mental support you need to stay dedicated. There are probably followers who are trying to get serious about their fitness as well, and therefore you all will have that mutual inspiration to get ‘er done. Congrats on the engagement and know that I’m cheering you along!!
July 9th, 2008 at 11:00 am
I hope this works out for you, and I wish you the best of luck. The use of your blog for support was something I was strongly considering. I’m wrapping up my last few classes for school and after I’m done I am seriously going to focus on my eating habits and exercise. Much like yourself, my fear is that without someone motivating me I might slip in to old habits. Perhaps if you see some success from this, I may consider the same motivational tactics.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:27 am
good stuff… another great example how blogs cannot only help visitors, but help authors.
As a certified fitness-nut, I’d be glad to lend you a hand in whatever way I can. Let me know!
July 9th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Announcing your efforts to the world is one of the best things you can do for yourself1! There’s no turning back now. Good luck!
July 9th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
I like the idea (and getting & staying healthy of course). I am thinking about the social news, communities and bookmarking resources out there that can provide information needed for making decisions on health & fitness.
While you may not need a personal trainer, it is good to get one-on-one advice on your program in addition to the information online.
3 links which may provide an entry point to more information:
http://www.stumbleupon.com/tag/health/
http://del.icio.us/popular/fitness
and of course: http://digg.com/health
July 9th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Reem, good for you! I lost about 23 pounds in 2006 by cutting out sugar and junk food, too. I didn’t ask my online pals but I did ask all my friends to support me (and I ended up blogging about it later, which did actually help to keep me on track with my newer, healthier diet). I think you’re making a great decision by making your goal public to all your friends. You’ve got my support whenever you need it!
July 9th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Reem IM’s Me: “My trainer kicked my ass! I am hurting so bad” Good I say. Reem, just so you know, PAIN IS WEAKNESS LEAVING THE BODY! Now DROP AND GIVE ME 50!
July 9th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
it is a brilliant idea Reem…it keeps you committed to your goal. i have the same goal to your wedding, let’s see who will fulfill the target on the 5th of Sept.
Good luck to both of us
July 9th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
dalal abu ghazaleh is my mom! Say hi everyone!
Thanks to all the people who commented for your support. I am really looking forward to accomplishing my goals.
July 9th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Hi Reem’s mom!
July 9th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
While I am a tremendous supporter of losing weight, particularly in preparation for weddings, my only concern is the inevitable breast reduction. I mean, what if your fiance (let’s call him… hm.. i don’t know… “Howie”) only values your mind and soul as much as your bouncing baby girls? What then? … Allz I’m saying is that chicks need to be careful with their transformational diets…. They might not only be losing LBs, but fiances, as well.
(Full Disclosure: I kinda like boobies… like… a lot)
July 9th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
We are in Life 2.0 right now. This is a perfect example. There are ways and resources to use the social web to accomplish so many of our goals.
At first, the web was all for business. Then it got personal. Then it became more business oriented again.
I think we have entered that stage where our business is personal. With sites like Twitter and Facebook as well as activities such as blogging and posting videos, it is not uncommon for people to broadcast their lives and earn both positive and negative results.
In this case, I see only a positive resolution. Now that you’ve announced it, there’s no going back. We’ll be watching for the follow-up post!
July 9th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Reem i think this is great this is a great motivation for you and for everyone who is trying to stay fit….remember its about being healthy and staying fit and toned. Make sure you get all your protein, carbs and fat that are good for you and im sure that you will get it done no doubt.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
You can do it! Way to put your word on the line. We will be calling you at 3am to make sure you don’t sneak any whoppers.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
I think the most important one is setting a clear, achievable and measurable goal. That’s true with anything, whether you want to loose weight, or sleep early, or to reach any goal.
Thanks for sharing Reem.
Warmly,
Tina
July 9th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
I think you are very brave to list numbers there and I think it’s one, if not the most important thing to do when you want to feel better with yourself: ACCEPT who you are.
Kudos to your efforts, kudos to your trainer, and boooooh! for me because I don’t do much exercise
July 14th, 2008 at 10:23 am
That’s awesome Reem! Making your goals public definitely builds up the support system to help you achieve your goal.
We know you can do it - best of luck