Sometimes the best weight loss tool can be a support group. If you’re not ready to fork over part of your paycheck to a big online weight loss program or follow a rigorous calorie restriction diet, you might mimic a few of our favorite food, family and lifestyle bloggers and look online to find a community that will help you reach your healthy living goals.
Food bloggers Sarah Caron of Sarah’s Cucina Bella and Cate O’Malley of Sweetnicks launched Eat. Live. Be., a healthy living challenge for a diverse group of bloggers who are trying to meet healthy living goals in 2024. Some are trying to exercise more (or more regularly), some are pledging to cook more healthy dinners each week and others are giving up Diet Coke.
“I am working toward losing 40 pounds — and having the support of this fabulous community makes me more accountable,” said Caron. “I hope it makes others more accountable too.”
Caron said that the idea was conceived when she and O’Malley, who recently lost more than 50 lbs, were discussing their weight loss plans and realized that if they were looking for support, others likely were too.
“I think one of the greatest keys to meeting a goal successfully is to do it with the support of others,” said O’Malley. “Whether your support network is just one person or a small village, you need to have it. ”
Some of the ways the group is offering motivation to one another include sharing diet plans, offering accountability, encouraging one another when they reach diet plateaus and sharing their own struggles, past and present, as inspiration.
“Last year, my sister, Mom and I did our own version of The Biggest Loser and I won both times. Motivated by a little friendly competition, I didn’t want to lose,” said O’Malley. “So it started as a challenge, but beyond that, sisterhood is huge, and together, we can do anything.”
“Some of us have larger goals than others, but we are all in it together,” O’Malley added. “The community environment in the blogosphere is a pretty powerful thing on all its own, which only makes [the challenge] that much more fun.”