The first couple of weeks on a diet or lifestyle change is often easy.  Also, I don’t know about you, but it took me at least 6 weeks before I told anyone I was on a diet at all.  And it was annoying because people were always telling me their healthy hints and tips <hint hint> whether I wanted to hear them or not, so I wasn’t going to open the door to more of that.  I mean it’s my life and my body and my journey.  And then there’ is the ‘shame’ of failing if I choose to stop the diet, which was usually after a few days.

Enter DietBet and the social network they have developed here. WOW! What a difference.  First, I won my first dietbet so YEAH! I was all excited about that! But more than, each day I was given warm fuzzy happy responses from my dietbet buddies. EXCELLENT! And much like the unwritten rule to snailmail letters and Christmas cards, If you want more you must send more, so goes the words of encouragement! The ones that encourage more, get more back.

The real power of the diet buddy is when things aren’t going as well as you had hoped. Also, those times when you are ready to quit maybe only because you are tired of not eating a big greasy meal of fast food burgers and fries!  How about when you are tired, everyone at work has been a pill to work with this week and to top it off, the scale says you went up 3 pounds!  At those times, your diet buddy is there for you. Reminding you that it’s not one day, it’s not one week or even one month.  But the long haul that will reward you. 

A diet buddy will also be the one to challenge you to do just 5 more seconds on a plank.  Or to walk just a few more feet in the day.  Your diet buddy might challenge you to a weekend run or shopping adventure. The point is, that your buddy is there for you, each step and each ounce of the way.

Dietbet has done a wonderful just at combining the thrill of the not-really-gambling game with social networking, and bringing together people with a common goal – lose weight safely and at a realistic pace.

So, if you have not sent a cheer to your team, your diet bet game buddies, do it now.  Tell them that they are awesome and that you believe in them!  Cheer them forward! Be a buddy to a buddy! Give them a challenge! Give them a virtual pat on the back. Tell them you are here for them.

To send a CHEER, click on someone’s name.  This will take you to their profile page.  Under their ‘graph’ area, under their weigh-in lost area, and above some posts… you should see  [  Blog   Cheer  Activity  ] – select Cheer.  A message box will be there and you can write your cheer to them that they are the only ones that can see it (well or anyone visiting their profile page – it’s not totally private!)

Be a diet buddy – Cheer a dietbet game-mate!