Would, "Because I said so" suffice?

First off - no one will be required to let anyone but ME see their photos.

You do not have to show your face. In fact, I suggest that you don't for safety & privacy reasons.

You can wear whatever you choose (G rated). Wear jeans and a winter coat for all I care. Though good luck getting votes in the final round with that outfit!

That said, sharing photos is going to HELP keep you on track. I know it is painful but we can't make changes without stepping outside our comfort zones.

Here are the main reasons photos are required.

1. Fairness

Participants earn points fairly easily - you will simply need to log into the website and post messages in your blog/journal. It would be very easy for someone to copy/paste something they found on the web to their journal that will satisfy the Challenge requirements.

2. Accountability

This is critical for making habit changes - and that's what we're talking about with the New You Challenge.

Changing lifelong habits can be extremely difficult. My goal is to help you make those difficult changes. Requiring you to be accountable - via photos - is actually helping you.

If you have a bad day, are tired, stressed blah blah, how easy is it to stick with your diet or exercise routine? Not so.

What if you knew you were going to be held publicly accountable (via your after photos)? How many of the 90 days would you waste being too tired, too hungry, busy, etc., etc?

You only have 90 days to get results. Are you going to waste them? We are going to know if you did because we will be able to see your results or lack thereof! This also helps with getting you consistent. Habit change only comes with consistency. You can't be "on" for 3 days, take a week off and expect to change habits. Your habit then becomes 3 days on, one day off - which then morphs into - "Diets don't work", "I can't lose weight", "I'll never get toned"...blah blah blah! Lies. All lies!

3. We need proof that you actually DID what you said you were doing. Given the online format of the Challenge, photos are the best way I could come up with for doing that.

The next reason primarily applies to some people (not all) who want to lose weight:

4. What you don't know can kill you.

When we don't like what we look like, some of us will avoid mirrors and certainly cameras. If you don't really know how much weight you've put on then you're not going to be as motivated or have the willpower, or more importantly the WANTpower to make the changes required to lose the weight.

You have to want to lose weight more than you want BK or that Twinkie. It's ALL about want.

If you've been hiding from yourself - what's there to want?

Test it out for yourself. Get into a bathing suit and take a picture. Yes, it can be extremely painful. The pain is what's referred to as a "negative" motivator. And no, negative motivators do not work to keep you motivated LONG term - they only help to get you off the couch in the first place - which is where the vast majority of people fail in their weight loss efforts.

The New You Challenge is going to help you discover what your long term positive motivators are - BUT only if you step outside of your "comfort zone", suck it up, and take the pictures!!!!!!

4. Someday you are going to be very glad you took those before photos. More on that in the next message.