A lack of motivation is why many people quit their fitness routine and do not have success with losing weight. Keeping an exercise journal and a food diary will help you see where you are at and where you are going. It will also help keep you accountable for the exercise you do and the food that you eat. Having this knowledge of your progress and visibility of your goals is a great motivator.
An exercise journal can help you to increase your overall fitness. Say you start out being able to walk a mile but your goal is to be able to walk 5 miles. A journal is a great aid to help you plan your workouts so that you are slowing increasing the duration or intensity, and this helps your stay on track with your fitness improvement plans. Next, be sure you keep a record of what kind of exercise you do each day, how long you do it and the intensity. It’s important to have a balanced plan where you spend some time on strength training, some on cardiovascular fitness and on flexibility. Keeping a daily record of this will help you keep track of where you are at and what you need to work on. It’s a great way to help you improve your workouts and reap the benefits of increasingly difficult exercise. You should review your notebook each month and see just how far you’ve come.
It is also a good idea to keep a food diary. Keep track of what and how much you eat at each meal, as well as any snacks. It can be very motivational to look back over the last few months and see how your eating habits have changed… hopefully for the better! Also knowing that you are keeping track of everything you eat and drink makes you think twice about your eating choices. It makes you accountable and helps to boost your self control.
In your fitness journal be sure you to keep track of any erratic sleep patterns or when you are feeling frustrated, or if you are sore after a particular workout. Basically, the more you record the better. By reviewing you journal you will see patterns of how your lifestyle is affected by each workout and be able to make necessary changes.
One of the best ways to keep a fitness journal is online.
The Shrinking Team
Weight-Loss is Hard, We’re Here to Make it Easier