Yesterday we talked about having a support system, or a work out buddy to keep you motivated and to hold you accountable. Sometimes that just isn’t our thing, or we don’t seem to have the right person in our life who fits that ‘bill’. So today, Day 14 of our 21 Days of Habit Hacks, let’s talk about an alternative-Writing it Down!!
Whether we use a plain old notebook, a commercial product like the Fitbook , or even a mobile app, recording our work outs and food intake can help us in many ways. First, this method allows us to PLAN. Planning out our meals and snacks not only helps us stay on track, but it helps us stay on task with our shopping/spending; additionally, it saves us time. Planning our exercise routines to fit our schedules is similar. We stay on track better if we have thought about it ahead of time and committed in advance to what we want to do at the gym or during the time we have carved out at home to exercise. We save time because we have planned ahead and don’t waste time at the last minute trying to figure out what to do or worse yet, go into default mode and do the same old thing (which proves ineffective after a while).
Write it down! PLAN your PROGRESS so you can keep the PROMISES you have made to yourself!
Keeping track of our food and exercise by writing it down also helps us with PROGRESS. By writing down everything we eat we can see our progress in making healthier choices. Knowing we are writing it down (even if no one but us sees it) often keeps us on track with our choices, too. Writing down our exercise sessions helps us in the same way. Additionally, we can use the information to decide when we need to progress ourselves in our workouts. By this, I mean we can determine when we can increase the weight or repetitions or sets in our workouts. It is an encouragement to look back and see all the ways our workouts and food choices have changed and improved.
Writing down or tracking our food and exercise choices and plans helps us keep the PROMISES we have made to ourselves to become healthier. The Fitbook and many mobile apps offer a place to indicate our objectives which can be broken down into short and long term goals. These can be broken down even further into the promises we make to ourselves (daily!) to make better choices for healthier lives. This process offers a layer of accountability that can be the key to success for many of us.
I hope you can see that the time spent recording your food and exercise will help you PLAN for success, visualize your PROGRESS, (as well as help you know when to progress) and fulfill the PROMISES you have made to yourself for a life you can enjoy more fully.
Have an awesome day! See you tomorrow-
Your Best Fitness Friend
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