Start simple, keep a fitness journal
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Losing weight and staying fit can be tough. Some people know exactly what they need to do and just need to find the motivation and resolve to do it. Others are not sure where to start. Others are on the path using a myriad of different tools and techniques to achieve their goals.
No matter what path you choose, you are going to learn a lot about yourself. Anyone who has achieved success has eventually had to learn about what was driving their thoughts, feelings, actions, and how to manage these to achieve the results they want. As such, before you spend money on a gym membership, life coach, weight loss program or anything else, a great way to start your journey is to understand yourself better by simply keeping a food/fitness journal.
What is a fitness journal?
A fitness journal is a place where you record what is working well, what you have learned about yourself, and what changes you want to make to your plan. For example, if you find you often have cravings in the evenings, you can reflect on what you are thinking and feeling that might be driving that behavior at that moment. Is it related to stress, fear of not having enough, or something else? Your fitness journal helps you unpack all of these things. It doesn’t matter where you do this or how long it is. Just that you do it.
What are the benefits?
According to the University of Rochester Medical Center, journaling has the following benefits:
- Helping you prioritize problems, fears, and concerns
- Tracking any symptoms day-to-day so that you can recognize triggers and learn ways to better control them
- Providing an opportunity for positive self-talk and identifying negative thoughts and behaviors
How do I get started?
Almost anything works for a journal. A moleskin notebook, a Google doc, the notepad on your phone. The key is to just get started. You can also use Motivation Fund where we have made this easy to do. Simply set up a goal to journal every day about your fitness/weight loss and we will send you a daily text with a link where you can create your journal entry every day. We will send you periodic emails with all of your journal entries so you can spot patterns, trends, and learnings. You can get started here.
We hope you give fitness journaling a try and let us know how it works for you!