Documenting your fitness journey goes much further than weighing-in and measuring yourself every week. Relying solely on the numbers isn’t effective because it can distract you from the natural and necessary changes that occur in your routine over time. Ultimately, documenting your fitness journey encourages you to create a cycle of accountability and keep moving forward—no matter what comes your way.
Here are 4 effective ways of documenting your fitness journey.
1. Have A Game Plan
If you want to be performing at your absolute best on a regular basis, you need to have a solid plan of action. Create an outline for a routine that goes out a few months, looking at both your long- and short-term goals. Isolate your weaknesses and incorporate the various movement patterns that will help to build strength in those areas. Along the way, make new short-term goals to keep yourself accountable and challenged. Establish where you want to be going with your fitness journey and then record it.
Having a long-term plan keeps you focused and driven toward your goal. In addition to having a long-term goal for your fitness program, you can have short term goals as well. One way to hone in on your short-term goals is to write down your workouts in advance. Try doing this the night before at the very least, so when those moments do come, and you are debating whether or not the gym is ‘worth it’, you already know you have to go. After all, you have a plan!
2. Take Photos
Taking pictures is a really effective way to track your fitness regime and journey. Taking a few “before” pictures at the start of your weight loss or fitness program, and then taking photos weekly, biweekly, or monthly will allow you to see just how much your body is toning up over time. Sharing your photos or not is entirely up to you. Whether they’re for your eyes only, or you’re sharing them with your workout buddy, documenting and actually seeing a physical change can be very helpful and motivating. We don’t always see our own progress. Our photos show us just how far we’ve come and how much further we want to go.
3. Keep A Food Journal
The key to making a food journal work is to use it every day, for every meal. It can be tricky to remember, so setting alerts on your phone or computer will remind you to jot down what you ate. Food journals are really underrated but are beneficial for a number of reasons because you can:
- Record eating trends and patterns
- Track nutritional intake
- Budget groceries
- Meal plan
Whether you write down your meals and snacks by hand in a notebook, or keep notes in your smartphone, the key is to be consistent.
4. Track Your Progress
Tracking your progress is extremely important in goal setting because it gives you the motivation to continue your success. Tracking your progress can be in the form of writing in a journal or simply recording statistics and new benchmarks.
Set some benchmark workouts for yourself and continue to challenge yourself by creating new goals. Weigh yourself every so often and record any other noteworthy statistics that can show you what changes have occurred during your journey. Every few months, compete with yourself. Try to beat your fastest mile-run or have a friendly gym competition among friends. Creating benchmarks can help you see how much more fit you’ve become over time.
The most beautiful part of keeping track of your fitness journey is that it demands that you hold yourself accountable. Everyone’s body and mindset are different guys, always remember this. So, record your own fitness journey and find out what works best for you!
Our personal trainers and fitness instructors at Laws of Fitness are dedicated to helping you become the healthiest you that you can be. Contact us today to schedule a personal training consultation or to sign up for any of our group fitness classes.