Kickstart Your Weight Loss Series: Step 2

Measure & Monitor & Evaluate to Improve Your Fitness Results

Did you know that at least a few times every single week I analyze exactly where my YOU come from?

I track when you visit, where you come from, which posts you seem to like the best, what keywords you typed in to find my site.

I pretty much know right away if I need to improve a certain part of my site or write more articles on a specific topic.  And I know when you don’t like something…so I can do less of whatever that is.

Now, in much the same way that I measure & respond to my results for my website, I do the same exact thing with my diet & exercise habits.  I keep a diet & exercise journal.  I’ll admit that I don’t always want to write in it, but I do and it’s with me at all times in some form–small notebook or on my iphone.

Why Do I Need To Keep A Journal?

Measuring and monitoring your actions is the only way I know to stay on top of my game.  Without a clear record of what I’m doing and eating, I seriously go off the deep end.  I don’t remember from one meal to the next what I had and I can never remember if I had enough water during a day.

Once you start doing this, you’ll start to notice some cool things start to happen …

1. You’ll be aware of what you eat or drink while you are doing it, instead of feeling guilty later.
2. You’ll be making your health & fitness results a reality by writing them down in black & white.
3. You’ll understand more deeply what & why your results have slowed or stopped….you might even figure out why you aren’t fitting so nicely into those jeans anymore.
4. You’ll become aware of eating & exercise patterns linked to your emotions, stress and time management breakdowns.

Getting Started

Well, the easiest part is getting started–especially since you are probably reading this on a computer.  Open Word, Notepad, or some other type of word
processing program and start recording what you are doing.

Here are some other ways to start collecting data:

• You can also go pick up a simple, small notebook that you can carry with you throughout the day
• Consider putting together your own fitness journal. My friend Leeanne has a great website and if you sign up for her mailing list, she sends you a fitness journal.
• Start by recording everything you eat & drink and DO every single day.
• Note the times and amount you eat/drink.
• Include how you are feeling–physically, emotionally, mentally.
• While you will be tempted to include more journal-y stuff, try to keep it simple and to the point to start off with.

Take It Online

After a few weeks of going it alone, you may get bored or maybe you’d like to see what others are eating and how they are exercising.

Facebook and Twitter have a ton of health & fitness conversations/groups forming all the time.

Here are my top pics for Facebook groups to check out:

Valerie Waters
Jillian Michaels
Jorge Cruise
Tone it up

Here are some Twitter peeps you might enjoy following:

My Trainer Bob
Live Well 360
Andrea Metcalf
Anne Samoilov (wait that’s me!)

The best results I saw for myself were when I was journaling regularly. Now, whenever I need to get my eating back in balance or my exercise on track, I start writing everything down.
It really is the best way to have a clear view of what you are doing, what’s working, what’s not working…and helps you make sense of what you’re doing.

To read more about the positive effects of keeping a journal, check out these articles:

Journaling: Keeping a Diet Diary
3 Simple Ways To Use Writing To Increase Your Workouts Effectiveness
Make Your Own Exercise Log

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