“No one has ever made it to their goal and thought to themselves, now how did I do that?”
T.D. Jakes

If you are keeping up with the BetterU program like I am, you know they are now talking about tracking what you are eating and what you are doing exercise-wise so you know how you are doing and what to change if you are not getting the results that you want. This is like music to my ears.

Tracking for many seems cumbersome in the beginning and so many don’t want to do it but I wish I had a dollar for every smile that I receive when I tell a client that they are X% stronger, faster, lighter, healthier and so on. Tracking shows you progress. Your progress. As you embark on an endeavor as big as this, you need all the extra encouragement you can get because the road seems long and unending. The biggest mistake is to make the scale your only form of tracking. Seeing how your diet has evolved over the length of this program and how your workouts become easier and more frequent is rewarding. It’s cool to see things like that.

If you are helping someone else through this program, you know how important it is to give a word of encouragement to your mom, aunt, cousin, friend and so on. When you help them to track, you give yourself something to be able to use to keep them going through the weeks. However, they may not and you may not know things that you can track that show progress other than the scale. Here is a list for you:

Food choices. Let them know that they have been eating:

more good than bad
more fruits and veggies than refined carbs
more good fats
better timing with meals
more meals
drinking water
not drinking soda
drinking less soda

Exercise

more days working out than not
lifting once per week
lifting twice per week
lifting three times per week
going up in the weight
learning more advanced moves
can do “this” now when they couldn’t before
can workout longer
can walk faster
can walk longer
can walk longer AND faster

When you see it written out this way you realize there are a myriad of ways for you to keep track of your progress without having to step on the scale. What are you going to use as your litmus?

Have fun and don’t forget to track it all in your fitbook!

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