Fitness Goal Tracking...

I'm a very visual person.  (I once said, "I'm a very visionary person" and yeah, that's not what I meant.)  Anyway!  I like hands-on things to look at and check off, likes "To-Do Lists" for example.  Or I even like vacuuming or doing the dishes because there's immediate gratification in the results.  So I'm going to explain this "goal made real by visuals"... but let me back up first.

I was at the vet with my dog a couple weeks ago and the Dr. told me Sadie was overweight.  He said she should weigh 3 lbs less than she does now, which is equivalent to a human losing 30 lbs.  Not gonna happen overnight! But he reduced the amount of food we give her daily, ruled out all human food, and said to replace frequent doggy treats with carrots or frozen beans.  Poor Sadie!  So that very day we cracked down and haven't given her any human food (except for a piece of pizza she stole) and she's still kickin'.  The first few nights she was sniffing around everywhere, trying to eat up crumbs from cracks in the tile, scratching at the fridge door, etc.  That was sad... but I couldn't break down and give her a treat. I'm making her strong. :)

So this made me think: "Wait!  Why don't I do the same thing?!  If Sadie has to do it, I can do it."  And that's what inspired me to create my fitness journal.  Only I don't call it that because I don't want other people to see this 3 ring binder that says, "Bree's Eating & Exercise Habits" on it.  I keep it low key and neutral, but fun enough to be happy and not something I come to hate.  :)

This isn't a very good pic but it shows you the front of my binder.  I love "Life is Good" anything.

Each page can fit 2 days on it and they're printed on both sides.

Saves lots of space and you can add pages as needed.

Here's a portion of one half of a page... aka... one day.  I like the flexibility of each day, meaning I don't HAVE to do certain work-outs or eat certain things.  I just simply write down what I did.  I added the "strength training" section to remind me to do simple things that I usually avoid or forget to do.

I weigh myself every morning, record it and compare it to my goal weight.  I'm one who plays games with myself and have to motivate myself to do things.  Right now my "goal prize" is new running shoes when I get down to my goal weight.  I'm fluctuating way too much lately to feel like I'm making any kind of progress! But hopefully I'll be able to shave off those last 5 lbs quickly.

These are snippets from two of my days last week.  I like my "comments" section because I can look back and be reminded of good meals, good strategies, good workouts, etc.  Or of course some negative things too!  I'm really good about whining every now and then. :)

Anyway, I've actually really enjoyed being so diligent in recording my eating/exercise each day.  I bring my binder to work with me and jot down little notes throughout the day.  It helps me keep track of how much water I drink throughout the day, which is something I'm trying to be better about.  It's exciting to write down notes after a hard work-out or a healthy lunch, etc.  So far this is working for me and I think I'll stick to it!  

If anyone wants a copy of this for themselves, I'll gladly e-mail you a copy and you can tweak it however you want to fit your needs.  Yay for goals and actually doing something about it.

Here are a few pics of my friends and I after our 5K run at Wheeler Farm this morning. It was a fun course-- super cold at 7am-- but a good time.  I have yet to break out of the 29min. window for my 5K's but I'm determined to do it in my next one.  I don't claim to be a fast runner.  I pretty much run a  9 1/2-10min mile. But oh how I want to beat that dang 29 minutes.

Me with my trusty roommate, Cassity, and her sister Crystal.  Don't worry-- that's a water bottle in 

Crystal's shirt.  P.S.  Crystal is running on my Red Rock team in September.  Hooray!

 I couldn't resist this great picture-taking opportunity!  :)

That's my life in a nutshell.  The same 'ol same 'ol.  Running... goals... trying to reach my goals... random fun times with friends... and other stuff.  Life is good.  Yep.  I'm okay with it right now.