Keep Track of your Progress & Promises

In this season of lofty promises for self-improvement, it is easy for that new-year's energy to wane and the resolutions to be left by the wayside. On the Today show this week, they estimated that only 6% of people actually keep their new year's resolutions. Yikes!

For fitness or nutrition related goals, one of the best ways to keep track of your progress and work toward achieving your desired results is to log your activities in a journal. First of all, it helps to identify specific ways in which you will reach your goal. "I want to get fit" or "I want to lose weight" are important values, but they are fairly vague - when do you know that you have reached those goals? Instead, establish realistic, achievable benchmarks: I will go to the gym three days a week; I will meet with a personal trainer once a week; I will lose 2 pounds a week; I will run 30 miles a week, etc. Limit these resolutions to one or two so as to not overwhelm yourself.

Once you have enumerated your specific targets, keep track of your daily progress. You can do this in a simple spiral notebook, or you can purchase workout logs. I like to use the Runner's World Training Journal to keep track of my mileage and cross-training. It has inspirational quotes and tips that help keep me motivated. You can also log your workouts into online exercise sites like RunningAhead.com. Magazines like Shape, Self, and Runner's World also maintain online training log features. You can do the same thing for your nutritional goals as well - keeping track of what you eat and logging in your weight each day.

By writing down the steps you are taking each day to reach your goals, you can see the positive steps that you are taking to move forward and change your life. You will be less likely to skip a workout or eat a giant piece of chocolate cake if you know that you will be taking a note of it. You can look at the pages and see how far you have come.

For me, knowing that I will note my workout on my blog (even if no one reads it), as well as my training journal, is a huge motivator for me to keep up my workout each day. I hope you find keeping track of your goals helpful as well!

Today's workout:
50 min. run (6.0 mi)
20 min. resistance training
75 min. yoga