It’s the last Friday in January. How did you do? At the beginning of the month I asked you to make a list of your goals and think of a simple way to track your progress. What worked for you? What didn’t work? Where do you go from here?
Since June 2009 I’ve been tracking my progress with garage sale stickers on my wall calendar (pictured below). I use the pink for cardio (20+ minutes), green for resistance (weights, etc.) and yellow/orange for flexibility or extra exercise. It’s not a perfect system, but at least I get an idea of whether or not I worked out that day. It hangs on a wall in my room so I see it every day, and the goal is to make my calendar as colorful as possible. It’s become a routine of mine and takes very little time. At the end of the month I can count the stickers to see how I did. It also helps me see which days I took to rest.
If you met all your goals this month, awesome! Keep it up! If not, don’t be frustrated and definitely don’t give up! You may consider adjusting your strategy for February or just keep working. Life-long fitness truly is not a race. Of course, many of us want to lose weight for spring break, a summer wedding, or other big event so we try crash diets and fad weight loss supplements two weeks before the event. We want immediate results, but unfortunately it just doesn’t work that way. Visualize yourself at an event in the near future. Wouldn’t it be sweet to think, “I’ve worked hard for six months and I feel great!”
TRY THIS!
Push Ups with a twist!
Get Fit Items:
- Yoga Mats- Starting at $8.98
- GoFit 10-Pound Yellow Kettlebell with Vinyl Coating, Iron Core Training DVD and Exercise Booklet
– $21.85
- Valeo Medicine Ball
- The Biggest Loser Fitness Program: Fast, Safe, and Effective Workouts to Target and Tone Your Trouble Spots–Adapted from NBC’s Hit Show!
– $14.93
- Champion Power Workout Tee from Target– $5
- Champion Sports Bra Sale
We can all become resistant to the goals we set ourselves. However the important thing is not to be too harsh on yourself when you falter from the path which you cover here very well. I have not been on my abs ball for a long time and have not tried sit ups like that. Mmmm time to get it out of the cupboard I think…
I just put a red W on the calendar. So as long as I get 4-5 W’s a week I feel great.
Just take control of yourself , and commit. Then you look forward to it and are happy with yourself. I know I feel better and sleep better too!