Why Should You Document
Just like documenting any other journey, documenting your fitness journey plays a huge role in your success. Not only does documenting your progress allow you to see how far you’ve come over a period of time, but it will also give you the motivation to keep going and work towards achieving more goals.
Documenting your fitness journey starts with making a game plan. If you want to perform your best on a regular basis, you need to have a solid plan. To create a game plan, you should:
- Start by outlining a routine that goes out a few months.
- Take a look at both your short-term and long-term goals.
- Figure out what your weaknesses are and incorporate patterns that will help you become better in these areas.
- Figure out where you want to go in your fitness journey and record it.
Having a long-term game plan can help keep you focused and stay driven as you strive towards your goal. However, short term goals are essential as well. One great way to keep up with your short-term goals is writing down your workouts in advance. At the very least, try writing down your workouts the night before, so when you are trying to figure out whether or not you want to go to the gym, you already know that you should be going because you have it scheduled in.
Ways You can Document
There are several different ways you can document your fitness journey:
Keep a Food Log
Keeping a food log can help you get on track to better health. The thing is, you have to use it every day, for every meal if you want it to work. It can be hard to remember to log your meals sometimes, so try setting some alerts on your computer or mobile device to remind you to write down what you ate.
Food journals are great because they can help you:
- Plan out your meals.
- Budget your grocery trip.
- Track the nutritional value of the things you eat.
- Record eating patterns.
You can write down your meals in a notebook, keep notes on your smartphone, or even log them in an app. Just remember, no matter which way you log your food, be consistent!
Take Pictures
One super effective way to track your fitness progress is to take pictures. Take a few “Before” pictures when you start your fitness program, then continue to take pictures either weekly, every two weeks, or once a month to see how your body is toning up over time!
Whether or not you want to share these pictures with your friends and family is completely up to you. You can absolutely just keep these photos to yourself if you wish, or you can share them with a workout partner. Either way, documenting your fitness journey through pictures can allow you to actually see the physical change and can be a great motivator.
Social Media Sharing
If you like sharing your life with those around you, such as friends, family, and workout buddies, you might consider logging your fitness journey on social media. Social media can be a great motivator, especially when you have the people you care about commenting on how well you’re doing and congratulating you on reaching milestones and overcoming challenges.
Things You Should Document
Don’t know what to put in your fitness journal? Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Long-term and short-term goals
- Milestones you’ve reached
- Challenges you would like to overcome
- Workouts done and progress made
- Non-workout related information such as energy levels, sleep, and meals
- Motivational quotes and motivation level (Good, Average, or Poor)
- Pictures
- Record of successes
- Bodyweight or body fat percentage
You can also add information that is specific to your workouts, such as:
- Date and time of your workout
- What kind of workout (strength, cardio, etc.)
- Duration of your workout
- The intensity of the exercise
- Distance covered
- Calories burned
- Sets
- Reps
- How easy or difficult it was for you
Conclusion
Documenting your fitness journey allows you to hold yourself accountable, track your progress, and figure out which things are working for you and which are not. Whether you document your journey on social media, in a private journal, or through photos, you can make sure you reach both your short-term and long-term goals, overcome challenges, and work your way towards becoming more fit and healthy.
Not only that, but you might also end up inspiring someone else’s fitness journey. You might not necessarily care about what people think about your fitness journey or need other people to help hold you accountable, but someone else out there might need a little push.
It can be lonely and discouraging to see other people succeed where you are struggling, and it’s easy to tell yourself that you’ll never get to where someone else is. But, if you start now and don’t give up (even when it gets hard!), you will find that you’re reaching your goals and going farther than you ever thought possible!
One great way to get fit, healthy, and make a few friends in the process is Karate! Karate can help you gain confidence, learn discipline, burn fat, and tone muscles, all while teaching you techniques that you can utilize in the real world to defend yourself.
