A lot of us are just winging it through life. And while I’m guilty of winging most of it…the parenting, the make up, the hair…and crossing my fingers that I don’t do something that can’t be fixed, an area I don’t wing is my fitness journey.
I have in the past and well, it often felt like I was just rolling the dice with my health and hoping it worked out.
Spoiler alert…it never did work out.
That way at least!
When it comes to health and fitness, please don’t wing it!
With so many variables at play and no guaranteed route to success, it's easy to feel lost or discouraged along the way.
One surefire way to not wing it and get clear on this journey is to track your progress. By keeping tabs on your journey's milestones, setbacks, and everything in between, you can gain valuable insights and motivation to steer you toward your goals.
Save the winging it for other areas – you know, like work and being an adult….
Why Track Progress?
Before delving into the methods of progress tracking, let's first explore why it's essential. Tracking progress serves several purposes:
Visibility: It provides a clear picture of where you stand in relation to your goals, helping you identify areas of improvement and celebrate successes.
Accountability: By holding yourself accountable to regular progress check-ins, you're more likely to stay on track and maintain consistency in your efforts.
Motivation: Seeing tangible evidence of your progress, no matter how small, can boost your morale and inspire you to keep pushing forward, especially during challenging times.
Adjustment: Tracking allows you to evaluate the effectiveness of your current strategies and make necessary adjustments to optimize your results.
And just how can you track your fitness and health progress? Let’s look at some methods:
Measurements and Body Composition: Tracking changes in your body measurements (such as waist circumference, hip circumference, and body fat percentage) provides insights into your physical transformation over time. Tools like tape measures, body fat calipers, or even advanced body composition scanners can help you monitor these changes accurately.
Performance Metrics: Keeping track of your performance in workouts, such as weights lifted, repetitions completed, or distances covered, can help you gauge improvements in strength, endurance, and overall fitness level. Journals, apps, or workout logs are excellent tools for recording these metrics.
Visual Progress: Progress photos serve as visual evidence of your physical transformation. Taking consistent photos from various angles at regular intervals allows you to see changes in your physique over time. While it may feel uncomfortable at first, comparing these photos side by side can be incredibly motivating and rewarding.
Nutritional Tracking: Monitoring your dietary intake, including calories, macronutrients, and meal timing, can shed light on how your nutrition habits impact your progress. Food diaries, nutrition apps, or even simple spreadsheets can help you keep track of what you're eating and make informed decisions about your nutrition.
Biofeedback and Well-being: Paying attention to your body's signals, such as energy levels, mood, sleep quality, and overall well-being, can provide valuable insights into the holistic effects of your fitness journey. While less quantifiable than other methods, tuning into these cues allows you to make adjustments that support your overall health and performance.
Once you start progress tracking, you’ll start being able to recognize your own patterns – good and not so good. This information gives you so much power in this journey and it makes sure that you don’t wing this area of your life!
If you liked this read, check out this one about breaking habit loops!
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