Keep Your Exercise and Weight On Track With These Tips

Most people have a fitness watch of some sort that will track their activity and workouts.  Many jobs today require a lot of sitting at not much activity.  Having an activity tracker will give you daily goals to get moving.  Maybe it will inspire you to take a walk on your lunch break because even a short walk is something. If you have a goal (number of steps) each day then you can make small modifications to your daily habits to achieve these goals.  This adds up and if you make positive changes like this overtime you will see a difference.  

If you start tracking your steps and immediately set a goal of 10,000 steps you may find it is hard to achieve.  That is usually equal to about 5-6 miles a day.  If you have a desk job and are currently not very active then possibly start with 5,000.  If you don't have a fitness watch but have a smart phone then you can still track your activity with your phone.  You just need to make sure you carry it with you at all times.  You can use apps like Strava to  keep track of your activity.  Strava will also give you a weekly recap of your activity.   I walk my dogs regularly and most times carry my phone to track it on Strava.  

My Dog Walking Recap

Tracking your activities gives you a sense of accomplishment and accountability.  A lot of people like to post their workouts on social media which I think is great because it helps with accountability and helps you get support for your accomplishments.  In todays world it can sometimes be hard to stay active so being mindful of your activity helps you stay on track.  

FOOD 

It should be the same with your food and you should use one of the many apps to track your food intake.  This will help hold you accountable and will help you realize just how much you are or aren't eating. It is so easy to overeat and keeping a log of your food will help bring awareness to you and your food habits.  Making small changes will add up to a lot overtime.  When you start tracking your food you become more aware of just how much mindless snacking can add up in terms of calories.  Set a daily goal for total calories, protein, carbohydrates, fat, fiber and sugar.  

WEIGHT

If you don't already have a digital scale to weigh yourself regularly then I would suggest you purchase one.  I use the Withings Body Cardio smart scale and it can be purchased on Amazon.  It has an app that will track your weight and all your body composition measurements.  I try and weigh myself in the morning first thing several times a week.  If you notice a trend of an increase of a few pounds you may need to adjust a few things in your diet or exercise routine.  People run into trouble when they don't regularly weigh themselves the suddenly they find themselves up 10 or more pounds.  I have a range that is ideal for me to be at and if I start to venture above the range by 1 or 2 pounds I know I need to cut back on my food intake a little bit.  On the other hand when I'm exercising a lot and training for an event I sometimes venture below my range and then I know I'm not eating enough for my level of activity.  

Stay Out Of The Stores 

I know to some people this may seem weird but I rarely go into grocery stores.  I do all my shopping through the Smiths, Amazon Fresh and  Instacart apps.  I place my order and then have it delivered to my house or go pick it up.  This applies to groceries and even places like Costco.  I have specific things I regularly order and I really think I save money by ordering through Instacart because I don't pick up things I happen to see if I would be in the store.  So even though I pay a delivery fee for my Costco order when ordering through Instacart, I save myself the time and money (on things I might have gotten that I didn't really need).  This will definitely help you if you tend to shop when you're hungry and end up buying things you wouldn't normally buy that aren't that healthy.