Stop Dieting - Keep A Fitness Journal Instead! Six Essential Areas You Should Be Tracking Now.

Have you ever gone on a diet, lost weight, gone off the diet, and then gained all the weight back? Sadly this often happens. A great tool to help you keep the weight off is a fitness journal! Some trainers provide structured journals for clients to use, but a journal can be as simple as a small notebook or a Word document on your computer. The format is less important than the information you include.

Here are six key areas you should track in your journal each day for optimum weight-loss success:

1) What time are you eating? You should be trying to eat every three to four hours. This will consist of three main meals and two smaller meals. Every time you eat, make a note of what time it is.

2) What are you eating? Please don’t eliminate your favorite foods or alcohol. Instead, learn to eat and drink with discipline and control. Think moderation not deprivation!

3) What size are your portions? A deck of cards is equal to three ounces of meat. A matchbox is equal to an ounce of cheese. A tennis ball is equal to a cup of rice or pasta. When you think about the size of the meal you serve yourself or get at a restaurant, it’s usually much larger than this. Start noting your portion sizes – you might be surprised.

4) How many calories are you consuming? Every food has a number attached to it. Some weight loss programs use a point system; some require you to count calories. Either is perfectly fine. It’s important, however, to know the number you’re consuming and if that number is appropriate for your weight loss or maintenance goals, so you’ll need to track it.

5) How much water do you drink? Here’s how to find out how much water your body needs every day: take your body weight, cut it in half, now try drinking that many ounces of water each day. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds you should try to drink 75 ounces of water daily (75 is half of 150).

6) What exercises are you doing? If it’s nothing, join a gym or hire a personal trainer to help get you started. You could dust off your existing equipment and use it. How about lacing up your sneakers and going for a walk? Just get moving!

Do yourself a huge favor and stop dieting. Instead, keep a journal of everything you eat and drink and the amount of exercise you get. This will really help you understand where, if any, adjustments need to be made for you to achieve maximum weight loss success and overall fitness. Being accountable for your food, water and exercise is your key to success!

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