Track It to Treat It!

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Nothing is more discouraging than feeling like you're making an effort towards better health and fitness but not seeing results. We travel through life perceiving our fullest effort is being made, which often times is not the case. It's incredible how much our awareness increases when we can clearly see the road we've been travelling. Track It to Treat It simply means write it down - "it" meaning EVERYTHING.


The best approach to tracking is to start a nutrition and training journal. Use each journal to first become aware of the position you are currently in. The initial entries will act as a baseline, where every entry can, and should, grown and change from there. Here are some things to include in each journal:

Nutrition Journal

- times you've eaten (ex: Meal 1 - 8:00am)
- what you've eaten (ex: veggie omelette)
- how much you've eaten (ex: 3 whole eggs with 1 cup spinach)
- how much water you drank (ex: 5L)
- what your workout was (ex: upper body - 45 min)
- how you felt that day (ex: tired, energetic)
- weekly weigh-ins (ex: 136.4 lbs, 133.2 lbs)
- any cheats or additions (ex: 1 cup of green tea, 2 sticks of sugar free gum)

Training Journal

- date you worked out (ex: Aug 26, 12)
- time you worked out (ex: 11:30am - 12:15pm)
- what exercises you performed (ex: DB overhead press)
- what weight and number of sets/reps for each exercise (ex: 20 lbs for 8 reps - 4 sets)
- type and length of any cardio (ex: 30 min elliptical)

My old nutrition journals from 2006 and 2008.

If technically savvy, I highly recommend trying an online site or phone app for tracking. These digital journals are easy to use and can provide specific nutrition information about the foods you're eating. More info is always useful and the best part, many of these sites are free! (Try www.fitday.com or www.fatsecret.com)

You will be amazed by the things you'll discover once you have the information written out. Often you will need to re-evaluate your plan. With a journal you'll suddenly notice certain times of day when workouts feel better, days you eat certain foods and feel unwell, last weeks circuit time instantly becomes a bench mark to beat. It takes time and effort remembering to track everything, but journals can be a very useful tool when looking to remedy a plateau.

Make your journal work for you! Add motivational quotes and photos, organize it how you like. Even consider sharing your journal with a friend once a week to keep you accountable. The most crucial piece of advice about your journal is to BE HONEST! You're only cheating yourself by not including that cookie you ate in the middle of the night!