Recording Your Progress: Strive to Improve Everday part1

Another important part of this transformation is recording your progress. Find some type of notebook or journal in which you can record your weight loss, nutrition, and exercise. Anything containing paper will do. I still write down everything I eat, every exercise I perform, and how much I weigh. I carry two notebooks, one as a nutritional log and one as an exercise log. Even though I currently perform all three tasks they are not all necessary to maintain for the rest of your life. I write down what I eat because it became a habit after two years and I admit I just enjoy doing it and seeing what foods I have taken in that day. It helps me monitor my intake of protein, carbs, and fat which in my opinion is necessary for my current goals of maintaining muscle and improving strength.

Through writing down what I eat I also learn how my body reacts to certain foods and meal combination's. It is also helpful as a recipe log and reference so that if I make a particularly delicious meal and want to eat it again I can go back and find my personal concoction. (I get very creative with my food and will soon post my favorite personal recipes. Peanut butter banana cottage cheese pancakes coming soon to an Arya blog near you) As far as weighing myself weekly, I used this strategy to wean myself off “dieting” and into maintaining. I mostly use it as experimentation to learn how my body reacts to different exercise and eating plans. I recommend weighing yourself weekly for at least six months after achieving your weight loss success to ensure you have proper control of your diet and don’t gain the weight back. I will post part 2 of this post tomorrow.