Keeping track

How do you keep track of exercise?  Do you keep track?

I have a notebook that sits on a shelf in the room with Trudy Treadmill and Barbara Bicycle.  It isn't fancy, but I do write down the date, how many minutes, and how many calories the machine says I've burned.  When I bike, I write the work "bike" by the minutes.  If I complete a workout on a DVD, I write the name of the DVD and the time.  Nothing high tech.

I have another journal that I keep in the the middle bathroom drawer.  That is my weight journal (since Suzy Scale is in the bathroom).  I have been writing down my weight for the past 3 or 4 years, mainly every week.  I have been known to skip a few weeks.  If I have several weights for the same week, that usually means I was feeling good about my progress at that point!  :)

At some point, I may try to create a google form for this stuff so I can have nice, clean, digital versions, but right now I am liking my current method.

I like both journals because they help me see the "bigger picture" that I don't always see.  Right now my exercise journal shows that I have exercised  for the last 8 days in a row.  That is a HUGE accomplishment for me.  INTENTIONAL EXERCISE.  The more days I have down, the more I am motivated to go visit Trudy Treadmill or Barbara Bicycle.  I don't want to let them down.  :)

While the weight journal has not always made me feel good, I can look at it and see patterns.  It really boosts my spirits to find out that I really did not gain 30 pounds since last year.  The pounds have been creeping up much more gradually.  It also helps to know that while I have not had a loss since October, I had one over winter vacation!  Go me!  (Trust me, I have to do these things to pump myself up.  Otherwise, I just feel overwhelmed by the road ahead.)

I found the following picture and I think it fits perfectly!

Journal on!