Making goals to achieve success

So we are into month three now, and this is the point at which we should be able to pat ourselves on the back and congratulate each other. Equally this is the time where (without caution) it can all fall flat on its face.  Easter is just around the corner, a long weekend with the temptation of chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. The temptation enhanced by the encouragement of  those that have denied themselves during Lent being let of the leash. There's also the fact that by now we are beginning to feel better about ourselves, a little indulgence won't hurt as a reward for our efforts surely. This is a dangerous time, when our will power is going to be tested to it's limits. In my particular case I had some great news about my recent health scare, my wobbly vision appears to have been due to eye strain. My blood tests also came back clear of any indications of life threatening illnesses. So I could be stupid and go back to my old ways, or (as I am) accept I got away with it this time and resolve to be a good chap going forward. My blood pressure is back into normal confines now and should remain so if I limit blood pressure raising nasties (caffeine, Alcohol) and I must make sure to exercise regularly. The good news is that I can officially start running again.

Motivation at this point needs to be redoubled, in order to prevent smug turning to pug. So it's a good idea to have several objectives rolling at the same time to keep your interest going. To be honest it's the same with any mundane task, have short term achievable goals, and a long term goal. There are a lot of free tools on the market that you can use to track your objectives and goals, or you can just keep a note of where you are in a physical notebook or spreadsheet. That's how my spreadsheet (pictured below) began, just a simple way to keep a track on my weight loss progress, then over time it developed into something a bit more funky. I use it to track my progress to my overall weight loss goal, and my monthly target. However there are also a dizzying array of free apps and tools out there that can track this for you along with other things. What is really cool with these apps is that a majority of them can talk to Myfitnesspal, so calories burned during exercise can be automatically updated in your Myfitnesspal profile to give an overall view of calories in and calories out.

One of my associates was quite frankly very brutal when he discovered I had Runkeeper on my phone, with "You and I are people that saunter, rather than run." Lets quickly dispel a myth. You don't have to run to use Runkeeper or Runtatsic you can use either of these to track walking, cycling or a multitude of other activities. You don't even have to share your progress with other, this is for you, so it doesn't matter how fast or slow you are.The basic functions that you are likely to use at this stage  are absolutely free, and  the apps will run on a majority of cheap Android phones, Windows phone, or even IPhone if you're inclined. There are a lot of apps out there to track your fitness and on the whole the basic versions are all free. The paid for versions offer additional facilities that in the early days you probably won't use. If you don't own a phone you can still benefit from these apps, by adding in your progress manually into the apps associated webpage and track that way. In the case of Runkeeper the website is also the place where you can setup defined routes, most useful for calculating calorie burn if you are doing this without using a phone based app.

Here are a few of the things I'm tracking at the moment and the apps I use.

Calories consumed - Myfitnesspal
Distance walked     - Runkeeper/Runtastic - linked to Myfitnesspal to record Calories out
Current weight        - MyfitnessPal which feeds back into Runkeeper and Runtastic

Additionally I track my weight in my spreadsheet, and use a free BMI calculator on the NHS website to check my progress against the body mass index categories. I've just six pounds left to lose to be classed as overweight and no longer obese, for the first time in twenty odd years. As for my associate, we all will find people on our improvement journey that are happy to run down our achievements, there are many reasons for this, but be assured it's your journey and there are many more people willing to support you than those disposed to dragging you down,  keep moving and all will be well.