Back in February, I started keeping a fitness journal. It started out as a handwritten thing but after a month or so, I started using voice dictation to keep my journal on my phone.
Every single Monday since then, I have opened my Google doc journal and chatted a bit about how things are going with my fitness plans.
This isn’t the kind of tracker I have tried to keep before – a record of the specifics of individual exercise sessions – it’s a reflection of how I feel about my exercise lately. I make notes about the kinds of exercises I have done, whether I am feeling better or worse for having done them. I pay attention to which exercises feel good and which ones are getting on my nerves – and whether the annoyance is worth it.
I do a screen cap of the weekly report from my Fitness app and write about whether my perception of my efforts matches the report.
I talk about whether exercise has felt difficult or easy or anything in between in the past week.
I note any specific highlights, struggles, challenges, or high points, what contributed to those feelings and whether the feelings lasted.
My fitness journal has become exactly what I hoped it would – a place to celebrate, a place to whine, a place to notice the changes, the differences, and the benefits that come from my efforts to move my body in beneficial ways.
It’s a container for all of my ideas and thoughts around exercise and fitness. It lets me see how I have changed my mind, changed my approach, changed my plans over time. It shows me what works and what doesn’t work.
It has let me see what aspects of fitness and exercise matter to me and which ones don’t.
It has shown me what a little extra effort and a little more conscious relaxation does for my well-being.
Having notes from my previous self makes it a lot easier to do the things that matter to me.
And since my journaling only takes 5 mins or so every Monday, it is definitely worth it.
I’m giving myself a gold star for sticking with my fitness journaling practice. ⭐️
Do you keep a reflective fitness journal? What is your practice like? Do you find it helpful?
