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If you’ve followed this blog or my tweets for any length of time, then you know that I’m a running momma and dropped about 20-25 pounds earlier this year.
My health and fitness has always been important to me, but there was a brief period (okay, nearly five years) when I let myself go and wallowed in the misery of my “mom bod,” which was neither hot nor haute – trust me. My journey back into a healthy lifestyle began in 2007 when my dad challenged me to run a half-marathon, which I did in January 2008. I can’t thank him enough for being the catalyst that got my health back on track because it also impacted my wellness (of the mental kind) – thanks Dad.
By the time I ran my second half-marathon, I was logging more than 22 running miles a week…yet still dragging around 20+ pounds of excess weight, which obviously affected my performance.
I knew something had to change, so I made a change that resulted in me shedding more than 20 pounds between November 2008 and February 2009. Miraculous results!
Of course there are a number of factors that contributed to my rapid weight loss (none of them involved weird drugs, supplements, or starvation…don’t panic), but the primary change I made was this: I wrote things down – my fitness and health goals, when I worked out or ran, what I did, how I felt, what I ate and when…everything.
There is plenty of academic, scientific and professional evidence that describes why writing down goals works. Some studies report that people are 75-95% more likely to achieve written goals compared to those who do not. I didn’t do a major longitudinal study on these assertions, but you can take my layperson testimonial, “It worked for me!” 
Here’s what I learned by writing everything down: I ran a lot. I also ate A LOT. High fives to Weight Watchers for helping me get my eating back on track because I had a serious issue around portion control.
What I wish I had owned back then, that I’m totally in love with now is fitbook™ – a sleek, simple fitness and nutrition journal where you can track everything I was scribbling into uninspiring, spiral-bound notebooks.
Durable, portable exterior
Set your goals, make a plan
Easily track fitness activities & nutrition
fitbook™ was developed by Angela Manzanares, a woman passionate about helping people embrace a fit life. Her company’s mantra is simple and powerful: live life fit. What I love about the product is it’s portability, usability and savvy interior design. Plus, Angela recently released a new fitbook version: fitbook junior, which makes my heart sing as a mom who loves sharing my fitness and healthy habits with my children.
If you have a fitness or health goal, then fitbook is definitely a partner you’ll want to have alongside you for the journey.
Learn more about fitbook:
- Visit fitbook’s official Web site: www.getfitbook.com
- Become a fan of fitbook: FaceBook
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
That looks great! I’ve been using sparkpeople.com but often find that writing it down is much quicker. My portions were WAY out of control since having my son and I am like you I have to write it all down. Also, I JUST started running, literally today. So wish me luck!
Conrgats on running Andrea! I track my runs on my iPhone, but also like writing things down in the fitbook, especially my goals and eating habits. It’s a great tool! Oh, and if you’re on Twitter and aren’t already doing so, follow the hashtag #momsrunning to meet up with other running mamas!
You are so right about the mantra: “write it down, make it happen.” And how neat that your dad challenged you to lose weight — I recently lost a measly 8 pounds in a bet with my dad. But I am going to follow your advice to lost the remaining 10. (Isn’t it odd that no matter how fit we get, we always want to lose that “last 10 pounds”?)