Tracking Your Success

Today I realized how far I have come with my exercise program. I started off this summer running 1.5 miles on the treadmill (in about 14 min) and then I started running outside. Running outside was much harder for me, at first I could barely run a mile. In the past 3 months I have increased my distance little by little.

For the past 3 weeks my furthest non stop distance was three miles. Today I knew needed to push myself after coming back from my conference ( I ate so much and only exercised once). So I pushed myself and added and another mile to my regimen. I was able to run 4 miles without stopping in about 38 min.

Recognizing my progress provides me with the motivation to keep going and run further. My next goal is 5 miles and then a 10 k(a little over 6 miles).

There are many ways to track your success. You may focus on lbs lost or sizes dropped, which is great too! But make sure you take some time out to recognize how you have progressed in your exercise program. Especially for those of us who have little athletic ability it is really great to see how you can re-condition your body.

If you haven't already, start tracking your daily exercise with an exercise diary. Click here for a free online diary.
Others resources for charting your success
*Fitness Calendar (printable version)
*Spark People


Also, make sure you continue to challenge yourself in your exercise programs. If don't challenge yourself, your workout will become boring and you will probably lose motivation.

You can challenge yourself by:
*Adding a couple more minutes to your cardio each week
*increasing your speed running or on the elliptical
* adding more weights to your strength training routine
* adding new exercises to your program (try something fun like a dance class or swimming)

Comment! Please share your success stories to inspire others.