In the last edition of The Trucker, I talked about the importance of choosing an exercise you WILL do as opposed to one you SHOULD do.
Now, as the new year begins, I’d like to support your efforts to keep those resolutions. Health journaling is a practice that keep you focused. You don’t have to write down every detail, just certain information that can help you achieve your goal.
For example, if your goal is to lose weight, try writing down what you eat, along with the calories in those items, each day. This easy exercise will help you recognize just how many calories you consume in one day, and I think you will be surprised. Doing this can help in two ways. First, it familiarizes you with what your daily caloric intake looks like. Second, you’ll come to understand how to decipher a product’s ingredients label and know what calories also provide valuable nutrition. You’ll quickly realize how many drinks and foods are full of empty calories (meaning they provide absolutely no nutritional value).
If you have a wearable fitness-tracking device, such as an Apple watch or a Fitbit that counts biometrics and workouts, it can help your journaling easier (and I know that it can be difficult to stay consistent with journaling if multiple variables are tracked). I recommend starting by tracking only one or two areas that are critical to helping you develop a picture of what your habits they are consumed calories and exercise.
Here are a few tips to help you as you begin to journal your health.
- Your body is the most reliable and cost-effective “lab.”
Journaling can be a great way to learn about your habits and tendencies. You can also keep track of energy levels throughout the day, and how you felt before and after workouts.
- It’s important to take accountability for your health.
Consistency is key, and it’s very useful when health journaling. While simply recording personal health and fitness details each day can be helpful, specifically tracking variables related to your goals can be a great accountability tool.
- Be flexible, even while trying to set a structured routine.
Health journaling should be a long-term practice. As it becomes easier to recall and record your health and fitness routines, you will find that you may start to recognize how one day may affect your progress for the week.
- Now is the time to get started.
Invest in a journal, and possibly a wearable device to help start your health journey. If you don’t want to spend extra cash on a journal, any notebook and pen will do. Remember, your health is a journey, and you can’t go to Step 2 without taking Step 1.
Check out the Fit To Pass App for more support, or reach out to me directly.
Bob Perry is a regular contributor to The Trucker. He has spent nearly the past four decades on a mission to educate professional drivers and share life-changing products and services to help them live healthier lives while on the road. Recognized throughout the transportation industry, from bus drivers to over-the-road professional drivers, Perry has played an important role in creating a paradigm shift helping regulatory agencies, private and public sector entities, and consumers understand the current health challenges of the professional driver. He has participated as a wellness advocate in several roundtable discussions, large audience groups and small forums as well as going “curbside” through a national truck stop tour.
Bob’s articles have been featured in The Trucker and a number of other national transportation industry publications and is the host of a weekly wellness call produced by Rolling Strong. Bob has been a regular guest on RedEye Radio and Land-Line Radio, and is often an invited guest on Sirius radio shows. He has been featured in the New York Times, Men’s Health Magazine, Drug Store News, American Road Magazine, WSJ, NPR, ABC National Radio, as well as hundreds of daily newspapers. He has appeared on television news shows across the nation, including a featured TV segment on ABC NightLine News.
