The other day I was working with a client who told me she had trouble staying focused on eating healthy. It turned out that she actually has eaten fairly well for a long time and simply isn’t sure if she has reaped any rewards yet.I encouraged her to come up with some way of tracking her progress.

It doesn’t have to be numbers on a scale.

It doesn’t have to be your measurements.

It might be a pair of pants you haven’t fit into in years or a pair you’re in now that are your “fat pants.” (And as an aside, if you’ve been keeping those “fat pants” as a security blanket, I highly recomend you take them to the nearest Goodwill right now. You can DO this and make it stick. We’re all in this together, and I believe in you. Yes, even if I don’t know you, I know you can accomplish this if you want it.)

In my case, I sincerely wish I’d written down all my health problems in one place so that I had a handy reference to check off as each one disappeared (and they pretty much all melted way — even the big, chronic stuff like asthma), but I do know I topped the scales at 163 lbs., which is actually 54-55 lbs. over what I now weigh and dropped maybe 6 dress sizes along the way.

If you haven’t done so yet, I strongly urge you to create a benchmark somewhere RIGHT NOW to track how you’re doing. You don’t necessarily need to check in every day or week, but once a month is a good minimum amount to check in. This is a habit I am now in, and it always serves me well. (My own current goal is all about my fitness level and getting my legs in better shape. I lift a 24-lb. weight aka my son all the time :) so my upper body stays trim and toned, but I have to work to keep my lower body fit to match.)

Have I forgotten any good options here of how to track your progress? Let me know!