Research has shown that people who track their progress on goals like losing weight are all more likely to improve than those who don’t. One study of more than 1600 people showed that those who kept a daily food log lost twice as much weight as those who did not. The mere act of tracking a behaviour can spark the urge to change it. Habit tracking also keeps you honest, the fact of the matter is we tend to have a distorted view of our own behaviours. We think we act better than we do.
Measurement offers one way to overcome the blindness of our behaviour and create better awareness around what we do.
Habit tracking is attractive, and the most effective form of motivation is progress.
When we get a signal that we are moving forward we become more motivated to continue down that path. In this way, tracking can have an addictive effect on motivation. Each small win feeds your desire. This is particularly effective on a bad day as tracking provides visual feedback about how far you’ve come and reminds you of the progress you’ve made whilst keeping your eye on the ball.
If I told you to drive to a location three hours with no directions or using a map it would probably take you double the time, right? So why treat your fat loss goal any different. Tracking your nutrition, steps, and daily activity is a map to make sure you’re on the right path to your goal. Stop the guesswork and you’ll get to your goals a lot quicker.
Dave Marsh
@coachdavemarsh
