Tracking Your Moods & Energy Levels

When going through a diet/exercise program tracking various data is important.

Like the old saying goes, “Knowledge is power.” You track things like your workouts, your diet, your water intake, your inches, and your weight… All of these allow both me and the client a wealth of information to draw from in deciding how to achieve our set goals.

Two often overlooked and very important variables to track are your moods and energy levels.

Your moods have an incredible impact on your ability to stick to a diet, and maintain an exercise routine. Your mood has an equally incredible impact on your energy levels. Think about it… Have you ever been really stressed, or sad, and been just busting with energy? Probably not. In turn, if you found a $100 bill on the street one morning, odds are you’re not going to be dragging yourself through the rest of that day.

A positive or negative mood could mean the difference between going to the gym or not.

At the end of a long stressful day many people find that working out is a great release, and a way to clear their mind so that they may enjoy the rest of the night without being bogged down by the day that is now over and behind them.

However…

Sometimes there are days that are just so bad that you can’t even fathom dragging yourself into the gym. There are nights you’re driving home from work, and just don’t have the energy after the rough day you had to cook that healthy meal you were supposed to, so you swing through a drive thru.

Your moods can either be the spit in your face, or the wind at your back. This is why it’s important to take note each day in your diet log as to what your mood was like, or your day at work, as well as your energy levels. You’ll find more often than not that your moods and energy levels will usually coincide with one another. The better your mood, the more energy… The worse your mood or higher stress levels, the less energy.

By tracking this information we can find trends in days that were harder either in training, diet, or both. This also gives you a unique insight into yourself, and your own world. If you notice a trend in stress, or unhappiness you would do well to take pause, examine what it is in your life causing it, and take action against it. Because diet/exercise aside, you deserve to be a happy person and enjoy each day of your life.

It’s all a matter of pushing through the tough days to gain momentum, and then maintain it. One thing my parents taught me was that the days you want to work out the least, or just want to skip it, are the days that matter the most. By doing anyway, by passing up on the drive thru, in SPITE of the crap life has thrown at you for the day is your way of spitting in the face of the negativity. It’s you showing life that you are in control of yourself, and will not let other people’s actions, or circumstances sway you from your personal goals at happiness.

If you can hang in there through the rough days you’ll get closer to your goal that much sooner, thus making you a happier person! You’re paying the price, and investing in your future happiness.

If you diet clean, and maintain a steady exercise regimen your mood will more often than not be a good one, and you’ll find you have more energy. This is why diet and exercise is more often than not, suggested for those battling depression.

So if this isn’t a habit you currently practice, I highly suggest it.

For those of my clients using the My Fitness Pal program, a good place to track these would be in your food notes. Then I’ll be able to see them. 

My Fitness Pal: Calories Aren't Everything

Many of my clients have been using the MyFitnessPal.com website to track their nutrition intake, and have all fallen in love with it.

The program is a fantastic and convenient way to track your food, especially if you are able to utilize the App that syncs with the site. It has lead to clients of mine tracking their food more religiously than ever.

The program however puts a lot of emphasis on your daily calorie intake. While this is important to track and be aware of, it is not the sole gauge for how you should lose weight. Weight loss is much more involved than simple calories in, and calories out. The program is a great tracking tool, but it’s still important that I set your limits/goals regarding calories, protein, carbs etc.

As your trainer I know you better than the program does. I know your routine, your sleep patterns, and your energy output in a week. It’s not to say you can’t lose weight by simply creating a calorie deficit in your diet, but more often than not that leads to you shedding as much muscle as you do fat. You may get smaller/lighter, but your shape and tone will stay the same. You also won’t be retraining your metabolism to work on a higher level, in fact it may even slow it down leaving you fighting a constant uphill battle to keep your weight down.

There are ways in the settings of the program to change your calorie limits, as well as your other nutritional goals to be more specific to your personal needs. I will sit down with you and help set that up. These numbers will also change as you progress as well, and will need more adjusting as we go along.

Another great feature of this program is that you can “Friend Request” me, giving me viewing access to your log at any time. To do so just follow these steps…

1.      Go to “Settings" and choose "Diary Settings". Choose - Friends only.

2.      On your home page click on the COMMUNITY tab.

3.      Click on “Find Members”

4.      In the USERNAME box type: T3_Fitness

5.      Send the request

Once I accept the request I’ll have viewing access to your log, and will be able to see what you’re eating each day, if you’re being consistent with your entries it will allow me the ability to offer nutritional guidance between sessions if necessary garnering you better results more efficiently. 

My Fitness Pal App

Having just recently taken a big step forward in the cellular world, I have recently been introduced to the world of “APPS”.  I have investigated some diet log apps and have been using one I thought might be helpful to those who follow this blog, as well as my current clients.

It’s called “My Fitness Pal”.

It has a conjoining website found at: http://www.myfitnesspal.com

This app allows you to track your food easily from your phone. It shows your daily allowance of calories and other nutrients based on your goals, activity levels, as well as your workouts. As you enter your food, and exercise, it automatically deducts from your daily allowances.

 For example it will show you how many calories you are allowed that day to stay within your diet limits, and that number will decrease as you go along entering your meals.

 While I may set different caloric/carb/protein guidelines than the program might, the tracking system is very thorough, and it’s food database is very large. It’s a very reliable, and consistent gauge. It gives me all the information I would need to guide a client, or even my own dieting.

You can enter all of your food/exercise info on your phone, and view/print reports from the conjoining website.

Tracking your food and exercise is an essential practice in maximizing your health and fitness goals. How you do it is all completely your preference. I have some clients who track it in a book, in a spreadsheet, or on their phone.

You want to find a method that is convenient for you, so it does not become one more chore for you to have to worry about in your day. 

Communication

Communication between a client and their trainer is essential to maximizing results from their training sessions...

• HONESTY: Honesty is above all else is most important and crucial to the process. If you faltered from your diet/supplements in any way, or missed a workout you were to do on your own, it's incredibly important to be honest, and tell me.This allows me to adjust your diet/exercise accordingly as well as give me the background on why you may or may not be achieving the results we are striving for.

• TRACKING DIET/SUPPLEMENTATION: Accurately tracking your diet/supplementation, as well as your at home workouts on your own, is very important data for me to use in determining your workout/diet regimen. Keeping your log up to date, and having it ready to present at every training session keeps me current on your status.

• TRAVEL PLANS / SESSIONS MISSED: Keep me apprised as to any potential travel plans you may have, or days you anticipate missing a session, so that we can take that into account when determining a time frame to reach our goals from assessment to assessment.

• PAIN, HEALTH CONDITIONS, DIFFICULTY: These three are important. If you are stiff somewhere from sleeping funny, overly sore from a previous workout, feel like you might have strained something, or feel that something we are doing is either too intense, or not intense enough... it's important that you let me know.

• VENTING: I sort of play therapist to many of my clients, as I hear about their personal lives, and work situations with most every session. Sort of goes with the territory. This is good though for several reasons! First off, it's a release for you to let it all out and talk about things that might be stressing you, and hopefully you'll feel a little better afterwards. I'm always happy to listen :) Second, this gives me an idea of what your daily routine is like, your stress levels, and other obstacles you face that can play a part in achieving maximum results.

I feel that generally speaking my clients are pretty good about all of these. But I just like to re-iterate this due to it's level of importance.You won't be doing yourself any favors by not providing me the most accurate information possible. The more data I have on you the better I can make sure that we are on the right track, and maximize the efficiency of your efforts. So don't be afraid to speak up! I don't bite, and I don't hit! 

I promise :)