There is no shortage of apps, websites, and planners out there designed to help you form and stick to healthy habits. All of those are great, but we want to caution you against trying to make too many changes at the same time. No amount of willpower is going to take you "from zero to hero" in a month, no matter what habit tracker you download or buy.
This is why we preach consistency over everything else for the month of January and for anyone starting (or re-starting) their fitness journey. Focus on showing up consistently. Lay that foundation of non-negotiable basics and commit to hitting as many of them as you can, every day.
Isn't making good choices hard enough without self-sabotage?
We have put together a downloadable weekly habit tracker you can print and complete yourself. Our habit tracker focuses on the things that are most important: sleep, water, steps, and training. Regardless of what your goal is—lose weight, increase strength, improve cardio health, etc.—reaching that goal will be oh-so-much easier if you are getting consistent and adequate sleep, water, steps, and training. And isn't making good choices hard enough without self-sabotage?
Working on your health should not involve you white-knuckling through anything for one massive reason: it is not sustainable.
Think of it this way... Yes, you can make improvements to your health while neglecting your sleep, for example, but it will take longer to meet your goal and it will be more difficult for you the entire time. Working on your health should not involve you white-knuckling through anything for one massive reason: it is not sustainable.
If you want to follow through on your commitment and see results, you are going to need to automate and make habits of simply executing the basics consistently. Worrying about the best exercises doesn't do anything if you're hitting the gym only once a week. Doing two workouts a day won't get you where you want faster if your sleep is a mess; you're just going to burn out, injure yourself, overeat, and give up.
Ready to start building some basic healthy habits? Click below to download the Habit Tracker PDF.
How to Use the Tracker
For sleep, shade in the amount of hours you got the night before. Your goal should be 7 to 9 hours each night. You can read more about sleep in our Sober October series.
For water, shade in a glass each time you drink 8 oz of water (a glass). We recommend drinking a glass of water first thing when you wake up (even before coffee!).
For steps, shade in a square for every 2,500 steps you get, with a goal of getting at least 10,000 (all four squares). Remember: Your steps are not meant to replace workouts. You can read more about making walking a habit in our Sober October series.
For train, shade in the training you did today: dumbbell for weight training, heart for cardio, and stretching figure for....stretching. You can do all three in a day or just one, but you want a healthy mix throughout the week without neglecting any one training area. Need a stretch routine to follow? We took care of that in our Sober October series, too (there's even videos you can follow along with!).
When the week is over, take a look at how you did and give yourself a score, or write in the average you hit for the week. Aim for improving your scores or averages week over week. Marvel at how amazing you feel after a month of improvement!
Let us know how you're doing! Take photos of yourself building consistent habits or show us your completed tracker! Tag us on your Facebook and Instagram posts: @momentumfitorg