So I googled fitness planner and this came up in the shopping section.
The search took me to an ebay item listing, which had this video, showing page by page how the book is set up and can be used:
I would totally buy this if I thought I could stick to any kind of 12 week plan, but lets face it, I'm not the most motivated, unless the sun is shining in which case let me get out there and run like duck trying to take flight... ahem anyway, this looks really good! Just not quite right for me. And I need a 2 week plan not 12, so that's a waste of 10 weeks of pages.
It did however remind me that I've printed out a couple annual planners (showing every single day of the year in one view) and at least one of those was intended for fitness tracking. Did I use it? Hell no.
So I got to thinking about what my fitness goals consist of, splitting them into 3 areas and them breaking each area down to specific goals to put in the first column of the insert:
1. Physical measurements - size, weight, body fat
2. Exercise/strength - reps, weights, distance and time
3. Nutrition - increase the good, decrease the bad
I could have kept the planner blank - and I've left some blank spaces, but I went ahead and filled them in, as it's always neater in ink and scruffy planning is always a FAIL!
The next column is for setting out a. how long the plan is for, for the sake of continuity I chose 12 weeks and b. what the target figure is for each specific goal - some things are decreasing, such as measurements, which I've indicated by drawing a down arrow, I need to do some activities for more reps/distance in less time, and for nutrition, some things i need to have more of and more often, others less and less often. Pretty simple really.
There's then a week 0 column indicating the figures for each goal before starting, followed by 12 week columns to keep track of progress at the end of each week. You can put the week beginning/ending date in each column too, as well as scribble down issues effecting the results, such as "ill" "snow" "period" etc. I haven't left much space - excuses are inexcusable!!
At the bottom of each column there is a section for recording motivational level, you could use words, arrows, stickers or a rating - I've decided to just draw little faces.
Beneath the table there's a a section for writing your "goal motivation" - in this case I've a dress I need to fit into to wear at a friend's wedding, and I'm annoyed at my poor health and fitness in general. I should have written this bigger, in colour and more dramatically for it to motivate me more, rather than the lame blue biro I did used. Next time?
Also in this section for this 12 week plan, I've handwritten a section under the motivational level row for "aim to better" goals. That is, which goal am I focusing on in wk 1, in wk 2, etc. There's space for at least 36 goals and if you think you're going to improve every single one each week, you're deluded. Well maybe you're superhuman, but I'm not and my main focus is to fit my belly into this outfit so they will be the focus for the next 2 weeks. I'll probably make this a permanent addition to the table in the distance future (I have four 12 week plans good to go - that's a year of fitness ready and waiting!
Next to the goal motivational box, is a notes box - I'll change this to a reward box in the distance future, because you have to reward yourself for doing well. I'd avoid the usuals like icecream, night out etc, unless you really do swear off them for the next 12 weeks. My motivation is material - a new designer watch. This not only motivates me to work out, but also motivates me to save (unless I find a cheaper alternative in which case I'll switch my reward).
And here's a snapshot of how it looks:
Please note, it's only pink because that's all the ink I have at the moment - although having the main insert template such a popping colour really adds some interest to my planner and, even for someone who isn't a fan of magenta/hot pink, it's quite motivational in a way.
You can just use this as a standard folded insert - if you fold down the column edge between weeks 4 and 5 it'll fit your personal sized planner great. Or, like me, you can use this as a z-folded insert, with the second fold between weeks 8 and 9. The table is designed so that when the z-fold isn't open, week 9 sits beside the start column, giving immediate comparison. Also this is a double sided insert, so you can start a new plan just over the page on week 13 (or start afresh when you abort the first one midway!)
Would you like to print this out yourself? Go for it by clicking here. You can edit it as you please, print it as landscape document double sided along the short edge. If you only want one sided and want something else on the back, you can always replace page 2 of the template document or just delete it.
I've filled in my exercise and nutrition figures, just need to take my measurements and I'm good to go! I'll show you how (when I decide how) I use this in conjunction with the pull out year planner later. In the meantime, I hope this has inspired you to get moving, eating or just living better. Check out the fitlosophy website for their products, or their look inside/visual demo and please leave your thoughts on the fitbook and my fitness goal planner below!
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