When you are ready to change a habit, it is easiest to see how you are doing if you track your progress. If you set a goal of going to they gym four times a week, writing down the days that you go will help you to appreciate your efforts when you are doing what you planned, and motivate you to go one more time if you have not yet met your goal for the week.
Two iPhone apps that help:
MyFitnessPal allows you to record your exercise, water intake, and food that you’ve eaten. It calculates how many calories you have burned in exercise compared to how many calories you have eaten. Although weight loss is not a simple math equation, it can help you become more aware of what you are doing. The library of food choices is excellent. I was able to type in Key Lime Larabar and Happy Planet Thai Coconut Soup, and found that another user had already entered the calories, protein grams and vitamin percentages. There is a social component if you choose to use it, to allow you to add friends or strangers to cheer you on as you develop new habits.
Diet & Food Tracker by SparkPeople allows you to do similar logging, but doesn’t have quite as good a library of food choices. They have a large group of contributors to their main SparkPeople website, with lots of inspiring ideas.
The apps are also available for Android phones and Blackberry. You can also use just your computer to track your progress and connect with other people.
Have you used either of these? If so, what is your experience with them?