In Week #6 of your 2020 “8 Weeks to a Better You” fitness challenge, LMQC bloggers Jeni Tackett and Cody Lichthardt, Rock Valley Physical Therapy, challenge you to be honest with yourself about your habits and your progress.

Take an objective look at your eating habits:

Jeni Tackett: Here are 4 questions you must take an honest look at. They are key to your success!

• Are you eating too much in the evening?
• Do you eat mindlessly from bags or boxes?
• Do you eat healthy during the week but splurge too much on the weekend?
• Does alcohol sabotage your healthy diet changes?

How can you work to change those behaviors that will make the most difference?

Cody Lichthardt: As Jeni mentioned, being honest with yourself is a must when making changes in your lifestyle. Try to think of your health as a journey that everyone can achieve, but that there can be setbacks and barriers along the way.

• Are you sitting too much in your day?
• Does your sitting sabotage your energy to do other things?
• Do you have the tools to help you be active?
• Do you have an activity goal?
• Do you exercise too hard, too fast and then quit?
• Do you have the confidence to do active tasks or exercises?

Learn from what is hard for you by being honest with yourself. Use what you learn as a guide to find ways to improve your activity level.

Record your food and activity level accurately:

Jeni: Food journaling is a great way to be accountable with your diet throughout the day, but you must log everything you eat to be accurate. Try apps such as MyFitnessPal or Spark People.

Make sure you choose the foods you actually eat, rather than the options with the lowest calories!

Also, watch out for common pitfalls, such as logging everything but dinner, the meal when it’s most difficult to control portions.

And don’t skip logging your weekend meals. That’s when most people splurge, and need to log more than ever!

Keeping a food journal that is not accurate will get you nowhere. The tools available to us are only valuable when we use them honestly!

Cody: Tracking your physical activity, or steps, has become increasingly popular with Fitbits, Smartphones, and Smart watches. They are great motivators!

Unlike food journaling, step trackers take the guesswork out of recording your steps, as long as you remember to turn them on, charge them, and wear them!

If do use step trackers to record your activity, though, you need to find an accurate way to assess your progress.

You can log your exercise right along with your nutrition using Apps like MyfitnessPal. It even shows calories burned.

This can be a great tool to see if you are creating a calorie deficit to obtain weight loss. Just be sure you enter accurate information.

Also, trackers don’t record strengthening and flexibility exercises. They don’t note whether your step count is simply from lifestyle activity or structured physical exercise.

So set clear fitness goals for increased strength, flexibility and endurance, and choose exercises and activities to support them.

Log the information accurately, so you can use it to monitor your progress.

If you find yourself stuck in a weight loss plateau, you can review your program to modify your approach. You might switch up your routine by adding another 10-15 minute workout twice a week, for example. Or you might add 5 more minutes to your workout every day. Or you might try a different workout entirely.

Use your log to fine-tune your exercise intentions. It will lead to better results!

Meet Jeni Tackett, Let’s Move Quad Cities Nutrition Blogger. Jeni is a registered and licensed dietitian for Rock Valley Health. Jeni counsels her clients on weight loss and nutrition. You can read Jeni’s bio and other blog posts by clicking here.

Aryn Lloyd and Cody Lichthardt are personal trainers at Rock Valley Health. You can read their bios and other blog posts by clicking here.