Anyone doing this? If so, how? Do you do it old-school with pen & paper, using a printable or using an app? If you use an app and like it - which one? What are you tracking? I've just quit WeightWatchers ... cuz it's expensive ... and you know how it goes: gaining weight by the minute here! I want some kind of tracking thing to help me from eating at night, eating more fruit (instead of snacks, cookies & candy) and maybe my water intake. And yes I know, I shouldn't buy stuff I shouldn't eat, but the weird thing is - as long as I'm counting my points, I can have all sorts of stuff at home (I like buying when it's cheap and store for future "needs") and not eat it. But it's like when I'm not responsible to that WW App ... I totally lose control. There gotta be a way to motivate me, without having to pay 249 Swedish Krona (about US$29) every month! Any ideas are welcome! <3
I just have an accountability partner. My issue is I'm ex-anorexic, and when I get really stressed or depressed I can stop eating. So I have someone who checks in on me when she knows my self esteem is low or I'm having a hard time. She checks to ensure I've had breakfast etc.
Must be GOLD to have a friend like that. And very good of you to fight the demons in your head telling you not to eat. The brain is not always our friend. <3
I have a wellness/fitness planner that I record my weight, my steps, and my thoughts in each day. I also track 3 habits right now: sleep (number of hours), no eating after 8pm (yes or no), and no sweets (yes or no). I use checklist boxes and check off the days I do. Here is one of my spreads before I filled it in.
Are that printed or do you decorate each week with stickers & so on? I've tried bullet journaling, and it's fun the first week, then it turns into a shore. Maybe if I make 1 weekly paper & and then use that every week, it would work? But having to do a new spread every week wasn't my thing.
We watched Shark Tank last night and there was a guy pitching a device that hopefully broke bad habits. It was like a watch and you can set it to mildly shock you every time you think/do the habit you want to stop. It was hilarious - all the Sharks were fighting with him and each other and it turned into quite a fiasco. We were laughing because we'd never seen anything like the way they were acting. It IS based on scientific study, however, and was interesting to me. In the end, Mr. Wonderful ( Kevin O'Leery) made him an offer and the guy turned it down because he didn't like Kevin. Kevin literally yelled at him and it got ugly. I just had to bring this up, Eve, @tanteva it seemed so similar to what you're referring to. I don't even know if there's such a thing on the market, but it was a funny show. Personally, I think it has potential. I have a couple of habits that I'd like to break myself of!
Maybe I should just get a timer and make the fridge and the pantry giving electric shocks after 9 pm? LOL
Our healthcare insurance company provides access to an app called Lark. It's a new program, so I've just now ordered my devices. I'll be able to manage my type 2 diabetes, as well as weight loss, sleep schedule, and overall stress. https://www.lark.com/
MyFitnessPal is a free app that you can use to track food, steps, work outs, etc... I use it to track my macros and make sure I'm eating a balance of proteins, fats and carbs. I like watching my macros it really helps me eat more balanced and then if I want to indulge in something I can make sure the rest of my day I eat to balance that out.
I haven't used it yet, but I Track Bites is an app that some people use to count points after they give up their WW subscription. I've found that different things work for me at different times. I alternate between paper and a calorie tracking app depending on my time and motivation. When I'm really committed to tracking and will make time, I use a calorie counting app. I've got a lot of meals saved so that it's not too time consuming to enter foods. But when my time and motivation are lower (like they are right now) I need to switch to paper. I make a tracker for myself and print out a bunch of copies. When all that's required of me are a check mark or an x or something, it's easier to do it throughout the day. (I get busy and put off tracking, then by late afternoon when I have time I can't remember everything and can justify starting over the next day.)
Yeah, I think I need easier right now. Just a "check" - no counting & weighing & measuring. I've tried to find an app, so that I can have it with me at all time. Would be easier. But haven't found anyone that's free that looks good, that doesn't have restrictions (i.e. you need to pay for full function). I can't pay for an app right now, just quit WW to save money, and I'm already paying for my meditation app (which I totally NEED for my own sanity's sake!). Guess I'll just make a simple tracker & print. Maybe I can get something later if I feel I need it. Right now I just need to stop eating too much at night and get more fruit.
Maybe make a rule that you can eat at night, but only fruit??? I like snacking on apple slices at night ... sweet and crunchy.
The boxes are pre-printed. I decorate because I love to play with stickers. Certainly, having one made up and laminated for re-use could work. Or if you want a history (I like that), you could create one and print it each week. I like the disc planners because it is easy to add my own pages. However, even a simple notebook binder would work.
Oh me too on the snacking for no reason at night!!! That is why one of my habits is No food after 8pm. Even if I get hungry after then, even the stomach growling hunger, I just ignore it because it means I will wake up hungry and want breakfast. Be okay with a hunger is a good thing because although the body is concerned, I know I will have food available in the morning. Just FYI - I'm about 75% effective in achieving this goal, but that is why it is a goal. Builds self-control too! I find that distracting myself with a project or craft or a really good book gets me through the hunger - even a long walk works!
I've set the rule to eat ONCE in the evening. I tend to stay up late (Netflix might get scared if she has to be up alone ) and just get something to eat ... not cuz I'm hungry, but cuz I end up in the kitchen. I made a simple checklist where I mark 5 glasses of water & habits I want to do, i.e. eat lunch, eat at least 2 fruits a day, eat only once in the evening, read & make some sort of social contact every day. Just made a simple paper to print, and I'll use that this week and see how it feels. Been working fine Monday & Tuesday, but tomorrow I'm working. Right now I'm not going to limit what I eat, just how often. We'll see how that works.
We have an app through work for tracking healthy habits and we can earn $100 per quarter for doing all the things. I pair that with MyFitnessPal for tracking what I eat.
For an app, I use To-Doist. It's web and app, so I can set it up on the computer where I type better, and then check off on my phone. Now, it's not a habit tracker necessarily since it's intended as todo list, but I can make recurring things that pop up everyday and I have to check off that I did them. My husband likes HabitHub. I just downloaded it to check out. It's free for 5 habits, and premium is a one time fee (I love that!) for unlimited habits. I don't have much feedback on it yet, but I know my husband has really liked it. If you are looking the pen and paper route, (I know they aren't free, but pre printed is awesome!) This one says 2019, but there's nothing that really makes it only 2019:
Thanks. I'll look into all apps suggested. I really like that 2019 tracker though. I might just get that for 2022. Guess I could start now and call this week 1, but it might be really confusing since this is week 35. (Not sure if week numbers are used as much in other countries? Here in Sweden, everytime someone wants to plan anything, the question goes: "How about Thursday week 35?", not "How about September 2nd?") Or I could get that one, and start on week 36, and then just roll over to week 1 in January. I think it could be really beautiful if you use different colors to fill it in, just randomly. I don't mind paying if it's a one time fee, I just don't want to pay too much (since I'm probably gonna fail miserably in a couple of weeks LOL) or sign up for some monthly payments.
That's really cool! The only place I use weeks is Project Life. Nothing else goes by weeks here in the US that I've dealt with. Just month/day. Also, you could totally use it to finish out 2021, and then print a new one for 2022 and start at week 1. That way you could play with colors and see how it works best for you and start with a fresh one in 2022! In the US, it was showing as $5.99 for the full premium Habit tracker. IDK what that would be for you. For me, that's an okay price for an app because it's pretty useful and $6 is within my tolerance for wasted products. I don't know if that makes any sense. Like, if I use it for a month or 3 and then don't, I'll feel I got $6 out of it so I'm okay with that. The unlocked feature let me set an alarm so it reminded me to take my meds this morning at 8am, and I could click the "done" button and move on. I totally get you about not wanting to pay a ton for an app to die on my phone! I hate subs for apps too.
