Tips for Staying on Track with Exercise

Overall, I enjoy physical activity but I am also like everyone else and sometimes, do not feel like exercising. My mental health is so much better if I get regular physical activity making it something that is very important to me. I feel great when I get some movement in and it gives me more energy through the day which is very important since I have 2 young kids and work from home. This winter has been a cold one and I have mostly relied on exercising on my treadmill which has gone okay but I am ready to amp up my workouts a bit.

I wanted to share some of my tips for staying on track with exercise that work for me!

1. Have a workout buddy

I love going on walks with my mom, sister or husband and of course the kids! Adalyn has gotten really good at walking so her and I will take walks often or she will help me workout such as counting how many crunches I've done or doing jumping jacks with me. It always motivates me to have a fitness partner instead of exercising on my own. Find someone who loves exercise and will help motivate you to stay on track.

2. Write it down

My dad has inspired me to write my workouts down. It all started a little over a year ago when he had a hospital stay that motivated him to exercise every single day. He started writing everything down that he did to see his progress and to make sure that he was getting enough exercise and stay motivated. We just celebrated 1 year of him exercising every day and he is still going strong. In fact, he sends me his workouts every single month for accountability.


I am so excited to have this awesome 12 Week Fitness Journal: The Ultimate Planner and Daily Tracker to Meet Your Fitness Goals to help me stay on track with exercise. I am great with getting a lot of walking in but always am struggling with getting enough weight lifting and high-intensity workouts in. I have been enjoying my new journal to keep me on track with exercise.


In the journal, you can put your own personal stats, your workouts, track your diet and if you are interested in losing weight, you can write down your weight loss goals. The journal is beautifully but simply designed making it easily usable and practical. For each weekly plan, there is a page that says "Week __ Fitness Plan" which allows you to fill out sections for strength, cardio and class/other. This is helpful to me so I make sure that I'm doing some strength training.


There is also a place for meal planning so that you can write down what you ate. There are more in detail pages with information with how much water you drank, hours of sleep, ratings of how closely you met your goals that day. I have no recommendations for how to improve this journal because it included everything that you could possibly need. This journal is for the person who needs a little help staying on track for exercise or for the Type-A planner who likes to plan their workouts and then record what they did.

You can purchase the 12 Week Fitness Journal on Amazon.

3. Schedule your workouts

I once read a tip to schedule your workouts just like you would a doctor's appointment in your phone or on your calendar. This makes your exercise non-negotiable. I try to exercise most mornings first thing when I wake up before my kids are even up. This is my routine daily and it helps me to stay on tracking knowing what to expect each day.

4. Walk everywhere you can

We are super lucky to live in a walk-able town where we can walk to the grocery store, for coffee, out to ice cream, etc. I also am part of some awesome Mom's swap groups on Facebook where I buy and sell items to and from people in my own city. When an item is less than a mile and a half away or so, I walk to pick it up. 

When you get used to walking everywhere it won't even seem like a big deal. This is a great way to save money on gas and it is built-in exercise. My parents live 1/2 mile away so my husband and I have a rule for ourselves that we can only drive if it's raining or snowing hard. This helps us to stay on track with getting regular movement in on most days.

5. Exercise first thing in the morning

For me, if I skip my morning exercise, I often have a hard time fitting it in later in the day. Life gets busy. The kids need me, I have to cook and clean, we have activities planned, I have to work, etc. Exercising first thing in the morning helps you skip the excuses and get it done before the day gets away from you.