Motivation Monday: Track Your Progress

First off, for those of you who do not know me in person or stay up-to-date on social media, I have an announcement.

I'm engaged!

Yes, that tidbit of information deserves a post of its own, and in all honesty I haven't posted about anything else because I felt as though a future marriage announcement deserved a presence on my blog first. I've been meaning to write a post on the subject, but time keeps flying by, and—hey—I've been busy. But don't worry; if you want all the details, I'll share those here soon.

Now on to Motivation Monday.

In January I implemented "simplicity" as the theme for the month. I can't believe January is over, but I've been thinking A LOT about what I want to focus on for February. I kinda categorize January as "Before He Proposed" and "After He Proposed," and I feel that the short phrase I've selected will help me tackle all of my goals/focus from both before and after.

"The most important key in finding success is tracking your progress."

I've kept it simple (inspired by January's theme) to allow it to apply to a variety of topics. I've found that I feel more on top of things anytime I'm really good at tracking things. Throughout February I'm going to focus on tracking the following:

• Calories Burned 
• I want to make use of my Polar FT4 heart rate monitor and keep track of the calories I burn in all of my classes as well as my additional exercise endeavors.
• Calories Eaten
• After I have the calories burned accounted for, I want to make sure my body gets back the calories it needs. I rarely eat enough on a day to day basis, so I want to focus on feeding my body properly to give it the nutrients and energy needed to operate in the best way possible every day.
• Fruits and Veggies 
• Also connected to the various two points, I want to increase the presence of fruits and veggies in my diet. Yes, I eat these pretty regularly, but I was inspired to track it via the Gym Pact app I've mentioned before. The company added a new pact for eating a certain number of fruits and veggies each week. I'm trying it this week...I set my pact for 7 this week since I wasn't sure how it worked. I got credit for 5 today (which I learned is the max). I think next week I'll do 25 or 30.  (Side note: The company also added a pact to track your calories eaten through MyFitnessPal. I've done that before and may do it too since I'm trying to get enough calories anyways. We'll see.
• Following Budgets
• I've been focusing on organizing my finances for a while, so I want to focus on incorporating and following the budgets I've set. I want to challenge myself to only spend a certain amount of money each month on food, entertainment, etc. I'll be doing the same thing as my fiance and I plan our wedding. I want to operate having a clear outlook and what I have available and making the most of what's available.
• Scripture/Gospel Study
• How about I put together a little schedule that actually gives me some direction in my study? Yea, that's a good idea.
• Cleaning Schedule
• Yea, because otherwise I put off EVERYTHING.
• Wedding Planning Calendar
• My fiance and I are both very organized about this and currently have several shared Google Docs and Calendars outline what needs to be done and when and by whom. We are definitely going to have to be moving forward on lots of things this month. Tracking is key.

Those are just a few aspects of my life that are on my mind that will help me feel oh so much better about my outlook on everything on my plate. 

If you want to track your progress on something/anything, let me know so we can support each other!