The interweb is full of countless blogs and articles on happiness and productivity. Are we actually getting more done or just just reading more about it?

That’s why I like this post from the enviously-named Mr Wang: it’s about taking action, a major stumbling point for SmarterFitter wannabes. Mr. Wang’s method of goal-writing is designed so that you not only fine-tune what your goals are, but “program” your brain to achieve those goals.

The idea is: spend 15 minutes a day, every day, writing down your goals, stream of thought style. Through repetition, the goals that matter most will become ingrained into your subconscious mind and as a result, you will be more apt to take action to achieving those goals.

He takes a karmic approach to goal setting. That is, once you’ve convinced yourself that want something, life will work out a way to make that something happen for you. This is a little new agey for my tastes, but then again, if setting goals is all about having dreams, why not live in the clouds?

Link (via Lifehacker)

A sure fire way to succeed at anything is to track your progress. The Seinfeldian Chain is great because it simplifies this process to a single click of the mouse. But some goals are more complicated, especially those related to diet and fitness.

fitSugar has a post on counting calories, and hoards of commenters have posted their favorite calorie tracking websites. sparkpeople is a favorite, as is fit-day. it’s interesting to read what people like about the software:

I LOVE SparkPeople for their calorie-tracking journal and customized meal plans. They also create strength training plans and have a large support system.

Try www.fitday.com. It’s free and easy to use. You can choose the foods you eat from a data bank, or enter your own custom foods. It also tracks your nutrition, exercise, and weight loss goals. Did I mention it’s FREE?! I’ve been using it for about a year and a half and I love it.

I used to use fitday.com, but I recently found my-calorie-counter.com and I like it better. Its very similar, but it separates your food into meals and saves your favorite meal choices, so its easy to re-enter things that you eat on a daily basis. Oh, and the best part it that is also FREE!!!

http://www.dietfacts.com It has all the restaurants on here you could think of!

thedailyplate.com is such a great site for tracking- it has the nutritional info for SO many foods, even generic grocery store items, and you can easily manipulate the serving size to fit what you actually consumed…It’s been great for me just to see what kind of variety I am (or am not) getting.

It’s also interesting to read the challenges:

I used fitday.com for just a few months and lost several pounds. The only thing that is difficult is if you’re eating out at restaurants for a lot of meals, it is difficult to keep track of everything you are eating. I found that calorie-counting kept me eating at home a lot, which is good for the pocketbook too I guess.

I don’t know how to do this because I don’t know portion sizes.

What about you? Do you track your progress? If so, how? What motivates you to keep it up? And what keeps you down?

Link

So say the results of a recent survey by the British Heart Foundation. The survey also shows that

• One in seven (15%) Brits would exercise more if the weather was better.




• While 8% of women said that doing vigorous housework was their favourite form of exercise, only 1% of men agreed.




• 17% of women said their main reason for exercising was to keep their figure but only 7% of men said their shape was their main motivator.




• Men were more concerned about their heart health, with 13% saying it was their main reason for exercising. Only 7% of women saw heart health as a major motivator.

Unsurprisingly, people see exercise as, well, exercise, a word which by definition implies exertion – a task which many of us find to be a chore. And what fun are chores?

Here’s my question: Is it possible to be active without “exercise”? That is, can we eliminate the need for exercise by simply being active in the way we live life? Or does the desk-lunch, fast-car society necessitate exercise?

I’ve been working on this in my own personal life: I started by buying a bike, then I quit the gym. Now I cycle and walk as much as possible, but I still don’t feel like this adequately compensates for the 8 hours a day I spend sitting in an office chair. So I swim in the mornings. And while I do it because I like it, it still sometimes feels like exercise. I can’t always detatch myself from the feeling that I need to swim to compensate for my inactive job, rather than I want to swim because I genuinely enjoy it. After all, swimming is fun.

What about your exercise? Are you having fun yet?
Link (via diet-blog)