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Which fitness journals are best?
When you’re starting a health and fitness journey, there are many things to keep track of, including your goals, the challenges you face and changes in plans and behaviors. That’s where a fitness journal comes into play. Fitness journals can help you track your progress when it comes to nutrition, exercise, goals and more.
The Fitlosophy Fitbook is a comprehensive choice with space for workout, diet and calorie notations.
What to know before you buy a fitness journal
Your fitness goals
Many different types of people can benefit from using a fitness journal, including people in rehabilitation, people who want to gain or lose weight and competitors, like professional athletes, marathon runners and bodybuilders. After going through major surgery, people in rehab can use fitness journals to set goals with their physical therapists and doctors and track their weekly progress. People who want to lose or gain weight can use fitness journals to track their behaviors and mindset around their relationship with fitness. Competitors can track any changes that affect their progress in preparation for competition day.
What fitness journals track
Fitness journals can help you track a number of different health-related things, including your health and fitness goals, your thoughts, your exercise and your food. Goal tracking is typically the most crucial part of a fitness journal, because it helps motivate you to continue on your health and fitness journey and work toward something. Many fitness journals also have space for regular weekly or daily reflections, and most fitness journals have space to track your exercise and food.
Staying committed
Many people struggle with filling out their fitness journals on a daily basis. It’s important to stay committed to regularly logging information in your fitness journal by setting a daily timer as a reminder on your smartphone. You can set this daily reminder early in the morning to help you log all the information before you get caught up in your to-do list for the day, or set your reminder for the evening and use fitness journaling as a way to wind down.
What to look for in a quality fitness journal
Layout
Some fitness journals include dedicated writing boxes and space to write out your thoughts around fitness, exercise, food and your overall health, and some journals include tables, charts, grids and graphs to help you track your progress. Most fitness journals include both layouts.
Binding
Paperback journals tend to be difficult to write in, so spiral-bound journals are typically better. That being said, it’s important to look for journals with plastic spiral bindings, since these are less likely to be crushed or warped than wire spiral bindings.
Duration
Fitness journals range in duration from a month to a year. They don’t typically follow a calendar, so you can fill in your own dates with each entry, which means a 180-day journal, for example, can last for much longer than 6 months.
How much you can expect to spend on a fitness journal
Fitness journals vary in price from about $8-$40, depending on the quality of the materials and the level of the layout. Basic affordable journals usually cost $15 or less, while mid-range journals with itemized layouts range from $15-$25, and high-end fitness journals with detailed logs and intricate tracking go for $25 and above.
Fitness journal FAQ
Why are fitness journals more expensive than regular journals?
A. Regular journals usually just consist of blank pages, while fitness journals are much more detailed and feature unique layouts with space for workouts, nutrition and more. You could just use a regular journal if you’re on a fairly tight budget, but it would be more difficult to maintain organization from page to page. Fitness journals are worth the investment when it comes to the consistent layout.
Can I just use an app instead of a fitness journal?
A. You could use an app instead of a journal, but the process of physically writing down the information on paper takes another level of commitment and means that you have the chance to step away from technology to focus on your health and well-being. Many people choose to use apps along with fitness journals to help them log their daily caloric intake.
What’s the best fitness journal to buy?
Top fitness journal
Fitlosophy Fitbook: Fitness Journal and Planner for Workouts, Weight Loss and Exercise
What you need to know: Fitlosophy is a customer favorite journal, particularly among fitness enthusiasts, and includes space to journal about exercise, weight loss and workouts.
What you’ll love: This fan favorite journal comes with a daily workout tracker, daily food log with caloric intake, water and vitamins, an attachable pen and space for weekly nutrition and workout goals.
What you should consider: Some customers say they wish the journal included more than just 12 weeks.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Top fitness journal for the money
Bodyminder Workout and Exercise Journal by F.E. Wilkins
What you need to know: This popular yet budget-friendly journal provides the best fitness tracking at an affordable price.
What you’ll love: This F.E. Wilkins model features a small food log section with each daily page, 13 weeks of workout tracking and helpful insights with health charts and diagrams.
What you should consider: It’s important to consider that the strength and cardio logs in this journal are both divided into two smaller sections on the same page.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Worth checking out
Life & Apples The Wellness Planner
What you need to know: This Life & Apples journal is an excellent option for people who want to track their fitness, dietary and mental health in one comprehensive health journal.
What you’ll love: This comprehensive journal is a simple option for beginners to fitness journaling. The journal offers enough space for tracking progress and a weekly review and features universal health tracking and motivational quotes.
What you should consider: Keep in mind that this journal only covers 3 months and is not the most detailed option.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
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Alex Kilpatrick writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
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