The One Fitness Mistake That’s Derailing All Your Efforts

These days we track everything: calories, macros, steps, how many KGs we benched this morning… We’re constantly counting and adding all our digits into the latest tracking app, but as it turns out, keeping such tight tabs on our fitness goals may actually be counter productive.

According to a new study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, measuring an activity makes it less enjoyable, and as we all know, once achieving our goals starts to feel like a chore, it’s damn hard to stick at it.

The study explains that constantly measuring our progress can actually undermine our motivation. It takes time and effort to add up your calories or macros and by being a bit over-zealous about crunching the numbers, we take away from what exercise is supposed to be all about; feeling good and having fun.

The takeaway? It’s important to keep the balance between tracking your progress and making fitness enjoyable. By all means, keep an eye on how you’re progressing but don’t be obsessive. Find what works for you, celebrate your wins and above all enjoy the journey.

• exercise
• fitness