T-Tapp Notebook(s)

I am a notebooking kind of girl. I kept notebooks before I knew they would become a homeschool method. Cindy Rushton calls herself the Notebooking Queen (love that girlfriend!), but I would have to qualify for at least a Notebooking Princess. So when I began finding out about T-Tapp I started a notebook. Just a 1 1/2" 3-ring binder, the kind with a clear cover to slip a cover sheet in.

First thing in the notebook: blank calendar pages to keep track of workouts, brushing and short notes about how I was doing ("sore knees" or "did the whole enchilada!"). Next thing: copies of the measurement chart in Fit and Fabulous in 15 Minutes. From the beginning I kept careful records of measurements and weight. But I didn't take a "before" photo until I had lost 2 sizes and a bunch of inches, so don't make that mistake. Even if you don't show anyone, TAKE A BEFORE PHOTO! Yes, it's a little embarrassing for people to see my befores, but it's not too bad because I don't look like that anymore!

Then I began to fill the notebook with form tips. You could do this in a file on your computer, but I'm also a book kind of girl and I like to re-read with a colored pencil to make notes or underline. I had a section for material from online classes I took from Trainers Lani and Michelle. I had a section just for encouraging posts on the forum, or things that motivated me.

Last, I had a section for goals. Most of my goals were related to an upcoming event, like a wedding or a college reunion. It helped me to have smaller time frames and an endpoint. I didn't always reach the goal by the event, but I did a short time later, and still checked it off. I still have my goals pages. I like to look back on them with the satisfaction of a job well done.

The good thing about keeping records of both workouts done (not planned, DONE) and measurements is that I could see a correlation. We tend to think we're working out more than we actually are sometimes. Or somehow it seems that time spent posting on the forum with all of our T-Tappin' friends ought to count for a workout, ha! At any rate, times of slowed inch loss led to an investigation and voilà, no wonder, I only did BWO+ twice a week for a couple of weeks, duh.

The notebook "just growed" and eventually expanded into several notebooks, most of which I still refer to. T-Tapp was very important to me and it deserved some organization and documentation in my life to keep me on track. You might not be a "learner" type like me, but even a slim folder with calendars, measurements and goals will help. Sometimes our progress is nearly undetectable until we look at the numbers (or the photos--ask any 60-Day Challenge participant who was surprised at their comparison photos), and with a notebook you'll have the hard evidence.