Here are the tools I armed myself with - not counting the books and exercise equipment I already noted in my blog earlier.
Journal - you should keep a journal and write in it everyday. I typically write how I am feeling, whether or not I had a good or bad day, what went right, what might not have went well. When I started I included my food journal in my journal and I just wrote down everything I ate. I no longer keep track of my food on paper - I graduated to using online tools to help track my food through Sparkspeople.com - It is a free site where you create a profile and track your nutrition as well as your fitness. Sparkspeople is really a go to site to find valuable information as well as providing tools to track your goals, nutrition and fitness. Check it out!!
I do also track my fitness minutes on the treadmill in an Excel spreadsheet. I started tracking it in Excel and it kind of gives me a nostalgic feel all on one spreadsheet of where I started and how far I have become.
Pedometer - I purchased a pedometer with the intent of tracking my steps and trying to reach my goal of 10,000 steps a day. I have to laugh, I ordered my first pedometer and wore it religiously for 3 days. It was clipped to my pants on the third day and as I was in the restroom I decided to change out of my jeans and into my workout clothes. I unclipped the pedometer from my pants and held it in my hand as I reached to flush the toilet, it fell out of my hand and into the toilet just as the toilet flushed and I could not respond fast enough. My $25 pedometer was gone - it flushed down the toilet in the blink of an eye. I immediately got back online and this time ordered two of them - one for my husband and one for myself. I haven't lost this one yet!!!
Heart Rate Monitor Watch - I purchased a heart rate monitor that comes with a band you put around your chest and then it measures your heart rate so that when you exercise you can keep your heart rate at an optimum level for weight loss.
Good Pair of walking/running shoes - I purchased my first pair of walking shoes for $80 - with my foot problems I wanted to make sure my shoes were not an excuse for me to not walk. When I reached 200 miles on my fitness log I bought new shoes - it is important to wear shoes that are not worn out. I have never worn out a pair of shoes by walking ever so I was happy to spend the $$ on a new pair of shoes. It was a nice treat acknowledging a job well done.
Camera - I have also taken pictures of myself at the beginning of my journey and then periodically throughout my journey - it is way cool to see the progress as your double chin disappears or your curves begin to show. I use it for inspiration when the journey seems slow.
These pics are not flattering but you can see the progress over time:
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