On Monday, I told you that I thought I had finally found my way back into tracking food without making it into this giant, exhausting thing that I have to force myself to do. And I have to tell you, I am actually doing really well with it. But the surprising part isn’t that I’m tracking. I actually really like doing it.
I’ve been filming what I eat, and somehow the thing I expected to feel like work has started feeling like a little part of my day that I genuinely enjoy.
I’m remembering to film things much more consistently, which means I’m also remembering what I ate much better. I like putting the videos together. I like doing the voiceovers. I like seeing the numbers at the end. And, probably most importantly, it is easy content for me to make, which means I’m getting something out of the process beyond simply having a food log.
The thing I thought I was going to have to force myself to do is becoming something I actually look forward to doing.
And I think that matters more than we give it credit for. We talk about consistency like it is mostly a matter of discipline, as though the people who stick with things simply have more willpower than everyone else. But when you find a way of doing something that fits naturally into your life, consistency starts requiring a lot less convincing.
Maybe repetition isn’t the problem
Reading everyone’s Monday Focus comments made me think about this even more, because several of you are doing exactly what we talked about last week: repeating the things that you already know help you. Tracking is showing up again. Protein is showing up again. Water is showing up again. The gym is showing up again. Sleep is showing up again. And I actually love that.
There is this weird pressure to constantly come up with a new goal, a new challenge, a new strategy, a new thing to try. But there is something incredibly useful about saying, “This worked for me, so I’m going to do it again.” You don’t get bonus points for making your life more complicated.
For me, the difference this time is that tracking doesn’t feel like a punishment. It feels like a record of what I’m already doing, and because I’ve found a format I enjoy, I’m naturally doing it more consistently. That doesn’t mean I am suddenly going to film every bite of food for the rest of my life. It just means I found a version of tracking that fits the life I’m living right now.
Sometimes the sustainable version of a habit is simply the version you don’t dread doing.
And that might be worth looking at in your own Monday Focus this week. Not just whether you’re doing the thing, but whether the way you’re doing it actually fits you.
NEW: Girl Code Daily Dashboard Beta Coming Soon
Okay, so this is the fun part.
I’ve been working on something new for Girl Code Daily, and it’s not quite ready yet, but I wanted to show you where we’re headed because I think this could become something really useful for us.
The Girl Code Daily Dashboard is going to give you a place to actually see your journey building over time. Your check-ins, your wins, your weekly reflections, your progress, and all of those little pieces that are really easy to forget when you’re only thinking about where you are today.
I don’t want Girl Code Daily to just give you things to read. I want it to help you actually see your own progress.
And because I’m still building it, I want your input before I decide what belongs there.
What do you track?
Your weight? Steps? Water? Protein? Calories? Workouts? Sleep? Measurements? NSVs? Mood? How you’re feeling? How often you’re showing up? Something completely different?
What would you actually want to open your dashboard and see?
I want to know the things you are already paying attention to, the things you wish you could see more clearly, and the information that would make looking back at your journey feel meaningful instead of just being a bunch of numbers sitting in different apps.
This is going to be our first version, not the final version. I would much rather build something based on what you actually want than disappear into a corner for six months and come back with a beautiful dashboard that nobody asked for. 😂
So even though the beta isn’t quite ready to play with yet, start telling me what you want on it.
What do you track?
What do you want to track?
And what would make you look at your dashboard and think, Ohhh. Look at me actually doing this. Actually SHOWING UP!!