What you’re counting, counts.

As is tradition in the New Year, resolutions for what you will commit to (seriously this time) abound.  You want to work out more, you want to eat healthier, you want to advance your career, you want to read more, you want to be a better you. 

What does that mean exactly?  What metric are you using to know that you are succeeding?

Experts will tell you that setting small goals en route to the larger “be better” is key to success, but how you measure the goals, big or small – really count.  WHAT you are counting is important.

If you have pledged to lose weight in the New Year, we think the scale matters.  So many of the online tools out there right now in the weight-loss space don’t accommodate for that fact. 

Take calorie counting for example.  Sure, tracking calories seems to make a lot of sense, but that also takes a lot of work.  I am not in the business of writing down everything I put in my mouth, because it takes time to do it.  I am committed to losing weight, but I don’t want all of my daily activities to be interrupted in the name of weight-loss.  I am so many more important things than a person who is trying to lose weight.

But, why do you count calories? To lose weight. 

How do you know you are reaching your goals?  Because of the number on the scale. 

You can count until the cows come home, but if you aren’t losing weight, you will stop using that calorie counting tool.   I know that a Snickers bar has more calories than an apple, I don’t need to count my calories to know that. 

The same argument holds for counting the numbers of times you hit the gym, the number of miles you run, the number of steps you take.

What you count matters because you should be counting the output – not the input. The output reinforces the behavior (the input).  The output creates habits.