Tag: Evernote for Fitness

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Meal planning and grocery list with Evernote

Grocery list

Today I´d like to share some tips to save you time and make your life much easier, explaining how to meal planning and build your grocery list with Evernote.

If you have been following this blog for some time, you´re used to a monthly “30 healthy recipes” post. If not, let me show you the list of recipes available so far, in alphabetical order:

This simple list means 480 recipes, without a single paper, which proves that Evernote is a great tool to keep and search all the recipes you need. All you have to do is create a specific notebook for your recipes and save them all in there. But you can (and should) do more than just save recipes. You can plan your meals and your grocery list with just a few clicks.

First, when you´re struggling thinking about what are you going to eat next week, there is nothing easier than scroll down your recipes notebook and chose from a wide range of recipes. Then, all you need is a note called “Meal plan“, for instance. 

Let´s plan your next week´s dinners. We could plan all your meals, but this post is just to give you an idea of how easy and useful is Evernote for your daily life.

You check your recipes and chose what you´d like to have for dinner next week. Right-click on the recipe and select “copy internal link” (Shortcut: Ctrl + Alt + L). 

Copy internal link

Then paste this link on your “Meal Plan” note (Shorcut: Ctrl + V).

Meal plan

The table, of course, is totally optional. For new Evernote users who want to know more about creating and customize tables, please read this.

Once we have our internal links on our Meal Plan note, we can easily check the instructions, losing no  time searching the  recipe. 

Confetti Lentils instructions

To help us build our grocery list, all we have to do is copy (Shorcut: Ctrl +C) the ingredients of each recipe and paste (Ctrl + V) them right after our meal plan.  

Grocery list

While you´re doing this, I strongly recommend you to check:

  1. The most common ingredients, like salt, olive oil, onion, etc.
  2. What you already have in your kitchen.

This way you won´t buy what you already have available or buy the same product twice.

As we are used to taking our phones everywhere we go, you´ll have your grocery list available anytime, and you won´t ever need a paper to remind you what to need to buy at the store.

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Build healthy habits with Evernote

Nowadays, there is pretty much an app for everything you imagine.   Visit Google Play Store and then tell me if I´m wrong. But more doesn´t mean better, and a different app for tracking each one of our habits may result overwhelming or counterproductive.
Instead, using a single and versatile app, like Evernote to track your habits may be the right solution in many cases.
As you know (or should know), Evernote is a note-taking app. A digital diary, in a few words. You can use it as your journal, day planner, to keep things that inspire you (like articles, images and social media post) by using Web Clipper, as your to-do list or done list, to take class notes and help you with your homework, plan your travels or your wedding, write a novel, record meetings, save business cards and, as you have seen on this blog, record your workouts or keep your recipes collection.
Keeping everything organizing in the same place saves you lots o time and help you to be more productive. And when it comes to building a new habit the last thing you want is the need to get used to a new app because it doubles your work.
As each note is a blank canvas, you can create whatever you need. That´s why Evernote is great to build new healthy habits or get rid of unhealthy ones.
Let´s not forget that to make sure your goals are clear and reachable, each one should be:
Specific (simple, sensible, significant).
Measurable (meaningful, motivating).
Achievable (agreed, attainable).
Relevant (reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based).
Time-bound (time-based, time-limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive).
For instance, the healthy habit #1 is drinking more water. You can easily keep track of your daily water intake with Evernote. How?
1 – Create a new notebook (Click on File -> New notebook) and name it My water intake. Click OK.
2 – Click on your new notebook and create a New Note (Ctrl + N) and name it Water intake. You will use this note as a template and this will save you a lot of time.water intake 1
Let´s say you don´t drink any water at all and you plan to drink 6 glasses of water every day. That´s a Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound goal.
3 – Type numbers from 1 to 6 and then add a checkbox next to each number (Ctrl + Shift + C). Why would you put checkboxes? To mark them every time you drink a glass of water. This ensures you don’t miss a single one.water intake 2
4 – Duplicate this template as many times as you need (Right-click on the note -> Duplicate Note). water intake 3
I recommend you to rename each duplicated note with the date and keep the first one as your template. It will take you seconds to create and rename the notes you will use in a week.
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Let´s go a step further and suppose you drink too many sodas or beers and you want to reduce the consumption of these drinks by replacing them with water.
Using the same notes, you can keep track of what you drink every day and be conscious if you´re going in the right direction.
Just repeat the step 3 for sodas and beers and voilá! You will be able to easily check the days you did right, the days you did wrong (and also write your comments/excuses why those days didn´t go well), and keep yourself accountable and focused on your goals.
water intake 5
Access your water intake notes on your mobile device by adding a shortcut. An icon will appear on the main screen of your device making your notes just a tap away.
With your note open on your phone or tablet, tap on the menu button (the column of three squares) and then select Create Shortcut.
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Your shortcut will appear on the main screen of your mobile device.
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You now have a completed and easily accessible habit tracker! Any updates made to a note are synced across all devices once saved.
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8% body fat loss in 3 weeks

Glenda won my last contest three weeks ago. Her biggest problem was that she ate too much fast food and industrial bakery. Nor did she drink too much water. So we focus on their eating habits and add a training circuit four times a week. She has already lost 8% body fat. This was Glenda:

And this is her progress, in numbers:

You´ll have to wait to see her new image until we finish, but you can see how she loses weight, the perimeter of his belly is reduced, she loses body fat, and she gains some lean muscle mass. Also, she wrote me an email last week that I´d like to share with you:

“David,
        I luckily have had the opportunity, as you know, to work with you online. I could NEVER have imagined how it would change so much of my daily routine in such a positive way!! I just wanted to thank you and tell you some things that have gone terrifically RIGHT!
 
      I was overwhelmed by the instant response to the questions you had concerning what goals I wanted to achieve and my physical state (WHICH HAS IMPROVED VASTLY!) my likes and dislikes and allergies to foods, etc.
 
    Overnight , you had figured out my dietary needs , my body fat% and exactly what plan for workouts I should do. Then days in, I had a little medical tweak and almost instantly you had a new plan that I could follow. I think you are an amazing, insightful, innovative trainer!!
 
     I know you did not intend to actually change my life style but IT IS WONDERFUL!! Before I started this online training and diet diary; I ate so much just bad stuff and drank probably 1000 calories a day in super sweetened coffee and my gin and tonics;-) and I woke up tired and stayed that way most of the day.
 
      Now that I keep that dietary diary; my water intake has gone to  8 glasses a day …my coffee is unsweetened and no more than 2 cups and the gin and tonics are 1 a day…my snack habits of candy and pure carbs has changed to apples and bananas.
  
       I wake up earlier and go straight to the gym after a light healthy breakfast. I have loads of energy and I’ve lost 7 pounds in nearly 3 weeks!!!!!!!!!
          
          My husband LOVES those new meals! For the first time in FOREVER, he actually wants to help pick out meals. It’ s more than checking off the box and his habits are changing, too!
 
      I have told my friends! I wish I could tell others that if they have an opportunity to work with you and they don’t take it that they are missing out on a truly beneficial experience!
 
      I love the chat information everyday..There’s so many remarkable things I want to say to you about you.
Mostly THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

I am really grateful to work with Glenda, because she is super motivated, very funny (always have some funny anecdote to tell me), and does everything I suggest, apparently effortlessly!! 

The next one could be YOU

14-Day FREE TRIAL

As your personal trainer, I will design a training program and meal plan custom built to your needs as well as goals and I will help you understand how to implement the program.
Start Today
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Healing a rotator cuff injury – Paul´s testimonial

A few months ago Paul contacted me, worried about his rotator injury. Not everyone hires me to lose weight. Today we can say that he is fully recovered. He is not a blogger, but I have asked him to describe his experience to share it with you. Here it is.

“To share my experience is not a compromise, it is a pleasure.

I started young playing sports. Being an athlete is a lifestyle and a philosophy. It´s taking your day as a challenge, seeking to overcome.  My dictionary doesn´t contain the word “surrender”.

After a nasty blow dragged by a wave, I felt some discomfort in my shoulder. At first, I thought it would be temporary. But I was wrong. Months of rest, ice, pills… nothing worked.

After reading Google´s answer, two years without physical exercise, I decided to contact Chape.

To sow hope in the heart of a demoralized is not so easy, so…

I will never forget the first thing Chape told me: You have not an injury, you only have a weak point and you need to strengthen it.

That phrase sums up his philosophy: He does not accept defeat. He knows he is able to accomplish anything with determination and effort.

I followed his routines. First and most difficult, trust him and myself. Once done, I got up from the couch and went to the gym. Tailored exercises allowed me to have fun with the advantage that I was recovering my injury.

After three months, I started to get better. 7 months later my shoulder was stronger than ever.
When I’m hanging in a harness, I do not remember which is the injured shoulder. I will never forget the lesson: with effort and faith in ourselves no injury will last forever”.

I want to thank Paul publicly for these nice words about me and tell everyone that, if you need help to recover from an injury, here I am!

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The winner of the contest

For today I was planning to publish some recipes, but yesterday something interesting happened.

I can not find words to express the luck I had with the last winner of my contest, Glenda. Yesterday she received an email from Evernote that she allowed me to share with you. Maybe this gives you an idea of how useful Evernote could be for you.

Account Manager: “Hi Glenda,

Welcome to Evernote Business! I would love to connect to discuss the goals you are hoping to achieve with Evernote and learn how I can help you and your team work together more efficiently.

Please let me know when you are available for a quick call or schedule immediately on my calendar. I am happy to suggest optimal ways to set up your team, schedule a training session, and answer any questions!”

Glenda:

“I recently won a contest to work with Chape Fitness and consequently, David had me right on Evernote. Seeing what he is able to share and communicate on Evernote and how he can demonstrate and keep up with me and his clients really impressed me. Once I am better at this; I will share this with my friends who could really use this in their businesses.

I only found this site because I had won the Chape fitness workouts and one of the perks was discovering Evernote! David Neira helped me figure out my issues. Which I believe were my own lack of understanding.
At this point, I am learning how to use it through the workout and diet info from David.
In the 3 days I’ve been on it; I am amazed at all it can do. I see the potential to put my work on this platform to save and share.
I love the platform!! I am a singer, director, composer, teacher, choreographer…constantly on the move and constantly creating. Mostly, I see how useful it is and could be for my family and friends who work internationally! I can see how this would make my work easier to keep up with and share.
Thank you so much!”

New updates on Glenda’s progress soon! She is very motivated and giving her best from the first day.

As regards Evernote, it is up to you to take a look and explore how it can help you in your daily life. Prozac announced in the 60s saying that 8 million housewives could not be wrong. Maybe I should tell you that 200 million Evernote users cannot be wrong.

 

 

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Mliae´s Week 3 update

I have to say that I am very proud of this girl.  After a mentally tough week with the weight fluctuations and despite all the stress, she continues doing her workouts and adjusting to the diet and we begin to see results, we lose body fat and we gain lean muscle.

The least known part of personal training is that sometimes we have to act as therapists and focus more on the mental aspects of the client rather than on diet or exercise. I know that everyone wants to do a week of diet and exercise and see instant results, but that just does not work that way. And we have to take the time to explain and make them understand it.

This week has been hard for her, even suffering from migraines she has managed to keep training and maintain her diet.

Please be nice and leave a spirited comment on her blog.

via Flabby-Assed to Fabulous with Chape! Week 3 Update

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Mliae´s Week 2 Update

This week has been an emotional roller coaster for Mliae due to weight fluctuations. It’s hard not to worry when you see the scale jump a pound or two overnight. But these fluctuations are normal and due to water retention.

We are in the right direction since her body fat percentage went from 48.7 to 47.4. She lost 4 pounds of fat as she kept her lean muscle stable.

I usually recommend my clients to get on the scale just once a week, but as she was so worried about her weight, I tried a different approach. I advised her to get on the scale every day to realize that weight fluctuations are normal, they occur every day and she should not worry about it.

Please, visit her and show your support because she´s doing very well!

via Flabby- Assed to Fabulous with Chape! Week 2 Update

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How I run an online business, blog regularly, keep learning and manage my life with Evernote

A short introduction

To understand why I do online training and why I decided to use Evernote, I have to tell you a little story. It all started when the economic crisis hit Europe a few years ago. Many friends and clients were forced to emigrate to find a new job. United States, Canada, Chile, UK, Australia and even Vietnam were some of their destinations. If everyone had gone to the same country, I would have gone with them, but that was not the case. As many of you already know, I live in a small Spanish coastal town that suddenly saw its population drop from 12,000 to just 8,000. You do not have to be very smart to realize that my traditional personal training business was going to sink. Fewer people, with lower purchasing power, would consider personal training as a luxury they could not afford.

So I had three options: look for another job, emigrate or reinvent my business. I chose the third option.

Emails and PDFs always seemed like a shabby way of sending training plans, so I started looking for other ways to network with my expatriate clients.

Each coach understands personal training in a different way. I approach each client as a project. They have a goal, which can change over time, they face difficulties during the process and they need a fluid, constant communication that can adapt to their new situations.
So I tried different apps with them to manage projects like Asana, Basecamp or Trello. They all are great apps, but some way or another they didn´t fit all our needs.

Then, I found Evernote, and everything started to fit in a natural way.

Why Evernote

When you decide to exercise and start a training plan the very first thing you must do is keeping a training journal, period.

Every day write what you have done, how many series, how much weight you have used, how you feel after training and the next day, what you have eaten, how you have slept, etc. To verify how the training plan went, you should also write down your weight and body perimeters at the beginning and end of the training plan. This is called facing reality, has it worked or not? Then you can adjust according to the results.

I used to give each of my clients a paper notebook to do all these things. Today, with Evernote, I do this same thing and much more, digitally.

Even though I can not be with my clients in person, they have a link for each exercise where they can watch a video and read a description to do the exercise correctly. Also, they have a notebook with a lot of recipes, so they do not have to ask me what they can eat today. They have a long list of recipes to choose from at any time.

food

And of course, I’m available via workchat for anything you need, in addition to talking regularly about how their training is going. If they are not convinced that they are doing an exercise correctly, they simply send me a video doing it, and I will correct them, if necessary.

Evernote, the perfect environment for online training

One of my first goals for my business was to create an exercise library. An extensive one. Today I have exactly 1259 exercises stored in Evernote, organized by tags (muscle, equipment, and level) and I easily find what I need to create the perfect training for each client.

Exercise library

I created my own training templates and I just have to copy the exercise I want in the corresponding place. This saves me a lot of time.

fitness templates

Each client has their own exclusive notebooks and it is impossible to get training, recipes or notes that do not correspond to them. With Evernote, you decide what you share and with whom.

The best part of all this? Anyone can do it. Even if you´re not a trainer, you can create your own notebook and save any exercise or workout you want to do, that you find in a blog, YouTube or wherever, thanks to the Evernote Web Clipper.

In my opinion, Evernote is the perfect environment for personal online training and I still wonder why not many more coaches are using it.

More things Evernote has helped me with

Finding this perfect environment is far from starting an online business. You need a website, advertise on Google, create your accounts on different social platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. And I had no idea about all these things.

One of the first tips that anyone can find if they want to build an online business is to write a blog. Of course, I started blogging without having the slightest idea where to start, except I had to talk about fitness.

My first fitness posts got four or five likes. Now it’s no surprise, but then that was a disappointment. Blogging has many points in common with fitness, you have to start small, learn to do things correctly, a few tricks and progress at your own pace.

In both cases, consistency is the key. I could not find anything smaller to begin with than a daily quote. Making a simple comparison is like starting doing push-ups and chin-ups. Evernote helped me do this and almost effortlessly, I posted a daily quote for more than 500 consecutive days. How? I simply created a note, I titled it “quotes” and there I wrote down each quote that I liked. Then I just had to publish it on the blog and mark it as published, to not repeat it. I still have about 200 quotes that, maybe, I’ll publish someday.

Quotes

Instead of writing drafts in WordPress, I create a note for each new article and organize them by topics in different notebooks. For me, it is much easier to organize it so I do not have a list of drafts in WordPress.

I also keep in Evernote a lot of post fitness that I find on the internet, on different topics such as injuries, nutrition, new training methods and the latest studies. I keep them all in a notebook, organized by tags, so I find them easily when I need them.

But there is much more than fitness in my Evernote: marketing, web design, SEO, WordPress, Twitter and Facebook tips, and many other things are in another notebook, perfectly tagged. There are many things one must learn to build an online business and with Evernote, I have everything in the same place, organized and easy to find.

Managing my day to day

To organize my day to day, I created my own version of the Eisenhower matrix.

Eisenhower Matrix

I reduced the matrix to only three areas because I do not understand why I need the fourth quadrant if those things are neither urgent nor important and they need to be dumped. Why should I bother and waste my time on that? I apologize for showing you the blank note, but my daily schedule, my tasks, and ideas, are not of your concern:

my todo list

I also have a shortcut to this note on my cell phone, to access it at any time, anywhere.

todo today

When I complete a task I delete it, and every night I check and fill in the blanks for the next day with new tasks. I couldn´t find a way to be more productive, but I´m open to suggestions.

As you can see, there are many reasons to use Evernote, what is yours?

Do you need help to achieve your fitness goals? I still have some available spots.
Do you think any of your friends should read this? Please, share on your favorite social network.
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Automatically save your activities in Evernote

There are many apps and activity trackers: Nike +, Strava, Fitbit, etc.
ifttt fitness services
Even when every app saves your activities, I have a couple of reasons you should save them in Evernote too.
My clients use different apps and if I want to check their progress, I have to try any app they use, to know better how each one works, I have to ask them to share their activities with me, and that´s a mess.
Even if you are not a trainer, you should try a few apps for a few weeks before deciding which one best suits your needs. After this process, why are you going to lose the data of the apps that you are not going to use anymore? you don´t have to, and the answer is really simple: Evernote. Save all your workouts and activities in Evernote so you have all of them in one place, which will save you a lot of time. Plus, you can edit these notes and add any additional info you want, tags, etc.
Maybe the best part is you don´t need to save your workouts manually. Integration apps like IFTTT or Zapier do it for you, connecting your favorite apps and saving you a valuable time.
As an example, today we´re going to connect Strava to Evernote and Strava and save any new activity.
First, go to ifttt.com and get started.
You may sign with Google or Facebook.
ifttt 2
This is the dashboard.
ifttt 3
Search for Strava. Authorize IFTTT if needed.
ifttt 4
Click on My Applets -> New Applet
ifttt 5
A New Applet looks like this.
Click on +this
ifttt 6
Choose a service, Strava.
ifttt 7
Choose a trigger,  New activity by you
ifttt 8
Which activity? Any.
Then click “Create Trigger”. We´re almost there.
ifttt 9
ifttt 10
Choose action service, Evernote.
Authorize if needed.
ifttt 11
Choose action: Create a note
ifttt 12
You can customize your future notes, title, info included in the note, notebook, and tags.
IFTTT call all these “ingredients”.

ifttt 13

Click on Create action.
Click Finish and it´s done.
ifttt 14
Every new activity will be saved in the selected notebook.
Do you need help to achieve your fitness goals? I still have some available spots.
Do you think any of your friends should read this? Please, share on your favorite social network.