A good fitness and/or meal planner is hard to find. Believe me, I searched for weeks. I finally realized that I would need to customize my own health planner to ensure that it met my needs. Here is what I did.

I found this 1.5 inch binder at Target for a little less than six dollars. I was attracted to this binder because I love blue and the gold dots in a chevron pattern gave it a spark. It’s made out of recycled material which is soft to the touch. Everything else I used in the planner came from my stockpile of crafting supplies which includes a three hole puncher, glue sticks, and double sided tape

I’ve accumulated a nice supply of crafting items from stickers to washi tape. Basically whenever I’m out and about, I pick up items that catch my eye and add them to my stockpile. When I have a project, I select from my pile of goodies. Best stores for cheap stuff are: Dollar Tree, Michael’s , Meijer’s, Target, and Jo-Ann Fabrics. Most things I buy cost around a buck.

I wanted this fitness and meal planner to be easy and fun to use. I used double-sided tape to attach a notecard, and I plan to put an inspirational quote or scripture inside the card.

I added a mini calendar which came with a notepad as you can see above.  Lastly, I added an envelope which will be where I put pictures and  ideas. I took a Velcro tab which had tape on each side and cut it in a circle. I attached one side of the Velcro tab to the envelope and the other side to the area where the lid closes. This allows the envelope to be opened and closed securely.

I separated the planner into five sections, using dividers. I picked them up at Target, paying a dollar for a pack of five. For the first section, I used this divider from my Happy Planner. It was left over from a month that had already passed by the time I bought the planner. I glued it to front of the this light blue divider from Target, and added some cute fruit stickers. Then I took a piece of green plaid stock paper and covered the tab for a decorative touch.

On the inside, I printed out some useful information about the planner inserts I downloaded from the Internet. I was willing to pay any amount for the right inserts, but I came across the Weigh to Maintain website. The creator, Jacqui Grimes, lost nearly ninety pounds and blogs about how she kept the weight off. I downloaded her free fitness printable here Weigh to Maintain Fitness Planner.

I decorated a yellow divider with stickers and fruit for the next section of the planner.

This is the weekly meal section that I downloaded and printed out. It’s broken down by day, meals, and snacks. Easy to plan for the week.

 

 

The next divider opens to the daily food plan section. I took a light blue envelope from a notecard set, placed a brown cardboard frame and picture on it. Then I added some vintage looking stickers.

The daily food planner is broken down by meals, snacks, water tracker, and a workout section. The left side has sections for: motivational quotes, challenges, and thoughts. This layout is by far the best I’ve seen. Every thing fits nicely on one page.

The next section is for exercise and fitness. I wanted something bright and fun since working out can be scary. I call my physical therapy sessions, physical torture. LOL.

 

The fitness calendar is a monthly view. On the side are sections to discuss your monthly goals, motivation, and  how you will reward yourself.

The last divider is for what I consider the healthy living section. I’m pleased with the way this turned out.  I used some silver glitter stock paper to cover the tab. The nice thing about this planner is that if I get tired of the dividers, I can buy new ones and decorate them, giving everything a fresh look.

The healthy section includes a weight tracker insert, but I’m also going to add information related to healthy living as a whole, specifically my battle with Rheumatoid Arthritis/RA. Since I’m dealing with this disease as well as still recovering from joint foot fusion surgery, I have to develop a fitness and health plan that works for me. I want to use this section to focus on exercises and activities that are good for people who suffer with RA. I’ll also include RA friendly food and recipes.

I added this folder that I picked up from the Dollar Tree to the binder to hold articles and other information.

On the inside of the back cover, I took a pink and brown stock card and placed a “never give up” sticker on it. Then I made a border with washi tape to polish the look.

Underneath that, I placed the memo pad I received with the mini-calendar with a “groceries” sticker below it.

This fitness and meal planner turned out much better than I imagined. Being able to download the Weigh to Maintain inserts for free and using my stockpile of supplies saved me a lot of money. I considered purchasing fitness planners that cost more than thirty dollars. None of them fit my needs. This planner is customized specifically for me. I will admit that putting the planner together took a lot of time, but it was well worth it. I hope you were able to get some ideas on how to create your perfect fitness and meal planner. Let me know what you think.

Stay Blessed,

Barbie