Chart To Stay On Track

I know what I am supposed to be doing. Drinking 8 glasses of water a day. Eating five servings of fruits and vegetables daily and working out five times a week. Getting the workouts in is usually pretty easy to remember. But for some reason staying on track with the water, fruit and veggie consumption is more difficult for me. My days get busy and I tend to be a tad scatterbrained, so I'll often get to the end of the day and realize that I simply forgot to drink enough. Or that in a hurry I unconsciously filled up with other foods and skipped the apples and carrots. Is it just me or do you perhaps know someone who does this too? I want to give my body the nutrients it needs, but the challenge is keeping that goal in mind throughout the day when so many other things demand my attention. Some naturally organized people can stay on target in their brains once they commit to do so. But me? If I don't have a physical reminder in place I will no doubt be sidetracked after a day or two. So here is my latest simple idea to make sure I get all the water and veggies in that I should each day -

I hung a calendar on the wall of the kitchen. When I drink a glass of water I put a check mark in the calendar square for that day. When I eat a serving of fruit or vegetables I put a star. So by the end of the day I aim to have 8 check marks and 5 stars in the box. This is helpful in many ways. First, seeing the calendar itself is a frequent reminder of my goals as I walk through the kitchen a hundred times a day. Second, if I forget how many servings I have already had that day I can check with ease and know what remains for the day. Third, I can look at the end of the month and see trends in which days I do better than others and how I feel when I am on the low or high side of optimal. All of these things help keep me motivated, and it feels very satisfying to give myself checks and stars. Like little pats on the back for a job well done.