Many people have goals and some of those goals are related to weight loss or health in general. Keeping a weight loss journal may help you reach your goals or help you identify those areas in your eating habits that need help.
Here are a few reasons to keep a weight loss journal:
Record Goals
Everyone who has a goal or more than one needs to write those goals down. Once you write down your weight loss goals you need to revisit them often as with any other goals you have in life. If you never look at the goals you wrote down, you may tend to forget about them. If you revisit those goals you can re-assess and adjust them as you need to. Recording your weight loss goals gets you started on the right track to reaching those goals.
Record Progress
When starting with a weight loss journal you want to record your starring weight, and as you go through your chosen weight loss plan or eating healthier you will need to record your progress.
I have read different weight loss plans that advise you to weight at least once a month. There are some that advise weighing daily. I stick to the one that advises to weight weekly and occasionally I may weigh mid-week just to gauge how I am doing.
Keeping a record of your progress can help you determine how you are doing and whether you need to adjust your diet. Do not let the weight gain get you down, but let it be a lesson to examine what you are eating and make healthier choices.
A weight loss journal can be a great motivator as well. When you see results on the scale for the hard work you have done, it most will often make you want to keep up the good work.
Record Your Feelings
With any weight loss effort, you are going to experience changes. One day you may feel energetic and happy. Another day you may feel little lethargic and blue. When keeping a weight loss journal, you can record how you are feeling each day. If you are feeling down and sluggish for more than a day, you may want to adjust your diet. Look at the foods you are eating or whether you are getting enough fluids.
You may want to use a weight loss journal in conjunction with an exercise journal and/or a food journal so that you monitor your exercise and food intake and how those things are making you feel as well.
Record Your Meals
As with a food journal, you are recording the foods or meals you eat. If you are on a weight loss program or trying to eat healthier, it is a great idea to write down the foods you are eating.
You can look back at your meals to assess how you felt during the week. Did you eat too much fiber? Too much dairy? Not enough protein or carbohydrates? All are essential ingredients to a healthy body, but you need to have the right balance each day or during the week.
Keeping a record of the foods you are eating may help you to learn those foods triggers that are causing you to feel bad or crave other foods that are not so healthy.
We all are busy every day. Keeping a journal to records your weight loss progress, feelings, and the foods you are eating each day is going to go along way in helping you reach and be successful in your weight loss or healthy eating goals.
Happy Journaling!
Pamela
