How a Weight Loss Journal can help you to Lose Weight?

I am a hardcore diary person – I love writing journals. I have always considered writing down my thoughts very therapeutic. What I am not able to share with anyone, I write down.  When something is bothering me, I write that down too. This helps me to clear the clutter of my mind and many times helps me to find the solution that I am looking for.

Writing makes one reflect on the problem; acts as vent out and also helps to stabilise the mood. When the whole scenario is in front of you, getting to the solution doesn’t seem that difficult.

This is exactly why, when I decided to lose weight, the very first thing that came to my mind was to start maintaining a Weight Loss Journal. I know now that I made the right decision of starting with my food and exercise journal, as it really helped me a lot.

What is the best option to Write the Journal?

Now, this is another question, the answer to which is your convenience. Whether you want to keep a diary and write with a pen, you can do so or you want to go digital by keeping it on your phone or computer, is your choice.

One thing to bear in mind is that the diary should be with you at all times, besides your nightstand or accessible while you are travelling. Also, it will be more useful if you can take pictures and put them in it for records and later reference. 

My Suggestion: I suggest that you create an account on Evernote, and install it over your phone as well as your desktop computer. It is an excellent software that helps you share your notes among devices and so you always have access to your journal.

You can use my Evernote Affiliate Link to create an account and you’ll be given one month of Evernote Premium just for getting started.

So what did I actually write in my weight loss journal:

What, when and how much I eat every day

I wrote everything I ate or drank in my diary, along with when I ate and how much I ate. This helped me to get a lot of insight. I realised that there were many times I was eating, say a biscuit or a piece of bread or smoother thing, but I was not actually hungry. And more than that, I was not counting this food in my food intake. This is because I was either eating it on the go or was eating just to finish off something or was just eating out of boredom. You can read my blog article on Overeating, to learn more on this topic. 

The weight loss journal made me aware of this and I stopped this mindless eating.

My daily routine

Right from the time I woke up till the time I went to bed, I wrote down everything that I did in my food and exercise journal. Now I had my whole routine in front of me, and I could easily pinpoint what in my routine was causing me to gain weight. Also, I was able to identify when I had time to put in a few exercises to the routine and make myself more active.

What changes can I make in my diet, which can help me to lose weight?

As the next step, I identified a few of the habits that I needed to change, in order to lose weight, like eating unhealthy snacks in the night or gobbling down a handful of the mixture while making food, etc.

Once I identified these habits, I worked on controlling them or planned in advance for healthier options, and this played a very important role in helping me to lose weight. Like if I was having an emotional day, instead of bingeing on food, I went out for a walk or started to write my journal, which was more calming and of course a healthier option.

What caused me to eat more? Was I doing any emotional eating?

I was also able to identify the situations which caused me to eat more. For instance, if I was emotionally eating or eating more in certain situations; the journal was able to help me in this regard. I became more aware of these situations, and so I tried to find other ways to busy myself, rather than eating.

When can I Exercise?

Normally if someone asked me to find time for exercising, I would have to think. I always thought I was too busy to exercise. But the journal helped me to find the time that I could dedicate to exercising. More than that, I wanted to write down that I am exercising, and that made me exercise. It kept me more accountable for what I did.

Besides finding a dedicated time to exercise, I was also able to keep myself more active. during my work time as well.

Snacks I ate every day?

I also realised how much snacks I was eating every day. But once I knew that I cannot do without snacks, I worked around my kitchen to make it weight loss ready. This was great. I was more ready to face my hunger pangs.

I also made notes of the food that was more filling and satisfying for me besides being nutritious, so that I could include more of those in my diet rather than the food which was healthier but made me hungry faster.

Learn how writing a Weight Loss Journal can Help you Lose weight and what do need to keep in mind while writing one? Share on X

Weight Loss Progress:

When I started to lose weight, I had identified many small milestones for myself. I very religiously recorded my small successes and had my small celebration when I reached my milestone. This motivated me and kept me going till I reached my goal.

Free Course: I have a free weight loss course, which you get access to by subscribing to my blog. Through this course, you will learn step by step to work on your weight issues, by filling a weight loss journal and lead to a successful weight loss.

What is the best time to write the Weight Loss Journal:

Frankly, there is no specific best time to write the journal. Write at whatever time suits you or whatever way suits you.

You can write your journal first thing in the morning, or the last thing before going to bed or even along the way. Do what is convenient for you. The intention is to monitor your activities of the day, without really stressing yourself on small things such as the time of writing.

What to keep in view while writing a Food & Exercise Journal

1. Be honest: The most important thing is to be honest which what you write. Remember, you are doing it for yourself and only if you write the truth and your true feelings, you will be able to bring about a change in your present situation.
2. No need to be Perfect: Again, we don’t write because we feel, we are not good writers or our handwriting is not good or what will I write. Well, you are not doing it to impress anyone. All you need to do is to write what you feel and how so ever you can write. No need to make things fancy.
3. Be committed: You are writing a journal to achieve something. Keep reminding of that your yourself so that you stay committed and don’t skip your writing. Trust me it’ll soon become a habit and you’ll love it when you actually see some positive results because of this.
4. Be ready for the shocks: Well if you are honest, you are bound to be shocked, I was. I was shocked to find the amount of food I was randomly eating which I was not even counting.
5. Learn from Mistakes: Mistakes are a part of life, no one’s perfect. While you decide you will not do it, but you end up bingeing or maybe have a cheat day. Well, we are all humans; one-off mistakes should not deter us. Make your notes and get back to the routine from the next day. You will see your results soon.
6. Just start: Last but not the least, just start today! There is no better day or time to start as perfect as today and now! Remember, your good health is waiting for you and soon you’ll yourself figure out what lifestyle changes you can do in order to lose weight.

I hope this article motivates you to start your weight loss journal from today onwards and if you need any help then subscribe to my blog and a FREE weight loss course will be sent your way.