Why you need a weight loss journal
Weight loss is such a big issue for women isn’t it? So many of us (I count myself in this) are concerned with our weight, how much we are eating, what we are eating, what we are not eating or what we would like to be eating. For women in particular weight is a big issue. Our hormones don’t help, having babies puts an extreme pressure on our bodies, menopause is another pressure and the list goes on.
How to make a weight loss journal work for you
We can have an uneasy relationship with food. On the one hand eating a biscuit, or a cake, or a bag of crisps (chips) or a peanut butter sandwich makes us feel much better. On the other hand those kind of high sugar, high fat foods aren’t what our body actually needs.
I know for myself, having tracked my emotional relationship with food and my emotional eating that, in the moment a flapjack was exactly what I felt I needed. However that flapjack isn’t going to be what helps me look my best and keep my fat ratio down. So whereas short term that flapjack is exactly what I need, long term it is not what I need.
Because, as women, we want to look good don’t we? We want to look like the best versions of ourselves. And eating flapjacks, blueberry muffins and almond croissants (my list of preferred carbs, you can insert your own!) is not going to help you look like the best version of yourself.
What I wanted to do was create a weight loss journal that helps you get to your goal weight, but which manages your mind at the same time.
What we sometimes need is not another diet telling us what to eat. We know what to eat. We know apples are better for us than sugary drinks. What we need is an environment which supports us and removes the emotional baggage surrounding our weight loss journey.
Creating a weight loss journal environment that works for you
Healthy lifestyle
What we want to create is a healthy lifestyle for ourselves. One where we feel amazing, look amazing. A healthy lifestyle where we are not dependent on food to make us feel better or for any other of our emotional needs.
So what we need is a weight loss journal that we make personal to our own circumstances. So the journal is firstly set up in a way that we want to use it and secondly we track our weight loss in a way that encourages us to continue.
Overall structure of your weight loss journal
Make the structure of your weight loss journal easy and straightforward. Create a monthly calendar. Then break it down to a weekly journal, and then a daily journal. Decide what you want to track. Establish your long-term goal.
Bullet journaling can work for you really well in setting up the structure but don’t be afraid to establish your own structure. The more personal you make it, the more likely you are to stick to it.
Practical weight loss journal ideas to make your own
What follows are weight loss journal ideas that you can incorporate into your journal. It needs to be personal to you. Use whatever is here that resonates with you and feels motivating enough to achieve your goal. You will be so proud of yourself when you finally work out how to make a weight loss journal for you that works so persevere until you succeed.
Food log
This is where we plan what you are going to eat daily and weekly. A food log can help you “plan and track your meals so that you stay on course and waste less fresh food.”
Food journal
Keeping a food journal of what you are eating, how you feel when you are eating as well as meals you would, or wouldn’t eat again is a great way of monitoring your relationship with what you eat.
Try not to feel deprived when you are trying to lose weight. Make healthy meals and eat enough food at each meal. Try and make your food diary as much about your life as about your relationship with food.
Water intake
It’s very easy to neglect your water intake and some people don’t drink much water at all. You could keep a water tracker to ensure that you drink enough water. Some journals have little images of drinks glass silhouettes and time you have a glass of water you can cross a glass image off. Drink eight glasses a day and you cross eight glass silhouettes off.
Grocery list
Keeping track of the food you need to buy can be very satisfying and make you feel very organised. When you shop in advance and have your food ready to cook and eat it becomes easier to control your calorie intake (if that is how you are monitoring your food) and there will be less temptation for you to go off the rails.
Meal planning
The grocery list and meal planning go hand in hand. Plan your meals in advance and shop in advance. Ryder Carroll suggests keeping a grocery list with the bullet journal
Meal log
Keep a record of meals you enjoyed, meals that are quick to prepare and meals that you can put together quickly because you always have the ingredients available in the kitchen.
Changing your eating habits
One of the biggest factors in anyone’s weight loss journey is the change that your eating habits will undergo. Losing weight isn’t just about losing the actual pounds themselves. It’s also about the new eating patterns, healthy habits and different ways of living your life that your bright new future holds.
Even though you know that you will need to change your habits, sometimes it’s hard to acknowledge that you current food intake has led to your weight gain. We don’t really want to change, we’d quite like to carry on eating croissants and muffins to our heart’s content. However those extra pounds are not going anywhere until you start to set new health goals. Healthy changes to your diet will result in weight change. It is that simple.
Journaling about how you are feeling as you change your habits and lose weight will help you understand yourself better. Journaling will also help you to stick to your weight loss regime because you are grappling with your life and interacting with it.
Workout routine
Fitness goals
We all love the idea of getting fit. And we all know that sometimes the idea of getting fit is much more enticing than the actual process of getting fit! Keeping track of your progress is, again, a great way to monitor your goals and engage with them.
You could use a fitness tracker like a bullet journal weight loss tracker. You could also use your tracker to monitor your energy levels. Once you see the positive benefits of your new eating and fitness regime it will encourage you to continue with your goal.
Fitness plans
Aside from keeping fit to help you lose weight, being fit, and having good health is a great idea in itself. So what do you want your fitness plan to look like? What kind of exercise do you want to do? Do you want to mix it up with a variety of exercise types? Is there something in particular that you do or don’t want to do?
You can create fun charts and trackers for your fitness plans. You can ever create an inspirational mood board in your journal to encourage you to keep to your fitness plans.
Try and incorporate some aerobic exercise and some strength training into your fitness plans. And then monitor what you are doing. Life is for living and exercise can be great fun. Tracking the small changes you make in your life that add up to a big difference is an exciting journey to go on. So dive in!
Mental health
keeping track of your emotional journey is a wonderful exercise. It might not seem like it at the time, on those days when you are struggling or find it difficult. But as you see yourself keeping your promises to yourself and, little by little creating the change you want to see in your life, you will start to feel really empowered. If you keep these promises to yourself, what else might you achieve?
For this reason I would recommend weight loss journaling as part of your overall mental health protocol
Monitor your overall health
Physical activity makes a difference in how you feel each day. It makes a huge difference to your mental health too. So journal about your health and how it changes as you exercise. Track your high blood pressure and see it come down. Keep a mood tracker and watch how your mind, body and spirit learn to remain strong and resilient.
Lifestyle changes
Change is hard and losing weight and getting fit are big changes in your life. Track how you feel in all key areas (weight loss, fitness, mental health) as you go through the process of change. Eagerly anticipate your weight loss success!
Weight loss goals
Weight loss plan
It is totally up to you what weigh loss plan you choose. The simple fact is that weight loss plans work if you stick to them, so choose something that you want to stick to. Not only that, though, but as we’ve discussed i n this blog, make sure that you want to continue eating like this as part of your daily life and routine.
Body measurements
Body measurements, to measure them or not measure them? I think I feel more uncomfortable measuring my hips than weighing myself. The number seems so real! On the other hand don’t be shy about what you measure, don’t make it mean anything other than it being a number and a way of tracking change
Weight log
Keeping a log of your weight loss progress is very motivating so why not keep a log of it. You could create your own weight loss bullet journal. Or you could simply keep a graph and monitor your weekly progress.
Weight loss diary
your weight loss diary journals your thoughts and feelings as you lose weight. It’s great to lose weight but it can bring with it a range of emotions that need dealing with and processing.
I hope you have found these ideas useful. You can adopt them all or take a few and incorporate them into your weight loss journal. Once you have learned how to make a weight loss journal and seen that you can get real results from it, you will be so inspired to continue creating these kinds of journals for all areas of your life. So, be encouraged, your weight loss journal is just the start of a new amazing life!
If you like this blog post you may also like:
How to use weight loss journal templates for powerful change
How to create health journal ideas to inspire your life
How to use journaling to easily track your self improvement goals