I lost 90 pounds in 2014.  Much of my success I attribute to keeping a food and practise diary.  I believe that if you lot burn more calories than y'all swallow, you lot will lose weight.  And there is no better way to proceed track of all this than to write information technology downwardly.

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I am a fan of journaling

It is no secret that I dearest to write and keep journals.  I have journals, lists, logs and spreadsheets for virtually things that are important to me. I have done this since my outset days in grade schoolhouse when I started my commencement diary.  And now, with chemo brain and aging, it is ever so important that I write things downward.  I continue a notebook beside me at virtually times.  It is an eclectic book of meanderings, only, more than importantly, it also keeps my nutrient log handy.

Over the years, I have struggled with weight maintenance.  I take washed my fair share of fad diets and not-so-fad diets.  The weight comes off… and then it comes right back on, sometimes with a vengeance, when I stop dieting.

And so, in 2014, I decided Not to diet.  Instead, I lost my 90 pounds the sometime fashion mode… controlling my portion size and calories, along with making healthy food choices and exercising.  Information technology is completely possible to practise it this way.

And I lost this weight through hard work and journaling my weight loss journey.

7 Benefits of Journaling for Weight Loss

A report published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine found that people who kept a food diary doubled the amount of weight they lost.  More than two thirds of the report participants who journaled lost plenty weight to reduce their risk for eye affliction, diabetes and stroke.

Let'due south explore more benefits of keeping a weight loss journal.

ane. Tracking Weight Loss Math

Calories In – Calories Out

I know there is controversy about whether weight problems are solely a matter calories in – calories out.  And I do know that metabolism and how we process our nutrient is very complex.  There are so many hormones, gut microbiome and other factors involved in weight loss, gain and maintenance, that it is impossible to become through it all in one blog post.  Perhaps I volition try to tackle that in a serial of posts i day.

In the meantime, for most people, eating likewise many calories means weight gain.  Merely we can burn off some of the calories we eat with do.  Taking this simple concept, because I like to simplify things in my life, I lost 90 pounds by maintaining a calorie deficit.

What do I mean by calorie deficit?  It means burning off more than calories than you take in.  It does non mean that you go hungry.  I tin can't stand the feeling of hunger.  It means that yous plan your meals, make wise food choices, exercise and write everything down.  So, at the end of the day, you have burned more you lot have consumed.  Tracking all your calories in and calories out is necessary for this to work.  But it does work.  I am a living example.

Balancing Nutrition

When I said that I made wise nutrient choices, balancing diet is what I meant.  Eating a balance of poly peptide, fat, carbohydrates and fibre is important to stay healthy.

I too needed to ensure that I ate enough calcium and iron, every bit the medications I was on robbed my torso of these nutrients.  And so, I tracked my food to ensure that I was eating enough of these two minerals.  In that location was no other way to ensure I was getting enough.

Or possibly it is worse. Getting too much of one food can be just equally bad for our wellness.  I was bad with sugary foods in the beginning and my food logs alerted me to that fact every single twenty-four hour period until I learned to be meliorate at information technology.

ii. Accountability in Weight Loss

We have a responsibility to ourselves for our wellness.  No one can brand us lose weight or choose healthy foods.  Nosotros must determine this for ourselves.

We know we should be losing weight.  Everywhere we await, in the news, doctor's part, social media, nosotros are told that it is not healthy to be overweight.  Certainly, obesity has been linked to many diseases, including diabetes, middle disease and cancers.  Nosotros know this!  And so, why don't we stick to the program and lose the weight?

Role of it is that we don't hold ourselves accountable.  In fairness, virtually of us don't really know how to hold ourselves accountable. Nosotros seek out the assistance of organizations, such as Weight Watchers, to hold usa accountable through counterbalance-ins and support groups.

But how do we practice this ourselves without joining a programme?  If we can internalize our own accountability, we don't rely on others to practise it for us.  This is the path to sustained weight loss and a healthier life.

Journaling is a tool to do this.  We can hold ourselves accountable by logging our progress, pitfalls, and successes.  It is easier to exist responsible for our choices and progress if we run into it in front of the states.

These TrainRite Meaty Fitness Journals are great.
I bought one to runway my weight training.

3. Keeps United states of america Honest

Writing downward our weight or calories consumed makes information technology real.  That may sound giddy; of course it's real.  This is data.  These are facts.  They are existent whether we write them down or not.

However, if we don't log the numbers, our minds can trick with us.  We tin can more than easily rationalize away those french fries or jelly-filled donuts we desire to eat, for example.  "I merely had an egg and toast for breakfast, its okay to have this donut for a snack."  But those extra calories add up quickly.  Especially when we forgot nigh all that extra fat we ate in the form of a fried egg and buttered toast.

And exercise tin exist easily manipulated.  I get it.  You lot are tired.  So, doing less is likewise easy to hide and forget when it is not logged.  "I went to the gym today.  I am proficient!"  Just, you simply did one-half the squats you were suppose to and simply did 2/three the cardio y'all were planning.

Maybe yous excused it by saying that tomorrow you lot would do extra.  Just tomorrow comes, you are tired again and don't do those actress squats or that extra cardio.  These little minuses add up, leaving you lot wondering why the weight isn't coming off.

Be honest with yourself. Use a journal to assistance keep you lot honest.

4. Identifies Areas of Struggle

I struggled with weight loss most of my adult life.  I was a yo-yo-er.  The weight came off.  Then I stopped dieting and exercising, went back to my old habits and the weight came dorsum on. I was frustrated with myself.  It wasn't until I logged my food that I saw where the problems were.

I am a carboholic.  Logging my food through the day for a couple of weeks helped me to recognize this.  I love carbs and I ate a lot of them in my previous years.  Information technology became very apparent in my journaling.

The other thing I noticed most myself is that I eat at nighttime.  I seem to take an uncontrollable appetite in the evening hours.  It was through journaling that I was able to recognize this.  Over half of my calories and carbs were consumed betwixt 6:00 – ten:00pm.  Recognizing this was the beginning step towards correcting it.

So, logging can help us figure out where we are struggling and why.  Once I figured out where my issues were, I did a little self reflection to decide why.  I could then take steps to right the problem.

This little journal got rave reviews.
Hello New Me: xc twenty-four hour period nutrient and activity tracker

5. A Daily Reminder

Making the commitment to log food and practise daily tin can go on good for you habits in the front of our minds.  Every time we brand a log entry, we are reminded of our commitment to health.

Logging daily is important. Skipping a twenty-four hours here and at that place makes it easier to skip ii days, and then 3 days. Then, before you know it, you've stopped and yous are back to your one-time habits.

Logging daily keeps u.s. on track daily. You can't stay on runway today if you are writing it all downward tomorrow.

six. Tracks Goals & Rewards

This is the best part of journaling; setting out some goals and rewards for achieving them.  We all love to be rewarded for our efforts.  Writing down some strategic and easily obtainable goals helps us keep an interest in our weight loss journeying.

I wrote about setting goals for success in my commodity on Turn Dreams Into Reality with Goals Not Resolutions.  In this commodity I show you how to develop actionable goals that are achievable. And it shouldn't be a surprise that I tell you to write your goals and action steps down.

Journaling can increment our success rate by as much as 70%.

Some examples for advantage levels may be:

  • Fourth dimension: daily, weekly, biweekly or monthly rewards for sticking with the programme
  • Weight: losing 3, 5, 10, 15 or 20 pounds can all be rewarded along the journey
  • Forcefulness: bench pressing 50, 100, 125 or 150 pounds can exist rewarded for improvements
  • Cardio: running 1 mile, three miles, 6 miles or 10 miles tin be rewarded as progress is made

Log your progress and reward yourself for a job well washed.  Try to selection non-food rewards.

7. Establishes Good for you Addictions

Keeping a daily food and exercise journal has been the way to establishing salubrious habits for me.  Not only is it a daily reminder for me to eat healthy foods and to exercise, but it also helped me establish these things as habits.

Over time, I just did these things without even thinking almost them.  I merely knew my calorie allowances.  My meal calories became easier to calculate.  I was able to keep my food choices within these calories.  And I knew what exercises I needed to do to burn extra calories so I could swallow the calories I loved.

It all became so instinctive for me.  Logging helped me to form salubrious food and do habits.

How to Journal for Weight Loss

At that place are so many different ways to journal our weight loss journeys.  Old fashioned pen on newspaper, fancy bullet journals, estimator spreadsheets and electronic apps are all valid means to go along track of food and exercise.

Permit's briefly explore the pros and cons of each of these methods.

Diaries or Notebooks

Instance of a Nutrient Diary in a pocket sized notebook

Keeping a weight loss diary can be as simple every bit writing in a notebook.  To help me get motivated, I like to purchase a pretty journal, but that isn't necessary.

I have besides used postal service-it notes that I place inside a notebook.

I write my nutrient, practise, calories, how I am feeling, goals, quotes or inspirations into my notebooks.  I like blank page notebooks for this very reason; flexibility.

Pros:

  • Inexpensive
  • Flexible
  • Can be custom congenital for specific needs
  • Can easily add goals, thoughts, ideas
  • Keeps everything in one place

Cons:

  • Bare pages are not beginner friendly
  • Need to learn what to track
  • Calorie values are non readily available

To assist become you lot started, I created a Personal Weight Loss Planner that you can download and print out.  Click here for access to all the Pink Ribbon Runner printable templates.

Bullet Journal

If you search online for "Bullet Journal" or "BuJo" for brusque, you will see amazing pictures of what other people accept come up up with.  Some of these journals are stunning and beautiful.  I wish I had these skills.

A bullet journal is essentially a notebook with a specific system of personal arrangement developed past Ryder Carroll.  It keeps all your lists, reminders, schedules, tasks, etc. in one notebook.

The one central feature of this type of journaling is an index, so that you lot can easily find what y'all need inside. Since nutrient and exercise logging is a lifetime endeavor, having an index is a great aid.

 If you want to acquire more than about bullet journaling bank check out bulletjournal.com

Pros:

  • Inexpensive
  • Flexible
  • Has an alphabetize
  • Tin can be custom built for specific needs
  • Pretty (if yous are artistic and have time)
  • Keeps everything in 1 place

Cons:

  • Blank pages are not beginner friendly
  • Can be fourth dimension consuming to prepare and use
  • May require some graphing and art skills (optional)
  • Must look up food and exercise calories separately

Computer Spreadsheets

Instance of a Figurer Spreadsheet for Weight Loss Tracking

I accept used computer spreadsheets before.  I constitute them quick and like shooting fish in a barrel to fix and use. Merely before I had Office products on my jail cell phone and tablet, I had to be sitting at my estimator to input my data.  I constitute I was doing double logging.  I would write my nutrient on a mucilaginous annotation and so type it into the computer later in the mean solar day.

And so, I ditched the computer spreadsheet. Only keeping a transmission notebook was enough for me.

Simply if you dearest computer spreadsheets, then this is the method for you.

Pros:

  • Most people have a computer, tablet or smart phone
  • Tin be set up quickly
  • Easy to log
  • Can easily correct errors or change plan as needed

Cons:

  • Computers are costly
  • Not always handy
  • Technical knowledge of spreadsheet software
  • Must expect up food and practice calories separately

Electronic Apps

Then I establish apps on my phone and tablet that would practise it all for me!  Instead of looking up calorie and nutrient data separately, these wonderful and industrious web developers designed some apps to practise information technology for the states.

My favourite is MyFitnessPal, as it connects with my Garmin Connects account and automatically downloads my exercise calories.  I am currently using the free version of this app to track my food and exercise.

I have likewise used SparkPeople and MyPlate.  But I know there are others out in that location too.  I just haven't tried whatsoever others.

The photo to the right is a screenshot from my food diary on MyFitnessPal. > > >

Pros:

  • Easy to set up and use
  • Math washed for you
  • Doesn't take a lot of fourth dimension
  • Food nutrient and calories data readily available
  • Some automatically add calories burned
  • Some take badges as rewards for hitting milestones

Cons:

  • some demand purchase or paid subscription
  • limited in calculation goals, thoughts and ideas
  • many require different apps for exercise and food logging

What Should Y'all Log in Your Weight Loss Periodical?

I am currently using apps to log my exercise and food.  But I apply a notebook to log my goals, thoughts, ideas, inspirations and feelings.  Fifty-fifty though I use two methods, I find it is the most time efficient method for me.  Simply you lot need to do what works for you lot.

You don't have to log everything, of course.  Choice what works for you.

Here are some ideas of what yous can log:

Food

  • what yous ate for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinks
  • calories of each food detail or each meal
  • total daily calories consumed
  • macronutrients: protein, fat, carbohydrates, cobweb
  • specific micronutrients (due east.g. vitamins and minerals) that are important to you
  • menu plans
  • recipes
  • grocery lists

H2o

  • number of glasses of water consumed

Exercise

  • Cardio workouts
  • Strength workouts
  • Specific area of body worked on: legs, arms, cadre, etc.
  • Calories burned each exercise
  • Total daily calories burned
  • Reps, data or statistics of each specific workout

Goals & Rewards

  • Terminate weight loss goal
  • Weight loss goals broken down into smaller chunks
  • Promises to yourself
  • Activeness steps or to-practise lists
  • Advantage levels and honor when accomplished
  • Weigh-in data: weight, inches lost, measurements, BMI, etc.

How You Feel

  • Daily emotions
  • Reflections
  • Inspirations & motivational quotes
  • Energy levels
  • Successes
  • Ideas for modify

I promise you discover a journaling method that works for you.

If y'all want more weight loss tips, cheque out the Pink Ribbon Runner Weight Loss Athenaeum.

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