Step 3 To Getting On Track: Keep A Record

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Lacey, here!

This step is going to be totally foreign to me. I've never been one to record my day in detail, but I have a feeling it's going to make a difference.  The idea behind keeping an active journal of your food intake, exercise regimen, and daily emotions helps keep you in check with yourself.

Keeping a log allows you to be aware of your actions and gives you a realistic sense of how you're eating. Instead of "I only had a couple snacks today" you can see with your own eyes that, actually, you had one bag of chips, a candy bar, 2 brownies, and a cup of yogurt. Now, your later self can distinctly remember, with detail, what you actually had, and not what your mind is tricking you into thinking you had.  It's easier to make change when you're confronted with the issue.

One of the more important aspects of keeping a journal allows you to track how you physically feel. If your concerned about food intolerance or any allergies, documenting when you eat, how much you eat, and how you feel (bloated, headache, constipated, nauseous) can help you get to the root of the problem.

Ultimately, the goal of the logging your days is that it will hold you accountable to yourself, encourage you to make better decisions, and gives you the chance to look back at a truthful account of the decisions your making, and not a fantastical world your mind tends to make up when dealing with guilt.

Here's how I organize my journaling:

On the front of the first page I keep track of my weight as soon as I wake up, what time I woke up, my meals, and workout routine. You can keep track of these things as you go throughout the day. Feel free to keep a small notepad in your purse or even a piece of paper so you can re-write it later in your book.  On the back of that page, I keep a more personal/emotional log of how I'm feeling, where I'm feeling discouraged or encouraged, and any fun things I did that day. This tends to get done just before bed. I don't always go into full  sentences; just bullet points or phrases. Some days I write paragraphs. Whatever feels right. Then the next page starts a new day.

The about my day is on the back of Monday's log. This is the page where I document
non-workout/food stuff, my feelings, etc. Obviously I didn't take a picture of a completed day
for privacy reasons.

This is definitely a task I have to remind myself to do, and it's not always the most fun, but truthfully, when I started writing down everything, I began making more conscious decisions about my food and exercise. It's as if I don't want to embarrass myself later by going back to read and exclaiming "Why did you eat that?! Why didn't you exercise that day?! Shame on you!"

Here's a great article that talks further about the studies done behind journaling and weight loss.

Just remember, we're our own worst critics. 

Let's use that to our advantage.

Happy Healthy Living!