One of the best things you can do while pursuing your weight loss goals is to keep a journal of your efforts.
Get a small notebook and use one page (or spread of two pages) per day. Write the date and day of the week at the top.
The most important thing to keep track of is the food you eat. I write the name and amount of each food plus the time of day it was eaten. If you are counting anything like calories or grams of carbs, write that down, too.
When you weigh or measure yourself, write that in your journal, too. Also record any exercise you did that day.
Some people like to write down the moods or feelings they experienced that day.
Why write down all this information? It’s easier to make sure you are eating the right amount of food each day if you keep track of it. Leaving out a serving can be just as bad as having an extra one.
Keeping a journal will also give you a sense of accomplishment, since each day that you do it, you can feel good about taking the effort to record that day’s activity. You might also find it keeps you more honest on your weight loss plan, since you know you have to write down everything you did, good or bad.
Another major benefit of keeping a weight loss journal is that it lets you look back at the past accurately to see what went right or wrong. Let’s say you go a week or two with no noticeable progress. Your journal may reveal that you didn’t really follow your plan most of that time, even though you might think you did.
The opposite is also true. If you had some especially good results, it’s nice to be able to see exactly what you did to achieve them. Over time, an accurately-kept weight loss journal will be valuable to you. It may even become a prized possession.
One more benefit is that if you decide to consult with a doctor, nutritionist, or other professional, you can show them your weight loss journal so they will know exactly what you’ve been doing.
It’s important to write in your weight loss journal every day. If you put it off, you forget details and eventually forget everything, or confuse one day’s activity with another.
Keeping a weight loss journal may seem like a lot of work, but it really only takes a few minutes a day. It sure beats getting off track and delaying your weight loss results because you didn’t follow your plan.
Get more of her weight loss tips and information at www.fastweightlossforwomen.com