Journaling

ninerbuff

Do you journal? Personally I don't "write" a journal, but I do reflect everyday on things I do and how I feel day to day online.
Many times I'll go back and see how I handled challenging days (like when my mom passed) when days like that come along.
I know in Zoom, they have you do that which is probably why many get a better success rate than just dieting alone.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

herblovinmom

Hmm, I don’t journal per say either, but I love a planner, I fill it in with lots of goals and dreams and ideas or whatever’s going on that day or month and sometimes do some drawings along side my plans and notes of inspiration. I do this pretty regularly and I’d say it has helped me focus on my health goals. It’s also good to be able to look back and remember certain events.
I like it👍

skinny809

I journal. It keeps me on track.

justanotherjen13

Yes, I have a journal on a writing site I've been using for years. It started as a writing journal (to vent my frustration with stories I was writing) back in February 2017. I've only missed a couple days since then. My routine now is to get up, get coffee, do some Duolingo then go on my walk for a half hour and then I come back and do my journal where I recap everything I did the day before and what I did that morning and what I plan to do the rest of the day. There's a lot of venting and working through depression issues. It really helps my mental health.

AnnPT77

I do some visual journaling: Very limited words, lot of imagery or even just patterns, mixed media techniques (paint, collage, rubber stamping, pens, pencils, more). Random example (which is about a feeling I had in a near-dreaming state, not at all about weight loss - though that is jotted down food logs in the background!)

hessiondesign4

I've fallen off the Journaling wagon a bit, but I have several. I like to write in them, it's fallen off to monthly or if something happens, but I'm trying to get back in a weekly habit. Sometimes it's the weather, sometimes it's about something I saw, or something I thought, so.etimes I sketch, sometimes it's a story, or a funny or an obituary, sometimes it's a clip from a newspaper or magazine or pressed leaf, it's a varied jumble but when they're full it's a little time capsule

westrich20940

I don't 'journal' in the sense of the word that people think of - but I often do find myself typing some stuff out (like in an email I never send or just even in the Google search bar, or a Word Document)....and then just --- delete it.

Seems like typing it out, gets it out of my head and I can move on. Even though I don't see it again and no one else sees it. I've always laughed when I do it in an email (like I'll get an email from a co-worker and respond to it and write a bunch of stuff...the stuff I'd *like to say...but then delete it and write whatever my actual response is) -- like, "Oh, if I accidentally sent it that would be awful"..lol.

RenaTX

I would like to journal but I wish I could find a community like LiveJournal . I do not like that Livejournal is now Russian owned as it kind of worries me about the safety and it use to be a pretty active community but no more.

But other than the fact that I wish I could find something online which I don't need to setup like Wordpress I do keep a notebook to record health stats .

4M_7M_M4H3R_4EVA

I don't journal per-sa, but now that I am back on here I have started to write notes every night, which reflects on things throughout the day that have impacted my eating/drinking, it is very useful for looking back to see how things are developing.

I call it my Food & Mood Diary.

avatiach

I art journal sporadically — in the same vein as Ann (above). If you are interested in that you might check out the book Art Journal Kickstarter or Lynda Barry’s book Syllabus. I found both to be useful.

chris_in_cal

RenaTX wrote: »

I would like to journal but I wish I could find a community like LiveJournal . I do not like that Livejournal is now Russian owned as it kind of worries me about the safety and it use to be a pretty active community but no more.

But other than the fact that I wish I could find something online which I don't need to setup like Wordpress I do keep a notebook to record health stats .

I am looking into Substack for writing and some aspects of community.

VictorSmashes

I have a journal. It’s a sketchbook too. And a grocery list. And actually, it itself was a craft project. Its about 4x6 inches which I find less daunting for having no emotional stamina to keep a journal. It’s the closest thing to making it easier to reflect but it’s still far from perfect. As it is, I’m back on the wagon, super depressed and on 3 antidepressants…
But at the end of the day, self-reflection is important for sure. Psychology says hand written is best for internalization. It might be true. If journaling online works for you, keep going at it! Something over nothing.

ninerbuff

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SafariGalNYC

That’s a cool idea. I write out notes to myself and have reminder texts … with journaling I can see how fleshing it out would be therapeutic.

cwolfman13

I've journaled off and on in the past, but nothing really specific...just kind of my day to day and it would always seem kind of silly and I'd stop. Recently I went back into therapy for a bout of depression and because my wife sat me down and told me that I needed to figure out what was going on because it was making her as crazy as it was making me (rollercoaster ups and downs).

This past Tuesday I was diagnosed bipolar 2 and one of the things my therapist wants me to do (not necessarily daily) is to journal at least once per week and reflect on my mood and also to journal anytime I feel that mood start to shift so that I can start better defining depressive, stable, and hypomanic episodes and look for triggers, etc. Good times...

northbounder4

Yes I like writing and drawing. I think writing about my goals helps focus my attention on it. It improves my mood when I detail what I've done, because when I look back at my week I can see I was productive and made progress in my hobbies and goals. It also helps me with conversation - like when people ask me what I did over the weekend.

pcm81811

I wish that I could find a great digital online free journal calendar

CrazyMermaid1

I use a paper journal every morning, and it’s mostly about weight management. I weigh myself and record it, reflect how I did on my eating plan the day before, challenges I will face that day (eating out, no time for exercise, special occasions etc) and my plan to stay healthy. It’s not for everyone but it’s been keeping me within my weight range for several years.

LenGray

I've been using a physical, bullet journal-style one for weight loss this time around. It's an overlarge spiral-bound notebook with monthly dividers and very simple spreads. I'm slowly getting fancier (yesterday I added a colorful folded envelope that says 'Break in Case of Starvation' that has easy, 10-minute or less meals on the inside) and it gives me a lot of joy and little interactive elements to keep my brain happy. So far, I have a daily food diary, weigh-in log, reward page, a step counter/exercise calendar, NSV tracker, progress photos, and daily reflection pages. It's been such a huge motivator for me I've started using a separate journal for my writing and am thinking about making one for my art practice as well.

The main reason I decided to make a journal was because the last time I lost a significant amount of weight, I quit after a severe bout of depression. It was very easy to just not open the app. No one in my life cared if I lost weight or not. Once I was ready to try again, I realized that I needed to change some of my inner stories if I was going to succeed and a big part of that was making myself really look at what I was doing and how I was feeling on a daily basis.

So, I got the biggest, brightest notebook I could find and put it where I could see it. I make all my spreads a week ahead of time so, if I miss a day, it's very obvious and I won't let myself tear out pages to hide it. I also see that inactivity ripple across several spreads-- no logs means no step counts means no workout sticker means no weigh-in or measurements. If I have a hard day, I note it and talk about it. If I succeed, I have somewhere to celebrate. There's no judgment and it acts as a support system I create for myself.

MujerVieja72

I was sort of journaling, but nothing really deep.. Just jotting down exercise completed, vitamins taken, etc... just so i don't forget. This app/site is already an extremely useful took to me for keeping track of everything.

ninerbuff

bump

tupelohoney34

I try to journal in the morning, after I wake. I just write the random stuff that is rattling around in my head. It really does help to get it out on paper. I miss it if I don't do it. Sometimes I write for 10 mins...sometimes 30. Then I record sone gratitude, plan my goals for the day, then a 10 min meditation. It really does put me in the right frame of mind to start the day!