[momof4under5]

I was just wondering. A lot of people talk about journals for what you eat and then ones for your moods...but has anyone combinded them and if so how does it work?

Like just because I may feel zapped, down, angry, sad, happy, hyper whatever doesnt mean I am going to say oh i feel this lets go write it down. BUT I wonder what the time period is after you eat something that you should journal your emotions to see how certain food is affecting you? Since I have went off my meds I generally feel happy but I get the bouts of not wanting to get out of bed, or just crying (not very often), or just irritable....

I'd like to do this if anyone has any information on how to PROPERLY do this can you fill me in!!!
THANKS!!! Im taking back my life!!!

[ElanaRose]

I do, because if/when I binge, I like to see if I can figure out what triggered it, so I can avoid that trigger, if possible. If not, have a forewarning.

[SCraver]

I don't think there is a "proper" way to do a journal. Just sit and write!

I am PLANNING on starting a journal. I want to write in it before and after I eat. When I get the urge to eat something I want to write down the following:

Why do I want to eat? Is my tummy rumbling? Or does someone in the conference room have pizza I can smell? Am I just bored? Is there something else I could do instead of eating?

Then after, I want to write how I feel - Did I enjoy the food? Was there soemthing I could have done differently or am I happy with my decision on what/how much I ate?

I really want to work towards changing the way I think about food and then, hopefully, changes in the way I feel about food will follow.

[carols2]

Hello SCraver,

There is a book published by Judy S. Beck, PHD. Entitled "The Beck DIET Solution Weight Loss Workbook. It has a good example of Journaling and loads of other good information to help you. A day by day plan.

I love the book.

Good luck.

[motivated chickie]

Last night, I was feeling a lot of sadness. I decided to journal, but didn't want to express my feelings in words. So, I opened up a sketch book and started doodling and drawing. I found that helpful.

I think journaling can be anything you want it to be.

[tabathana]

Another way to keep track is fitday.com .. it's free, and you can track what you eat, activity, weight, mood... and a crap load of other stuff all together. I started using it rather then trying to work 3 entries around in 3 different journals.

[Mulberry14]

I just bought "The Food and Feelings Workbook" by Karen R. Koenig, LCSW

I think that my weight loss is a good time to think about food, feelings, and learning how to eat a variety of foods healthily that I can rely on for the rest of my life and I'm hoping the workbook is helpful.

I have just started it but I like it so far, it guides you through exercises... you could write the date at the top of the pages as you go through it and it would be kind of like a journal.

[Rosinante]

I've just been starting to think about his. I log all my food and drink religiously into DietPower - it tracks the nutrients as well as the carbs and cals (like the others do too).

Then I have a big double page, just in MS Publisher, where I track my meals. I don't break them down, just list what I ate. It was originally called Pooptracker because I was anxious that when I changed from low carb to low GI my newly found (ahem) 'regularity' would vanish. (It hasn't )

Then I began adding just a note about fluid retention, because it fluctuates most oddly, and there are days when the bloat goes down but the weight goes up, and vice versa.

Now I'm thinking about adding a mood note too, and maybe a hunger one. Most of the time I'm nicely full - but last week there were a couple of days when, for no reason that I knew, I could have put the dogs between slices of (lowcarb) bread and scoffed them, I was so hungry.

I can't cope, I don't think, with full on emotion-journalling: I just don't know what all's in there, and I'm not ready to find out yet; but I'm going to start the mood note. I've conquered daily weighing, because I began to see patterns; now I want to conquer mood changes too.

[ghlover]

I use fitday.com to track all my calories, moods, and my journal entries, I have been a member for years, but I find 3fc the members here at the forum are more responsive and caring, the forum at fitday is not as active as this one is

[esther130]

I tried a food journal several times. It just wasn't for me. Obsessively writing about everything I ate made me unhappy (and hungry). Then I felt guilty for not writing. On top of all the other things I feel guilty for.

Nevertheless, research shows that keeping a food journal does help. A lot of people find it helpful, as all the above responses show.

So, I suggest you definitely try it out. If it helps you, then you have another tool. If you don't like, please don't feel guilty about it (like I did).

[SilverLife]

Momof4, if I understood your question correctly, here is what I write down, using a plain tablet of paper. Some days I only use one page, some days several. It depends on how many notes I make. I write down notes from reading and research on metabolism, too.

The exact amounts of what I eat, the time, how I feel after eating them.

For example: 6:30. 1 cup of oolong tea. More awake. [Meaning, it perked me up.] 2nd cup. Pressure in head and strange feeling. [Meaning, I drank too much tea.]

I write down my exercise: what, how long. For ex.: Gardening: 40 min.
Callanetics: 40 mins. Walking: 30 min. Rebounding: 20 min. Stretching: 10 min. (I don't do any really strenuous exercises, except mowing the lawn, raking leaves, and hauling buckets of water or ladders. On those days, I have to take an extra rest. A younger or more athletic person might want to note how she feels after sprinting, or intensive weight training, etc.)

I also keep track of my food intake on fatsecret.com as well. I keep track of grams of protein, fat, and carbs as well as calories.

When I keep the ratios of protein, fat, and carbs balanced, I feel steadier, calmer, more poised and even.

I use Dr. Bernstein's diabetic diet, for balancing the carbs, even though I am not diabetic.

The rest of my food plan is in my signature.

Hope this helps a bit. I have found that keeping a food and exercise diary has helped me to be in much better control of my eating and how I feel.

Sending you best wishes.

[ddpmkrupa]

I think it's wonderful to get your feelings out of your head and onto paper because it's really a huge stress reliever. During an especially hard time in my life I would wake up in the middle of the night a lot and I'd write down what was bothering me and it really lifted the weight off of my shoulders. Give it a try and keep it simple nobody else will see it. All the best!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AuntBea]

I used a food journal that was extremely helpful to me a few years ago; I did pour my heart into it with emotions, goals, dreams, etc., all relating to not wanting to live as an overweight woman any longer. I felt it held me accountable. Other times I've started food journals and not kept them up. This time I am using a food journal again, and making myself be ac****able to it somehow reinforces to myself I'm taking this latest weight-loss journey seriously.

[AuntBea]

Sorry about that. My keyboard had a fit.

I wanted to add that I put in my journal my moods, but also TIPS that occur to me, tools I acquire. Yesterday I tucked my tank top inside my sweat pants so I could take a "face the facts" picture of myself to chart my progress. It was NOT a pretty sight. I kept asking myself how I hadn't really SEEN how big I've gotten. So my latest tool is to tuck my shirt into my pants when I'm at home by myself and walking around where I'll have to pass full-length mirrors. It's a reminder I really cannot take my eye off the ball this time.
This might sound simple and hard to forget, but I really think that by writing it in my daily journal, it'll reinforce it better. Today's tool that I thought of is to reread every week my journal. I think in the past I've written things in the journal and then just forgotten it all. Not now; I'll revisit it so I'll have reminders.