Fitday was great advice I received from here, as well as to measure myself instead of following the scales -- so my next step -- do I journal?

Do you? What makes you journal? Why do you think it helps? And what type of things do you write?

I journal and I find that it helps a lot for multiple reasons: A) I write down EVERYTHING I eat so there are no unaccounted for cookies or chips that sneak in everyday B) I will say no to "just a bite" cause I don't want to write it down C) I write the time I eat things to so I know what time of day my body gets hungry vs those times you just feel like eating again D) I also have a little calendar in my journal of my mini goals, "rules", rewards, recorded weigh ins, etc... E) It's a hard copy of my hard work everyday! Everyonce in a while I miss a day or two and it's no big deal you don't need to be obsessive about it. I suggest you give it a try and see if you like it, good luck!

I use the WW quick trak diary. In it I document everything I eat, and things I drink if they cost me ww points. In the front of it I keep a running log of my weigh ins, TOM's (helps me go back and look if I'm having one of those days where I want to eat everything in sight!), and weight loss progress to date. On the pages where I write my food intake I also note what day it is and little notes from the day, like "dinner at Mom's", and also what intentional exercise I had that day. When I had the stomache flu two weeks ago, I also noted that on the pages. Helps me to understand what was going on if I go back and wonder "why did I eat that?"

I track everything I eat in an excel sheet. I have a live journal and post weekly my WIs, my measurements (about once per month) as well as anything else going on in my life. I put when clothes fit, how I'm feeling, exercise accomplishments, and general life.

Hey Shelby!

I totally recommend journaling.. I've found it to be sooooooo useful in my weight loss journey so far.

I use fitday for recording foods and exercise.

I have a "weight-loss plus" blog. I say "plus" because I also talk about other things, mostly ones that bother me and are somehow related to my weight, i.e. "if I don't talk about this I'm going to eat the entire refridgerator, including the baking soda."

I have an excel spreadsheet where I record my weigh-ins for the week.

And I also have a paper journal for things that are personal, and to vent frustrations.


All of these have been priceless in my journey. I used to binge three or four times a week, now it's so rare. I am re-learning a relationship with food, and I feel like I can only do that if I explore what made me learn it another way.

I totally recommend all of the above to anyone! If nothing else, it's worth a shot.

I also journal. I used to keep a personal journal and a food journal, but I've started to combine them. I don't just list the foods I've eaten, but my thoughts and feelings before and after the meal, or my reaction to what I've eaten. It's helping me learn alot more about why I eat what I do, and helping me stay committed, even during rough patches.

I just enter my foods and activity on fitday. I don't do a personal journal, just because to me, it's too much work.

Thanks everbody -- not sure if or when I'll start this. I'm not a good writer, but I may start it and see how it goes. Jtammy -- I'm kind of the same way, would rather use the time for something else. I've been doing fitday with food and activity -- but when I started that I thought it was a pain in the butt, but now that I'm into it I don't mind (since I eat the same breakfast, lunch, etc. almost every day). I'm just slipping a lot and thought maybe a journal might help.

I use a journal, but not to track my food intake. I never had an type of journal at all until I started this journey. My journal consists of my goals and dreams and hopes for the future. The things I want to accomplish by losing all the weight. I still add to it from time to time. I felt this very, very useful in those first few weeks when I was having cravings. I'd read the journal and it would remind me of why I was doing this. I also have in there my weekly weigh-ins. I put my measurements in there at the end of December. I wish I would have done it in the beginning. Or whenever I get a particularly nice comment and the such. I find it very useful. I love looking back at it and writing when I've reached a particular goal and adding in new ones.

As far as tracking food, in the beginning of my journey I wrote my daily food intake on a sheet of paper. I didn't keep up with it for very long. I felt I no longer needed to. I don't usually either track my food or activity on Fitday either. I always eat the same breakfast, 1 of 3 different lunches and 1 of several different dinners. And a few different snacks. So I pretty much know the calorie/nutritional value of what I'm eating every day. I've got it pretty much down pat.

For me No, if i keep a diary i fail, with out one i do much better