Losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight is a long-term endeavor requiring lifestyle changes. A weight loss journal allows you to set goals out in writing, track your progress and even keep a record of your struggles. This makes for a powerful motivation tool. In addition, a weight loss journal is a place for private thoughts. Support from loved ones aids weight loss efforts, but you may want a private outlet as well. While it's up to you what you include in your weight loss journal, there are some standard entries that can be useful.
Step 1
Write down goals for your weight loss efforts. Make objectives safe and realistic, meaning they should reflect weight loss of 1 to 2 lbs. a week, as MayoClinic.com specifies. Opt for manageable short-term goals that don't seem quite as overwhelming as long-term numbers.
Step 2
Set and record short-term process goals that outline what you want to do to lose weight. Include items such as how much aerobic exercise or weight training you intend to do a day or each week, what sources of empty calories you want to eliminate in the near future, what healthier food replacements you want to make right away and other aspects of your weight loss plan.
Step 3
Track the pounds you lose in your journal, and weigh yourself on a set schedule, either daily, every other day, or once a week. Put your scale in the same place every time, on a hard, flat surface, at least a few inches away from the wall; weigh yourself in the morning, after going to the bathroom but prior to eating, always at the same time, and weigh yourself in the nude, as personal trainer and fitness columnist Lisa Johnson recommends.
Step 4
Take a picture of yourself and affix it in your journal so you have a "before" picture from the outset of your weight loss efforts. Take and attach a new picture at one-month intervals to keep a visual record of your progress.
Step 5
Calculate your body mass index, or BMI, once every two months with an online BMI calculator. Record the results.
Step 6
Record your hardships and setbacks to gain perspective. Use these notes to remind yourself that stumbling along the way is acceptable and expected, and that you are always able to move on.
Tips and Warnings
- Use your weight loss journal as a guide to avoiding eating for reasons other than hunger, such as stress, boredom or anger. Note any people, places, occasions, emotions and other triggers that prove consistently detrimental to your weight loss efforts.
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