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Journaling Helps
Set Goals, Keep Track of Progress
By
Jennifer Osborn
The Lose
and Win program is going to emphasize
keeping a journal as a way to weight loss
this year.
Journals, available in a wide
variety of colors and styles, can be
an aid to weight loss. |
|
Staff
Photo By Jennifer Osborn |
The
idea is to make people more aware of how
much they are eating, according to Deborah
Tucker, a Lose and Win Planning Committee
member.
Keeping a journal was an integral part of
weight loss for residents of Dyersville,
Iowa, which inspired the book, “The Town
That Lost a Ton,” on which Lose and Win is
based.
Those
who join Lose and Win will get a journal,
sponsored by Hannaford, to track meals,
snacks and exercise.
The
journal pages feature little shapes to
represent fruit, vegetables, dairy products
and water to check off as they are consumed.
“That’s really the only way at the end of
the day you know what you’ve consumed,” said
Iris Simon, Health Link coordinator.
And
since participants will each get a pedometer
this year, there is space on each page to
track daily steps as well as steps taken to
date.
A
trio of boxes to check, about that day’s
stress level and emotions, whether ecstasy
or agony, finish the page.
The
emotional check-in is to help figure out why
you ate what you did.
“Why
did they eat the chocolate cake somebody
brought to the office, and things like
that,” Simon said.
Each
page will feature a motivational quote. The
Lose and Win Planning Committee selected the
quotes after sifting through hundreds of
possibilities.
Keeping a journal provides numerous benefits
to help with weight loss, according to an
article at the Web site, Total Body Fitness
www.tbfinc.com.
Journaling helps set goals, reduce stress
and helps one focus, the article states.
“Writing in a journal creates more personal
awareness, and therefore more focus on the
issues that are important to you,” according
to Total Body Fitness.
The
process helps weight loss participants get
organized as far as what they want to
accomplish each day, month, year or
lifetime.
The
process of keeping a journal creates a
reminder of what is happening in your life.
“You
are creating a record and with that record
in hand, it is easier to see patterns,
changes and shifts,” the article states. |
