Why start a journal?

[YayAnAdmin!]

All the most successful members at PhenForum have weight loss journals. It's no coincidence, because with a journal, you never have to go through tough times alone. There are friends to lean on and they want to help you lose weight just as much as they want to lose the pounds themselves.

A weight loss journal is a great way to keep tabs on your progress and get support from friends to help you stay motivated.

[charlyn]

I think a journal is a great way to learn from what mistakes you might be doing wrong. I have kept one for a couple of years now and its good to look back and see where I was during what time of the year and how I went from one weight to another, and try to find the balance.

[Jayla]

There are tons of advantages to having a journal. It helps you remember things that have been going on now, when you look back from the future. It can be a reminder and a motivater. It can help track progress, and let you know what you're doing wrong, if anything. I think it's also something that would be great to show your doctor if they have any questions about how you're doing with the weight loss. The possibilities are endless.

[charlyn]

I completely agreed. Most people if you ask them what they had for dinner two weeks ago could not tell you, not even a week ago for many more. If you can have something wrote down with exact times its better to judge what might need altering to get the final result you want.

[YayAnAdmin!]

lol............ yeah I think the most important reason to have a journal is so you don't get discouraged... like.... if you don't exercise one day you'll probably feel like you did a bad job... and without a journal to see how well you HAVE been doing, those negative feelings can easily spill over until you convince yourself you never did well in the first place and might as well give up..

I've experienced this pattern and seen it happen to other people time and time again.. so I think it's very important to keep a journal, especially an online journal that friends can read and give you support with.

[Jayla]

I think that if I put my journal online for others to read, I would still have a written one just for myself. I don't want everybody to know everything.

[Jess]

Speaking of having an online journal, where do you feel the best place is to put your weight loss journal? Is there a site that hosts them for free?

[YayAnAdmin!]

You put them in this forum, the weight loss journals forum. Like this site for example, my other site Weight Loss Journals - PhenForum.com

[LbsToLose]

I have never written a general weight loss journal, but I have kept a food journal in the past. It helps a lot-because it makes me feel guilty to have to write down a lot of junk food or over eating. Helps to stop me over eating in that way because I can't justify all the excess.

[Jayla]

Originally Posted by Ian

You put them in this forum, the weight loss journals forum. Like this site for example, my other site Weight Loss Journals - PhenForum.com

I am actually thinking of starting one up right now, and since I've already got tons of information and support from this forum already, I'm hoping it will motivate me to keep going!