How Journaling Can Help You Lose Weight
Read Time: 7-8 minutes
Journaling is a powerful tool that can help you stay on track in your fat loss journey.
A number of studies have shown that people who keep a food log and journal while working towards fat loss are more likely to reach their goals.[1, 2 ,3, 4]
Benefits of Journaling
One way that journaling can help you reach your fat loss goals is that it allows you to hold yourself accountable. Writing down what you eat, how much you exercise, and how you feel can help you stay on track and keep your goals in mind. It's easy to lose sight of your goals when you're busy or stressed, but keeping a daily journaling routine can help you stay focused and motivated.
Journaling can also help you become more aware of your habits and patterns. By recording what you eat, you can see where you may be overindulging or where you can make healthier choices. You can also track your exercise routine to see if you're being consistent and challenging yourself enough. This awareness can help you make changes to your lifestyle that will support your fat loss goals.
Journaling is not just about tracking your progress, but also reflecting on your journey. By reflecting on your experiences, you can identify what is working and what needs improvement. You can also celebrate your victories and milestones, which can help boost your confidence and motivation.
Journaling can also be a great stress relief tool. When you're feeling overwhelmed or anxious, taking a few moments to write down your thoughts and feelings can help you process your emotions. This can be particularly helpful when it comes to food cravings or emotional eating. Writing down how you feel can help you identify triggers and develop healthier coping strategies.
Finally, journaling can provide inspiration and motivation. You can write down your goals, affirmations, or quotes that inspire you. You can also keep a record of your progress and look back on how far you've come. Seeing your progress in writing can be a powerful motivator to keep going and stay committed to your fat loss journey.
How to Journal for Fat Loss
The first step to setting up your fat loss journal is deciding what medium you’ll use. You can use a simple pen-and-paper journal, the notes app on your phone, or you can sign up for my 28-Day Fat Loss Challenge program and use the ABC Trainerize app.
You can also create your own journal by downloading and printing the worksheets linked in the button below:
1 Goal-Setting & Measurements
The first entry in your fat loss journal should include a section for recording your starting point and setting goals. Write down the start date, then include information like your current body weight, body measurements, waste-to-hip ratio, and body fat percentage (if you know it).
Next, set a goal for your fat loss. Make sure that you set a SMART fat loss goal that is:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic for you
Time-bound (i.e., set a deadline)
A specific & measurable fat loss goal would be losing a certain number of pounds/kilograms or achieving a waste-to-hip ratio of 0.85 or less (recommended for women) or 0.9 or less (recommended for men) [WHO].
In thinking about the rate of fat loss that you can expect to achieve realistically, consider the following recommendations for burning fat according to the calorie intake:
The easiest calorie deficit that I recommend is to aim for losing 0.5 pounds per week, eating a calorie deficit of 250 calories below maintenance. This is usually pretty easy for people to maintain for an extended period of time without risking hitting a plateau.
If you’d like to lose weight more quickly, you could aim to lose 1 pound of fat per week by eating a 500 calorie deficit. This is a bit more challenging for most people, but it can be very rewarding to see fat loss happen more rapidly. The lower you go in your calorie deficit, however, you run a greater risk of hitting a plateau sooner. So make sure that you plan for a diet break every few weeks to keep your metabolism from slowing.
The most aggressive approach that experts recommend is aiming for 2 pounds of fat loss per week eating a 1,000 calorie deficit. This is the lowest I usually will permit my clients to go, since it’s usually really stressful on the body and can put you at increased risk of getting sick or injured. Eating a low calorie intake can also make you hit a plateau much faster, so you’ll need to plan for regular diet breaks every 4-8 weeks to keep your metabolism boosted.
2 Daily Entrees
After you have recorded your starting point and set a goal for your fat loss, you can use your journal to record your progress along the way by tracking daily metrics like how many calories or macronutrients you eat every day, your energy levels, your mood, workout progress, daily steps, etc.
Use the following questions as a guide for what to write in your daily entrees:
Overall, how did you feel physically and emotionally today?
Did you successfully log everything you ate and drank?
How did you feel after eating? Did you feel satisfied or still hungry? Did you experience any guilt or shame? Did you enjoy the food?
Did you exercise today? Record the duration and type of exercise. How did it make you feel?
What challenges did you face today? Did you have any cravings, temptations, or stressors that affected your eating or exercise habits?
What strategies did you use to overcome challenges or stay on track with your goals? Write down any coping mechanisms, self-care practices, or positive affirmations that helped you.
What are your goals for tomorrow? Write down any specific actions you plan to take to support your weight loss journey, such as meal planning, grocery shopping, or scheduling exercise.
Any other thoughts or notes you would like to make?
3 Weekly Reflections
To hold yourself accountable, it’s a good idea to practice reflecting and setting new goals at the end of every week during your fat loss journey. I usually ask my clients to send me answers to the following questions every week:
How did you feel physically and emotionally over the course of the week?
Rate how motivated you felt last week overall on a scale of 1-10 (1 being “not motivated at all” and 10 being “super motivated”).
Rate your overall energy last week on a scale of 1-10 (1 being “extremely tired” and 10 being “I had lot of energy”)
What was your nutrition goal last week?
How well did you do in sticking to your nutrition plan last week on a scale of 1 to 10? (1 being “I didn’t follow the plan at all” and 10 being “I followed the plan perfectly”)
Rate your overall hunger last week on a scale of 1-10 (1 being “not hungry at all” and 10 being “I was hungry all the time”)
What was your exercise goal last week?
How well did you do in sticking to your exercise plan last week on a scale of 1 to 10? (1 being “I didn’t follow the plan at all” and 10 being “I followed the plan perfectly”)
Rate your overall soreness last week on a scale of 1-10 (1 being “not sore at all” and 10 being “super sore”)
What challenges did you face last week that made it difficult for you to follow your plan?
What changes do you plan on making in the coming week to better follow your plan?
When you take time to reflect on our progress each week, you get a chance to celebrate our wins. Acknowledging things that went well will help you to keep making those good choices in the future.
Reflection also gives us an opportunity to pinpoint where we're struggling. Use the questions in your journal to identify what things made it hard for you to follow your fat loss plan this past week. Try to practice doing this without judging yourself, and instead focus on identifying these things as obstacles to overcome. Also take a moment to strategize about how you might overcome these obstacles in the future, and commit to trying new things next week.
The Bottom Line
Journaling is a powerful tool that can support your fat loss journey in multiple ways, from increasing self-awareness and accountability to reducing stress and providing motivation. By tracking your progress, reflecting on your experiences, and identifying challenges, you can develop a deeper understanding of your habits and make informed adjustments to your lifestyle. Whether you're setting goals, logging daily entries, or reviewing weekly reflections, journaling keeps you focused, motivated, and committed to your success. So, grab a journal, start writing, and take control of your fitness journey—one entry at a time!
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References
[1] Stuckey H. L., Boan J., Kraschnewski J. L., Miller-Day M., Lehman E. B., Sciamanna C. N. Using positive deviance for determining successful weight-control practices. Qualitative Health Research. 2011;21(4):563–579. doi: 10.1177/1049732310386623.
[2] Hollis J. F., Gullion C. M., Stevens V. J., et al. Weight loss during the intensive intervention phase of the weight-loss maintenance trial. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2008;35(2):118–126. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2008.04.013.
[3] Boutelle K. N., Kirschenbaum D. S. Further support for consistent self-monitoring as a vital component of successful weight control. Obesity Research. 1998;6(3):219–224.
[4] Abildso C. G., Zizzi S., Gilleland D., Thomas J., Bonner D. A mixed methods evaluation of a 12-week insurance-sponsored weight management program incorporating cognitive-behavioral counseling. Journal of Mixed Methods Research. 2010;4(4):278–294. doi: 10.1177/1558689810376949.
