[CHANGES] 2 quick things and Journaling w/o Judgement

[Sandra Ahten]

Two quick things and some motivation!

1) The support I received after having sent my last email about "my blues" 
was so consoling and helpful to me. Thank you all. I am lifted up, and so 
are my son and family.
-----------------
2) Weight Watchers has free registration, only through Saturday, March 15th. 
If you are going to rejoin, please come to see me. The meetings I work are 
Wednesdays 9:30 a.m., noon, and 5:15 p.m. and Fridays 7:30 a.m., 10a.m., and 
noon at the Champaign Center in the Shoppes of
Knollwood, behind Biaggis on South Neil. I appreciate your support at these 
meetings.
------------------

JOURNALING WITHOUT JUDGEMENT

Journaling. As in writing down what you eat. It seems no matter what "diet" 
you are trying to follow, journaling is always a mandate. There are two 
things that journaling accomplishes: you become conscious of your food 
choices, and you hold yourself accountable for them.  But if in holding 
yourself accountable, you feel guilty, and journaling becomes a form of 
punishment, then eventually you'll stop punishing yourself. So what if you 
could forget the second part, the holding-yourself-accountable, and focus on 
the food consciousness? Try taking the judgment out of journaling.

"I DON'T HAVE TIME..."

This is the number one reason I hear for not journaling. In fact, the more 
you journal, the less time it takes. What takes time is the continual 
internal debate about journaling. What takes time is the
starting and stopping. If you journal daily, it really takes very little 
time. You start remembering the points of things you eat often, and 
estimating also becomes easier.

Perhaps what you mean by "no time" is looking up point values for all your 
foods. Okay, so forgo this. Just write down the food. Write down the points 
or calories of items you already know. Write down an estimated point or 
calorie value. Write down the number of fat grams / fiber grams / calories 
when those numbers are easily accessible to you. When you are curious about 
the count of something and do look it up, write that down. If you are 
willing to do any level of journaling, with the goal of making yourself 
conscious of your food choices, you will find that you are making healthier 
choices. As you make more healthy choices, the journal will become a tool 
for recording your successes. Journaling then becomes a desirable activity, 
something you will look forward to. But you have to be willing to start 
somewhere.

WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO DO?

Here is a list of ways that journaling has worked for different people. 
Which are you willing to do?

-- I am willing to write down all the food I eat. I'm not saying that I'll 
look up the points. I'm not saying that I'll stay in my points range. But I 
am willing to write down every bite that I put in my
mouth.
-- I am willing to write down all the food I eat and at least estimate the 
points for it.
-- I am willing to look up points for foods before I eat them.
-- I am willing to write down foods and use the daily checklist for having 
gotten in my water, exercise, and milk.
-- I won't promise to write down foods before I eat them, or as I go along. 
But I am willing to write down the food that I've eaten by the end of each 
day.
-- I am willing to use my journal as a planner and write down the foods that 
I plan to eat.
-- I am willing to count points as I eat and record them, but I'm not going 
to write down food names.
-- I am going to journal until I have X number of days in a row where I've 
stayed in my point range, then I'm going to give myself a day off.
-- I am going to try journaling on the e-Tools section of the Weight 
Watchers website. (You have to be a current member and have an access code. 
You can get the access code in the WW meeting room.)
-- I am going to buy myself a special journal to record my thoughts and 
feelings whenever I get the urge to eat and hunger isn't a factor.

Personalize journaling for yourself. Decide what success means to you, and 
customize your journaling to fit that definition. Does it mean that you have 
more energy? Then rate your energy level on a scale of 1-10 and record that 
in your journal. Does it mean getting 20 minutes
of exercise every day? Then give yourself a star for every 10 minutes of 
exercise. Does it mean that you don't go into a stage of 
I'll-eat-anything-I-want rebellion? Then draw a heart on your journal when 
you have a day of eating with an attitude of nurture instead of rebellion.

JOURNALING AS OBSERVATION

If you are not journaling and counting points, then any time you do eat 
something that seems indulgent, you tend to feel guilty about it. When you 
are eating and feel guilty, you don't get full enjoyment of the food. This 
can become a vicious cycle -- you eat more, seeking enjoyment, which never 
fully comes because of the guilt. Be willing to start somewhere to break 
this cycle. Eventually, if you use your journal without judgment, just as a 
tool of observation, then you
will become more conscious of your food choices and you will begin to make 
better choices. Journaling really can become a natural process that feels 
right, instead of a restriction-deprivation process that feels punishing. 
When you have been journaling with observation for a while, your own sense 
will dictate how and when to change the process. You will note your results. 
You may be happy with them and decide to keep on as you are. You may decide, 
"I'd really like to
lose a little more weight a little faster." You will then be able to 
thoughtfully decide the approach to take, because you will be accurately 
aware of the actual process you have been following -- as
opposed to judging yourself by the self-impression you hold as having been 
"on" or "off" the dieting wagon.

Be gentle with yourself. You are precious and whole just as you are.

So sincerely,
Sandra

© 2002 by Sandra Ahten
Although I am an employee of Weight Watchers, this message has no
affiliation with Weight Watchers International. I am solely
responsible for the content.






_________________________________________________________________
MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE*  
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus