Do you really need to journal?

Someone asked me if I "journal."  This always makes me think of Weight Watchers, which teaches its devotees to write down everything they eat, every glass of water they drink, and every exercise they do throughout the day.  It's a system that works wonders for lots of people, as it heightens our awareness of where those "hidden calories" (from licking the spoons and spatulas, for instance) come from.

I don't "food journal" anymore.  I learned a great deal from the Weight Watchers experience, and had success with it...until I realized my somewhat OCD personality was kicking into high gear over the journaling thing.  I became a slave to my journal and spent so much time counting "points" on the computer screen (I subscribed to the internet version) that it consumed my thoughts. With food journaling, focusing on food became the most important activity of the day.  The whole point of my Bucket List Weight Loss system is to forgo the "diet mentality" and simply eat what your body says it needs.  With BLWL, we literally put food on the back burner of our minds.

That said, journaling your thoughts is another issue.  I guess that's basically how I got Bucket List Weight Loss written.  That's also why I continue this blog.  We all do a lot of "self talk," and sometimes we actually tell ourselves something so brilliant that it should be remembered.
Examples:

• "I don't really want to lick that spoon because it will leave a bad taste in my mouth."
• "I'm waiting for the toast to pop up.  This is the perfect time to do some side stretches."
• "Kitchen faucet dead ahead.  Grab a sip of water."
• "I feel hunger pangs!  Hallelujah, that means I'm losing weight!"

Even if you never read your journal notes, the act of writing them down will help etch them in your mind so you can pull them up on your brainscreen at a later time and read them.

Oh...one more thought on the subject of food journaling.  I do it in my head.  You and I already know how many calories are in an egg, or an ounce of booze, or in a bottle of our favorite beer, or half a carton  of Greek yogurt.  It's easy to mentally keep track during the day without driving yourself crazy.  Remember you're shooting for somewhere between 900 and 1300 calories a day if you want to lose weight.