Top 3 Reasons a Thought Journal Will Help You Lose Weight

Do your thoughts and emotions affect how you lose weight, and ultimately, keep it off?

There have been several different programs that highly suggest keeping a thought journal, and for some reason I conveinently ignored this fact and moved along my merry little way. Perhaps I reasoned that since a thought journal was about emotions and not about “eating less” or “moving more” and that I obviously didn’t have a problem with emotional eating (”its just bad genetics”), I could get away with ignoring the emotional side of weight loss.

Boy, I was dead wrong.

So this time IS different. I stopped fooling myself . I realized that attitude IS everything on this journey, and emotions are a big part of attidue. This time, I am following the advice and keeping a thought journal. I’m dedicating a full section on my blog about the emtional side of this journey, and I’m inviting you to do the same.

Here are the TOP 3 REASONS you should keep a thought journal:

1. It can help you identify patterns of emotional eating.

Operation Half Size is about regaining the control that we have given to food, and this requires a tremendous about of humility, honesty, and a willingness to be accountable for our actions. Will we encounter emotion? YES! I wept while I was on the treadmill on Day 1. Did I have a choice to go finish off the Mint Moose Tracks ice cream that is in my freezer? Absolutely (and trust me, it was a toss up for me because it was only day 1). Identifying what triggers you to overeat or crave certain foods is such a valuable piece of information that will allow you to regain control over your habitual eating habits.

“Many people cave in to emotional drains, offering the popular excuse that “they just can’t help it.” It’s time now that we learn both how and why to “help it” — or at least become open to the fact that *we can.*”

Doc Childre and Howard Martin, The HeartMath Solution

2. It helps you be honest about your struggles while allowing yourself to rejoice in your triumphs.

You had good days and bad days BEFORE you embarked on this journey so quit thinking that all your problems are going to be fixed the minute you commit to a new program or recommit to an old one. Be honest about where you are. If you are struggling, find a safe person or community who will walk with you through that struggle (especially if it comes up over and over and over again in your thought journal). On the other side of the coin, keeping a thought journal can help you celebrate the many victories (both scale victories and non scale victories). It is OK to be happy about an accomplishment! Even if you have a trainer, meals delivered, and a fantasy weight loss situation, the choice is still yours to implement it.

“Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of the men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory.”

General George S. Patton

3. Emotions affect your attitude, your attitude affects your actions. Therefore, your thoughts become things.

I haven’t been able to run since I was in 4th grade. I was laughed at for being slow in PE and the humiliation was a bit more than I could process intelligently at the time. Throughout the years, I did EVERYTHING I could to avoid feeling that “bad” feeling of humiliation. Most of the time, I wouldn’t say I was afraid of being humiliated, I would say, “I hate running. I can’t run.” The emotion of humilation affected my attitude (I can’t) and ultimately has lead me to this place, where at 25 years of age not knowing exactly why I haven’t been able to get the weight off. The truth is… I CAN run… and, dare I say – I am learning to enjoy it? Had I been honest about my emotions in a thought journal I could have squashed this self defeating attitude before it wasted 10 years of my life.

As you re-train your emotional and mental reactions and increase your coherence, you will re-create your life. You will reach a place where you no longer have to keep “working things out,” but realize they are worked out!

Doc Childre, Cut-Thru

In the coming weeks, we’ll talk more about how to set up a thought journal (start today by just writing 1 or 2 sentences down summarizing the emotions you felt and how it affected your day), how to take ownership of your body, and how to deal with the “fame” of being noticed for your weight loss.

Until then, thanks for your accountability! Let’s get this done.