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Informative Articles

Excessive Alcohol Consumption Leads To Hypoglycemia In Diabetics
ABSTRACT It has been hypothesized for a long time that drinking excessive alcohol can lead to decreased blood glucose levels in diabetics, resulting in the condition called hypoglycemia, which if not managed properly can severely impair human...

For a new life in the new year, take action!
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How to Be Creative When you are Cooking
Have you ever been in the kitchen ready to eat and realized you don't have your favorite sauce or dip for dinner. This happened to me recently when my family was sitting down to beer battered Walleye from a recent fishing trip. We had no tartar...

How To Reduce Weight - Magic Dieting Shedule
REDUCE YOUR WEIGHT Now you are not very far from losing your excess fats and unwanted weight. You know to get something you usually have to lose anything and in this case to get success you are going to lose your weight and I hope you would like...

Teen Suicide, how do we stop it?
I have been watching the news and reading papers from all over the last couple of weeks. I have read web blogs, letters to the editor.... I have seen many things to cry about. I see people pointing fingers at the current President Bush, I see...

 
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Pick Up Your Pen and Lose Weight!

Although every dieter knows that keeping food records is a key to permanent weight loss, few understand the importance of also keeping an “emotional journal.” In fact, one dieter lost 100 pounds, thanks in part to the insights gained through daily journaling.

Dieting for weight loss can be as simple as keeping that food diary, or (the more challenging) dipping into the dark waters of the psyche. For example, which emotions motivate, sabotage, side-track, or inspire? Which people are supportive, which ones undermine your focus with snide remarks or constant invitations to ice cream? All will be revealed inside your private journal.

Of all the journal exercises for gaining insight, a favorite is the “Letter to My Body.” In this exercise, the dieter actually pens a letter to self, being as honest as possible. A sample might be “Dear Fat Body, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you. I hate your rolls of fat on me, I hate that my knees hurt, I hate that you’d rather have a Danish than let me feel good about myself. I hate that you’ve been good all day and I know that tonight you’ll be a pig.”

What does that type of letter accomplish? For many—instead of adding to an already huge portion of self-loathing—it provides a powerful way of recognizing and reversing trigger situations.


In this example, when nighttime does come and the journaler heads for the pint of Ben and Jerry’s, there’s a good chance the letter will be remembered. And, an even better chance that instead of eating a pint, some or none will be chosen.

Journaling to lose weight also involves writing about how your food choices will make you feel tomorrow when you get on the scale, or when you sit down to journal again. And, as you write these letters to self, you’ll quickly begin to connect the dots, and track the ways in which everyday life impacts your food choices.

Keeping a journal will also help with weight loss because it’s almost impossible to get to know yourself on a deep, intimate level and then continue with self-destructive behavior. Fortunately, we’re just not made that way.

So tonight, instead of settling in with a pizza and beer, take some time to write a letter to yourself and analyze what your hunger is really about. I guarantee you, it isn’t food.

Copyright 2004 Patti Testerman

About the Author

Patti Testerman is content manager at JournalGenie.com, the only online site that analyzes your writing and then gives you instant feedback. Want to discover self-defeating patterns, or find better ways to communicate in a relationship? Check out our site.