The Creative Notebook

I absolutely love the change of season this year.  I’ve been working hard on heating a healthy diet since no magic weight loss pill has come my way and made me look like Cindy Crawford.  Now that it’s getting colder, I’m digging out my fall and winter stuff from last year.  Today I decided to try on a pair of pants that were pretty tight last year, and they slid right on!  I was so excited.  I’m writing this down in my weight loss journal.  Normally I record what I’ve eaten that day and if I’ve exercised, but it’s going to be fun writing down the difference in my clothes from last year to this one.

Don’t forget to record your little victories if you’re keeping a weight loss journal.  It’s the progress I make that keeps me going, and I’m sure it’s the same for you, too.

I need to lose weight, a lot of weight, and I want to do it without the latest trends to use diet pills or surgery.  I’m a nervous eater.  I’m a bored eater.  I’m trying to substitute creativity for food. 

Whenever I catch myself putting food in my mouth, I’m trying to put it down and pick up an art or craft project.  So far it’s worked.  I’ve lost over 25 pounds by consciously substituting knitting and spinning yarn for unconscious eating.  Not only am I losing wieght at a healthy pace, I’ve almost finished a pair of socks. 

Since my son has been sick, I’ve been overloaded with doctors, doctors advice, prescriptions, tests, technicians, and nurses.  And that doesn’t even take into consideration dealings with the school and insurance companies.

My grandmother’s best friend’s husband(did you follow that?) died because he had a faulty defibrillator implanted in him.  She is now in litigation and negotiations with the company that made it and the doctors that treated him because she made many, many trips to his specialist hours away because of problems with the machine.  She kept a journal of each and every doctor, emergency room , hospital, and testing visit writing down word for work what each person told her and what treatment was given.  She wrote a log of nurses checking on him and what they found and added to his chart.  She thought this way she could keep it all straight.  Little did she know that because of a faulty defibrillator, her husband would die, and these journals would be admitted as evidence in the suit against both the manufacturers and the doctor/hospital.

Now, hopefully my son’s problem won’t get to any where near that point, but after our first visit to the specialist and a few miscommunications with him and his nurses, I’ve decided to do the same thing.  I’m also hoping it can help me keep all the medications and tests straight as well as give me something busy to do while I’m at the hospital worrying about him. 

Keep him in your prayers, and I’ll let you know how this journaling works out for us.

How do you feel about your body?  Do you have a negative or positive body image?  If you could change the way your body looked to your ideal body, what else would it change in your life?  How you acted?  How you dressed?

If you have a positive body image, why do you think you have overcome this obstacle?  What do you love about your body?  What would you say to help someone who isn’t comfortable in your body?

How does the American Ideal of body image make you feel?    Do you have an opinion on the message the media, movies, and music videos are sending us about the ideal body and self worth?

If you have a negative body image, what do you think contributed to that?  Was there someone in your life that made you feel less than or made comments about your physical appearance?  Are you naturally insecure?  Explore this topic in depth, especially in your health journal.

I have asthma and it’s a huge health problem for me.  I’ve been tracking it in my journal to see what my triggers are and if there are any patterns.  I want to get a pulse oximeter like my doctor uses to check and record my blood oxygen levels.  These types of entries would work great if you were a diabetic or had high blood pressure, too.  My mom is diabetic and checks her sugar with a glucometer and records it in a journal along with what she eats each day to be sure things are under control.  So many uses for journals, so few pages in a blank book………..

And while I’ve been thinking about diet and exercise and the journaling of such, water intake is key to weight loss.  I have to admit, I’m not a big water fan and getting in my water is a tough one.  I make note in my journal each time I drink water and how much, and keep a running total.  By the time the day is over I feel like I’m swishing instead of walking!  I’ve found using portable water filters helps improve the taste of my tap water so I don’t have to spend cash on bottled water.  And I’m probably the only person in the country who doesn’t like the taste of bottled water…….but that’s another topic all together and really doesn’t have anything to do with a health journal.

Like I’ve told you all before, but it bears saying again, I use my journal as a catch-all for information I need to hang on to.  It’s not unusual for me to jot down a recipe in my book, because I always have it with me and it’s handy. 

But here’s my thoughts for today.  Recipes could be included in your health and weight loss journal.  You could write about what you liked about it, how well it fit into your eating plan, or how easy the ingredients were to get.  You could keep a recipe or cooking journal and include all that information it it, and also who you got the recipe from, if it was an old family recipe.

Here’s a great site I came across today looking for something new to make for dinner, so I’ll pass it on to you:  free recipes

It has lots of recipe categories, you can submit your own, and even get a shopping list and keep a recipe box.  Print out recipes and paste them in your book, or handwrite them for a more personal touch.

My daughter and her friends are very active in sports.  My daughter dances and her best friend is a golfer.  They both have to lift weights at school now that they are entering high school.  They keep track of their workout times and try to grow and expand them.  I think it’s important to track that in a diet journal too.  Write down what you did to exercise each day, how long you spent, and how you felt before and after.  If you add a new exercise, piece of equipment, or even take a different path to walk that day, write down the changes and how you felt about them. 

We may not be serious athletes like these kids are, (what the heck is a basket toss and Ping Golf equipment anyway?) but we can get serious about what we know and making our lives better through exercise and journaling.