Blog, Journal, Blog, Journal . . .

“What we all want, really, is to be loved. That craving drives our worst behavior.” 

― Jodi Picoult, Handle with Care

Creating a blog can motivate the success of any goal.  Sharing my experience losing weight, eating healthy and exercising has been monumental in my success. The feedback I am receiving, private and public, tells me the the blog is helping you too! 

In addition to blogging there is also journaling, but they are very different experiences. With blogging, although I am writing to motivate myself, I have an audience. Being public gives me pause not to share some private thoughts and behaviors. In my journal, I have the freedom to say it all.

When journaling, I write anything and often what comes out comes from a place other than my conscious mind. You will see this in my August 8^th journal post “Journaled my Breakthrough.” 

When you journal another part of yourself shows up and can be empowering. Maybe it is a nurturing voice that encourages you so that you stay on track. It could be a harsh voice that keeps you in line, and you listen.

Journaling prior to eating something or to motivate you to get moving can be powerful! For instance, let’s say you want to have a cup of ice cream (my fav!) Well, if you are like me, it is unlikely a cup of ice cream would be it. Once I start with ice cream, it seduces me to the bottom of the carton. Full disclosure – I would never buy a size larger than a pint and usually I buy the single serving sizes, times two. 

So instead of eating ice cream – or in my case going to the store to by ice cream (never have it around) you might want to journal.

I have developed a journal process for you to use in my  12 Weeks Toolbox. 

Find a journal and fast writing pen and set the timer for 10 minutes. Keep writing and don’t stop even if you have to write, I don’t know what to say, I don’t know what to say over and over until you break through. Eventually, you can work up to 20 minutes.

Use these sentence stems to get your journal process started. Each one can be a 10 – 20 minute timed writing. 

What I love about myself is . . .

I am really hungry for . . .

What frustrates me is . . .

If I had more time . . .

Hunger and cravings can be caused by emotions that are buried. Stress is also a factor in overeating, eating when you’re not hungry and eating unhealthy foods . Often after journaling, the craving to eat or drink just dissipates.

Play around with journaling when your cravings are gnawing at you for a week and see what happens.

Candess M. Campbell, PhD is the author of 12 Weeks to Self-Healing: Transforming Pain through Energy Medicine. Her upcoming book on Sentence Stems will be published soon!  

Iwannabeaskinnybitch!