There has been studies that show how powerful journaling can be for an individual looking for an overall lifestyle change, manage emotions- positive or negative -and how to get to know yourself better, too.
The line “Write to release” really helps remind clients what the purpose of journaling is.
There is no right or wrong thing to write about when it comes to journaling.
It can be absolutely anything that is on your mind.
Chelsea Hurst, certified health and wellness coach is here to offer some insight to get you started, or to continue writing for your health!
Selected Podcast
The Benefits of Journaling for Weight Loss and Health
Featured Speaker:
Chelsea Hurst, CHWC, -Community Engagement & Wellness
Chelsea Hurst is a certified health and wellness coach for Allina Health at the Cambridge Medical Center. Chelsea found her passion for health and people, from many eclectic volunteer experiences abroad, and all over the country. She enjoys being active outside, learning new skills, and participating in triathlons. Transcription:
The Benefits of Journaling for Weight Loss and Health
Melanie Cole (Host): There are many ways to lose weight and get healthy. One of the best is considered journaling. My guest today is Chelsea Hurst. She’s a Certified Health and Wellness Coach for Allina Health at the Cambridge Medical Center. Welcome to the show, Chelsea. So, tell us a little bit about journaling. What does that entail and how does it help you to keep track of those healthy food choices?
Chelsea Hurst (Guest): Those are good questions. Journaling is different for each person. So a big question is also to answer is “what is journaling and what is a journal”, in general? People, when they’re using it for food and activity choices, it could look all different ways when it depends on how someone wants to write in it. If someone wants to journal by tracking, specifically, foods they ate, water they drank, activity they did and then, reflect on how they felt after they did them, that could be journaling. Some people use journaling by writing down just any emotions they feel that day or even a problem that they would like to solve. It really looks different for each person and it definitely depends on what’s working for that person at that time.
Melanie: I understand that it’s very individual but what’s the best way to journal? When I start with someone new, I like them to give me kind of a three-day sort of journal of how they’ve been eating so that I get a feel for it. Do you tell them that you want every single thing that goes into their mouth? Do you want them just to, say, do it every once in a while or to try to recollect from past days? How do you want them to journal?
Chelsea: When it comes to food and activity, it’s typically we give them a sheet that they can journal for a week and what they do is, it’s more focused on the food groups and how many are they eating of fruits, of vegetables, of meat and beans during the day. Then, also, we have a place they can journal for activity and then, I have them, if they’re working on things like lowering their sugar or lowering something or working on even emotions to put an extra spot where they can track or write notes at the bottom of each day just to reflect, again, on what they ate or drank.
Melanie: If someone’s never journaled before, how do you get them started? Give a few tips for journal newbies.
Chelsea: For the newbies, it can be kind of intimidating, right? It’s interesting when you even ask someone, “Why do you want to journal?” and sometimes it’s because their friends started, because they heard it helped, so it’s really interesting to first get an idea of why they’d like to start or just what even brought that idea in their head. But, any tips I could give for newbies it to just understand, just like any healthy changes or health habits, it’s to benefit you and to make sure it’s helping you improve your lifestyle choices. So, when it comes to those that are starting off journaling, I encourage even just a couple times a week and see if it’s something that you feel is benefiting for you. A lot of times, people feel like they have to get this nice new notebook and have like an actual journal but sometimes people have just used a Microsoft Word document or even on our phones, that small notepad. You can make little notes in there. It doesn’t have to be this elaborate, detailed journal. It could be just making small, little notes throughout your day of whatever you have around you to help you, again, track and gain awareness of what you’re eating and drinking and feeling.
Melanie: If somebody says journaling is a pain, what do you tell them about the health benefits of journaling and how important it can be?
Chelsea: Again, definitely, we want to encourage habits that they enjoy and do but sometimes, if it’s something that’s causing them stress or anything like that, we take a different approach and say, “Okay, well, how are you journaling now and what would you like to get out of it?” So, I really approach people that say, “It’s a pain”, I would say definitely take a different approach. Again, understand it can be simple and it could be writing down a problem and writing possible solutions for that problem. Some people, they just like to write and it doesn’t have to be about a particular thing. They can continue writing about the emotions, the food or their daily habits and it’s interesting because maybe it’s not something as solving a problem but it’s definitely something that allows you to gain more insight on a situation or a problem. So, either way, there are some benefits whether they realize it or not. For someone that works with clients that have been frustrated with journaling and talking with them, we definitely try to tweak and change a couple of things whether it’s changing the day or time that we encourage them to write or even just what to track or write about. A big thing is people, if they’re journaling, maybe tracking food, water and activity is too much. Maybe just start with food and that helps people to not see it as such an overwhelming task.
Melanie: There’s a lot of apps and things now that people can use and does it seem to you, Chelsea, that technology is helping in this endeavor?
Chelsea: Being 2016 and a lot of us having our smartphones and phone apps, they are getting very popular and a lot of my clients do enjoy using phone apps. The ones that are more tech savvy do enjoy ones like My Fitness Pal for tracking a food and activity. However, like I was saying, those that aren’t as tech savvy or prefer the apps, it could be something as simple as a notepad or a Microsoft Word document or even just a scratch piece of paper. It’s really about reflecting and writing and becoming aware of what your lifestyle is like.
Melanie: Do you encourage people, Chelsea, if they journal, to read their own journal? Is there an emotional or mental difficulty in reading what they’ve written versus handing it to you?
Chelsea: Yes. It’s very interesting. I’ve done it a couple of different ways. So, someone that came in and started journaling who hasn’t journaled before came in and she said, “I have learned I’m a very angry person.” Sometimes, someone else brought in a journal and I read it out loud to them for them to hear what they were saying. I do encourage people to read over them and that is just, again, for more self-reflection and its interesting too because even a week later after reading something you wrote a week before it’s like “Wow. That situation has passed. That problem has been solved.” It’s again, a good time to reflect; however, if it’s something that you’ve noticed is not feeling like you’ve solved a problem or not bringing up good emotions, then for them I would not recommend keeping that and reading that over.
Melanie: What about making the time for it? We mentioned apps a little bit but some people are so busy they say, “I don’t have time to write down these things and to think about everything that I ate that day.” For other people, it helps them to write it down before they even eat it so that they sort of have a menu with which to follow that they will not go off.
Chelsea: Just like any health habit, I always ask, “Why is it important to you?” I would ask, “Why do you want to journal? Why is that important to you?” If someone really does want to start journaling and at least try it out, then I encourage them to schedule it like an appointment in their schedule and making that time, whether it’s every morning when they get up for 15 minutes or 15 minutes before dinner and even setting that time in a calendar or writing it in one of your planners seems to help. It’s coming down to one of those things that, if it’s important enough to you, you will make time for it regardless of how busy you are.
Melanie: That’s great advice and, in just the last few minutes, share your best advice, your best tips for weight loss, getting healthy, making good choices and where journaling and keeping track of these things, accountability comes into play.
Chelsea: A big thing would be taking a piece of paper right now and writing down, “What do I want” and answering that question. Most importantly, like I always tell my clients, is then as yourself, “How are you going to get there?” because the how is what matters and that’s the goal setting and those are the behavior changes that get you to the “what: and the outcome.
Melanie: Thank you so much, Chelsea. You’re such a pleasure to have on with us. You’re listening to The Wellcast with Allina Health. For more information, you can go to allinahealth.org. That’s allinehealth.org. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.
The Benefits of Journaling for Weight Loss and Health
Melanie Cole (Host): There are many ways to lose weight and get healthy. One of the best is considered journaling. My guest today is Chelsea Hurst. She’s a Certified Health and Wellness Coach for Allina Health at the Cambridge Medical Center. Welcome to the show, Chelsea. So, tell us a little bit about journaling. What does that entail and how does it help you to keep track of those healthy food choices?
Chelsea Hurst (Guest): Those are good questions. Journaling is different for each person. So a big question is also to answer is “what is journaling and what is a journal”, in general? People, when they’re using it for food and activity choices, it could look all different ways when it depends on how someone wants to write in it. If someone wants to journal by tracking, specifically, foods they ate, water they drank, activity they did and then, reflect on how they felt after they did them, that could be journaling. Some people use journaling by writing down just any emotions they feel that day or even a problem that they would like to solve. It really looks different for each person and it definitely depends on what’s working for that person at that time.
Melanie: I understand that it’s very individual but what’s the best way to journal? When I start with someone new, I like them to give me kind of a three-day sort of journal of how they’ve been eating so that I get a feel for it. Do you tell them that you want every single thing that goes into their mouth? Do you want them just to, say, do it every once in a while or to try to recollect from past days? How do you want them to journal?
Chelsea: When it comes to food and activity, it’s typically we give them a sheet that they can journal for a week and what they do is, it’s more focused on the food groups and how many are they eating of fruits, of vegetables, of meat and beans during the day. Then, also, we have a place they can journal for activity and then, I have them, if they’re working on things like lowering their sugar or lowering something or working on even emotions to put an extra spot where they can track or write notes at the bottom of each day just to reflect, again, on what they ate or drank.
Melanie: If someone’s never journaled before, how do you get them started? Give a few tips for journal newbies.
Chelsea: For the newbies, it can be kind of intimidating, right? It’s interesting when you even ask someone, “Why do you want to journal?” and sometimes it’s because their friends started, because they heard it helped, so it’s really interesting to first get an idea of why they’d like to start or just what even brought that idea in their head. But, any tips I could give for newbies it to just understand, just like any healthy changes or health habits, it’s to benefit you and to make sure it’s helping you improve your lifestyle choices. So, when it comes to those that are starting off journaling, I encourage even just a couple times a week and see if it’s something that you feel is benefiting for you. A lot of times, people feel like they have to get this nice new notebook and have like an actual journal but sometimes people have just used a Microsoft Word document or even on our phones, that small notepad. You can make little notes in there. It doesn’t have to be this elaborate, detailed journal. It could be just making small, little notes throughout your day of whatever you have around you to help you, again, track and gain awareness of what you’re eating and drinking and feeling.
Melanie: If somebody says journaling is a pain, what do you tell them about the health benefits of journaling and how important it can be?
Chelsea: Again, definitely, we want to encourage habits that they enjoy and do but sometimes, if it’s something that’s causing them stress or anything like that, we take a different approach and say, “Okay, well, how are you journaling now and what would you like to get out of it?” So, I really approach people that say, “It’s a pain”, I would say definitely take a different approach. Again, understand it can be simple and it could be writing down a problem and writing possible solutions for that problem. Some people, they just like to write and it doesn’t have to be about a particular thing. They can continue writing about the emotions, the food or their daily habits and it’s interesting because maybe it’s not something as solving a problem but it’s definitely something that allows you to gain more insight on a situation or a problem. So, either way, there are some benefits whether they realize it or not. For someone that works with clients that have been frustrated with journaling and talking with them, we definitely try to tweak and change a couple of things whether it’s changing the day or time that we encourage them to write or even just what to track or write about. A big thing is people, if they’re journaling, maybe tracking food, water and activity is too much. Maybe just start with food and that helps people to not see it as such an overwhelming task.
Melanie: There’s a lot of apps and things now that people can use and does it seem to you, Chelsea, that technology is helping in this endeavor?
Chelsea: Being 2016 and a lot of us having our smartphones and phone apps, they are getting very popular and a lot of my clients do enjoy using phone apps. The ones that are more tech savvy do enjoy ones like My Fitness Pal for tracking a food and activity. However, like I was saying, those that aren’t as tech savvy or prefer the apps, it could be something as simple as a notepad or a Microsoft Word document or even just a scratch piece of paper. It’s really about reflecting and writing and becoming aware of what your lifestyle is like.
Melanie: Do you encourage people, Chelsea, if they journal, to read their own journal? Is there an emotional or mental difficulty in reading what they’ve written versus handing it to you?
Chelsea: Yes. It’s very interesting. I’ve done it a couple of different ways. So, someone that came in and started journaling who hasn’t journaled before came in and she said, “I have learned I’m a very angry person.” Sometimes, someone else brought in a journal and I read it out loud to them for them to hear what they were saying. I do encourage people to read over them and that is just, again, for more self-reflection and its interesting too because even a week later after reading something you wrote a week before it’s like “Wow. That situation has passed. That problem has been solved.” It’s again, a good time to reflect; however, if it’s something that you’ve noticed is not feeling like you’ve solved a problem or not bringing up good emotions, then for them I would not recommend keeping that and reading that over.
Melanie: What about making the time for it? We mentioned apps a little bit but some people are so busy they say, “I don’t have time to write down these things and to think about everything that I ate that day.” For other people, it helps them to write it down before they even eat it so that they sort of have a menu with which to follow that they will not go off.
Chelsea: Just like any health habit, I always ask, “Why is it important to you?” I would ask, “Why do you want to journal? Why is that important to you?” If someone really does want to start journaling and at least try it out, then I encourage them to schedule it like an appointment in their schedule and making that time, whether it’s every morning when they get up for 15 minutes or 15 minutes before dinner and even setting that time in a calendar or writing it in one of your planners seems to help. It’s coming down to one of those things that, if it’s important enough to you, you will make time for it regardless of how busy you are.
Melanie: That’s great advice and, in just the last few minutes, share your best advice, your best tips for weight loss, getting healthy, making good choices and where journaling and keeping track of these things, accountability comes into play.
Chelsea: A big thing would be taking a piece of paper right now and writing down, “What do I want” and answering that question. Most importantly, like I always tell my clients, is then as yourself, “How are you going to get there?” because the how is what matters and that’s the goal setting and those are the behavior changes that get you to the “what: and the outcome.
Melanie: Thank you so much, Chelsea. You’re such a pleasure to have on with us. You’re listening to The Wellcast with Allina Health. For more information, you can go to allinahealth.org. That’s allinehealth.org. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.