If you're just now starting on your weight loss program, the first thing to do is start a journal, in which you will record what you eat, when you eat it, and why. Also, when you exercise, and how you feel before and after you do your exercises.
Some people like to keep extensive journals, others just want to make minimum notes. Regardless of whether you're a maximalist or a minimalist, you must keep a journal.
A journal serves many purposes. It is a memory aid. If you run a mile in 6 minutes now, think how proud you'd be to look back in your journal and see when you first started jogging that you couldn't even run a block.
If you're taking medication for some illness, it can track mood swings or altered behavior because of that medication, or even side effects. (My mom has congestive heart failure, the result of not having taken her high blood pressure medication for 20 years. A few weeks ago, one of her pill dosages was changed. Immediately after that, she started having balance problems and needed to use a cane. Now, this was a clear case of something being wrong with that medication, but what if her balance-deterioration had taken place over the course of several months? With a journal, recording one's physical and mental well-being each day, it still would have been possible to track back and see when it all started, and have that medication adjusted.
Therefore, I cannot emphasize enough, start keeping a journal. I'll share some ideas of what your format template should be in my next entry.
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