I hold my hands up and say that I am food obsessed. I love experimenting with different cuisines, have a serious sweet tooth, and see it as my go-to when I am happy/celebrating/sad/stressed or tired.
This along with a very busy lifestyle, (hello 👋🏻 to all small business owners coming through a pandemic straight into a cost of living crisis), has meant that I have gained a few too many pounds!
I’ve decided that I need to dedicate some of my time and energy to addressing this situation – I have a long term issue with my hip that isn’t being helped by the extra weight and I really don’t want to be speeding my way towards a hip replacement earlier than necessary!
Importantly, this isn’t about unrealistic weight loss goals, this is about taking the time to focus on healthy eating and exercise.
Without further ado, take a look below at the 7 motivational journal spreads I have included in my weight loss journal set-up!
1. Starting Stats / Goals
In order to track progress it’s necessary to record where I started. I created this spread to track both my weight and measurements (as this is often a better way to monitor progress, especially if exercise is going to be included in your regime!).
TOP TIP: I have colour-coded all the pages for my weight loss journal by running a strip of Washi tape down the outside edge of the page. This is a great hack for identifying similar groups of pages in your journal!
2. Weight Loss Table/Graph
I have included both a table and a graph to record weight changes on a week-by-week basis.
It might seem overkill to record the same information in both places, however I do have a reason! The table allows for additional information to be included in the notes column, where the graph allows a quick visualisation of progress.
3. Fitness Tracker
I know i feel better when I force myself to get outside and be active! I want this process to be as much about fitness and mental health as weight loss, so I have included a circular tracker to record my Apple watch rings throughout the month of April.
Each segment of the circle represents a day of the month, which each ring representing the equivalent ring on my Apple watch graphic.
4. Progress Tracker
I love this spread, it is one of my favourites for visualising all sorts of goals from savings to step goals or, in this case, weight loss!
I break down my overall goal into bite-size segments. Each section is coloured as the micro-goal is achieved. In this case, each segment represents a loss of 0.5lbs.
The act of colouring each of the segments is super rewarding, a bit like giving myself my very own gold star!
5. Meal Planning
I decided to use pre-printed meal planning pages for this section, but you could just as easily create a journal spread by hand. Each week I will plan out my meals and create my shopping list.
I can also track water intake, snacks etc on this spread, keeping me accountable and “on plan”.
TOP TIP: Creating your weight loss journal in a ring-bound format ,means that you can take the meal plan out and adhere to the fridge for easy reference!
6. Recipe Ideas
I absolutely love trying new meals and recipes, and I know that I will need to keep things interesting if I have any chance of achieving my goals! (If you have any great recipes please feel free to pop them in the comments below… I’ll try anything once 🤣).
For simplicity, I chose to add pre-printed recipe cards to my weight loss journal so I can add in new recipe ideas as I find them, without the hassle of setting up a new page.
7. Freezer Inventory
I love using my slow cooker to experiment with new healthy recipes but, as a household of 1, this generally means I have a lot of leftovers. Since I don’t enjoy eating the same thing over and over again each week, I usually freeze them and save them for a later date.
I have included a freezer inventory page in my weight loss journal to allow me to track what I put in the freezer and plan out future meals more easily!
Conclusion
Creating these journal spreads (which I have organised into a ring-bound journal) allows me to stay organised and on track with my weight loss plans.
Although, it may seem like such a small thing, colouring the tracker and seeing progress is really motivating and spurs me on to keep progressing.
I have also created a list of the items used in the section below.
Watch the set-up on YouTube
If you would like to see the whole set-up take place you can watch the video on YouTube here.
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Oops a Daisy Supplies Used:
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Dot Grid Pages (5mm) – A5 Hybrid Planner Inserts£6.50 -
Blossom Font – A5 Stencil – Upper or Lower Case Alphabet£8.00 -
Frosted 6-Part Side Tab Planner Dividers (A5)£7.50 (£6.25 Exc. VAT) -
Recipe Cards – A5 Hybrid Planner Inserts£3.50 – £6.50 -
Product on sale
Food Inventory – A5 Hybrid Planner InsertsOriginal price was: £4.50.£3.76Current price is: £3.76. (£3.13 Exc. VAT) -
Meal Planner & Shopping List – A5 Hybrid Planner Inserts£3.50 – £6.50 -
Measuring Tape Washi Tape£3.50 (£2.92 Exc. VAT) -
Tracker Spread – Super Easy Journal Stencil£7.50 – £8.50 -
Circle / Monthly Tracker – Classic A5 Journal Stencil£7.00 -
Body Measurement / Fitness / Weight – Classic A5 Journal Stencil£7.00
