Key Concepts Index

Journaling

Know thyself,   ~Socrates

"Know thyself" was one of the essential principles in the philosophy of Socrates. It was an emphatic assertion of the importance of self knowledge in the development of the good life.

We often take a lot of what we do and how we think for granted. We go through much of our lives on autopilot. This holds particularly true for both our binge eating behaviors and many of the thoughts that surround those behaviors.

Journaling facilitates the transformation of wishing into doing—thinking into action. It is a conscious dialog between our inner world and outer. It helps change vague stirring and loose ideas into concrete thoughts. It gives us a history of our thought processes so we can view them in a more objective way. We can uncover patterns and dynamics that are often not easy to see any other way.

Keep a Food & Mood Journal

This may be the most important step in the initial phase of recovery. Getting fully in touch with the dynamics of our binge eating empowers recovery. Keeping records of what is eaten, why we eat it, and what we were feeling and thinking at the time, will gradually demonstrate that much of our out of control binging is not nearly as out of our control as we had thought. This journaling goes well beyond just knowing we are overweight or that we binge even though we wish we didn't. Of course we are already well aware of those things in a global sort of way. We are looking for patterns and specific triggers to our binging—when they occur, why they occur, and how. When we have specific answers to these kinds of questions we can begin to see specific solutions that fit our individual issues with food and eating.

This journaling can take place before we try to alter our binging behavior, in fact, that may be the most productive route to changing it. It is hard to fix something if we don't know exactly what's broken.

A food and mood journal should include the time of day, what was eaten, where, and notes about what your inner thoughts were and what you were feeling. It should not include or be about how many calories or carbs are in the food. This is a journal about awareness, to be written with a compassionate and non-judgmental attitude towards yourself. In the beginning, we only want to observe our own behavior. We aren't trying to change anything. After a few weeks we can begin the gentle process of making small changes keeping in mind that this process is about the long-haul, the bigger picture. What we want to do is to make changes that last a lifetime; to change and grow so we no longer need to resort to binging to cope with life.

Making columns on paper for each aspect works best. Keeping a notebook with you so you don't have to try and do it from memory helps. Not so much for accuracy about what we ate, but in the immediate awareness of your thoughts, feelings, and the nature of how you are eating. We don't want this to be a compulsive process like our binging and dieting was.

Untwisted Thinking

Examining the messages we tell ourselves about food, how we eat, and about our selves, is another area where a type of journaling can be profoundly helpful and empowering. Psychologists have long known that the way we perceive the world is the way we respond to the world. If our internal interpretation (thoughts) about a situation is negative, our feelings and reactions to that situation will be negative. If we think about a situation positively, our feelings will follow. Our thoughts give meaning to the experience.

The meaning we give to an event or situation helps determine our emotional response to it. Our thinking, to a large degree, controls our feelings. This isn't a process we generally give much thought to. In many cases we have been so conditioned to accept certain thought patterns that they are automatic. They have become habit. Sometimes, these automatic thoughts are irrational. For instance, a common irrational thought for dieters is idea that if we eat even a little "forbidden" food or overeat at one meal, we have failed entirely so we might as well go ahead and binge. There are more rational ways to think about and handle a small lapse.

Learning to spot these "irrational thoughts" and then countering them with rational thoughts takes practice. Journaling these thoughts and rational responses on paper is a key concept of recovery and an excellent tool for personal growth and healing.

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Being willing to seriously try doing things like journaling foods and moods demonstrates the level of commitment one really has—just what lengths they are willing to go to to overcome binge eating disorder. By journaling my foods and moods for several weeks I learned a great deal about myself and my eating disorder that I hadn't been able to see even after years of dieting. I still journal for a few days now and again. It seems to help me keep focused and I always seem to learn something new.

Learning how to spot and then counter my distorted thinking empowered me to get past the "I'll start tomorrow" trap and to be able to halt a binge before it was completed. It also helps me on a daily basis to manage my depression in a constructive and healthy way.

• Key Concepts Index
• First Things First – Establishing a stable pattern of regular eating.
• Refuse to be "Powerless" — Realize that you do have choices. Don't give your power away.
• Become Health Centered – Focus on improving health. Weight loss is a byproduct.
• Keep A Journal Of Your Foods And Moods – Gaining awareness is empowering.
• Eat Like A Healthy Person – Eat healthy whole natural foods now.
• Empower Yourself – Use every tool and resource necessary.
• Educate Yourself – Become an expert on nutrition. Forget what the diet gurus say.
• Don't Go Hungry – Eat your way to optimum health. Hunger only leads to binges.
• Act As If – Act yourself into a new way of thinking. Action precedes motivation.
• Dump Perfectionism – Progress is good enough. We learn from our mistakes.
• Easy Does It – Practice moderation and have realistic goals. Practice self-compassion.
• One Day At A Time – Focus on today and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.

Dave's web site is for informational purposes only and is not meant to serve as medical advice or to replace consultation with a professional dietician, nutritionist, physician, or mental health professional. None of the information presented on this web site is intended to diagnose, prescribe, or to administer to any medical ailments or conditions.