Dear Diary

"The positive thing about writing is that you connect with yourself in the deepest way, and that's heaven. You get a chance to know who you are, to know what you think. You begin to have a relationship with your mind."

-- Natalie Goldberg

Journaling can be like talking to a good friend; only this time the “friend” is you. I often find when creating a post I learn new things about myself. Though I only blog once a week, I find it very rewarding to be able to reexamine myself through the written word.

I also keep a personal journal under lock and key. I have kept a diary of sorts since I was a little girl. Mom gave me my first diary to hold fast to my dreams and to keep a record of precious memories. I remember how awestruck I felt to hold the future in my hand represented by all those blue lines waiting to be filled with my thoughts and recollections.

For WW one of the tools, they suggest you use is the daily journal. This allows me to be accountable for everything that I consume. A daily food journal IMHO should be the first thing anyone who wants to make a diet change should employ.

I started out by guesstimating my food before I joined WW. I was shocked to find that things that I thought were healthy and good for me were 8 to 10 points…which is almost half of my daily allowance. I learned that my idea of portion sizes were all wrong. I learned how to accurately judge a serving.

The biggest change was my perception. Once I wrapped my mind around the fact that one piece of pizza could fill me up; I found that that one slice was enough. Through journaling, I found out that I felt that I was being deprived. So I found my triggers for deprivation mode and fed them.

When anyone gets fries, I take one. I only need one now. I always have one little piece of katsu…or a pepperoni…or anything else that is screaming at me. One little piece is usually enough to stop the craving.

Figuring out your triggers takes time. Learning about yourself is an on-going and sometimes exhausting process, but well worth it.

Last week I found out that I was guesstimating yet another aspect of my diet wrong. Apparently, I’ve gone from mostly sedentary to mildly active and I didn’t even know it. I’ve been eating under my points for about a month now.

With the Pokewalker I’ve been pushing the steps to between 8,000 and 10,000+ a day...(still no surfing Pikachu). Apparently, that makes a huge difference in my activity level. Enough that I got back 2 points a day…that is 14 extra points a week!

DH had the same problem and had to readjust his calories.

I find that lately, I have more energy and commitment to my life changes. I’ve been working with MAP and found essences that were calling to me. Both modifications to my care program have made a huge difference in how I feel and act.

Another thing that has changed is I wanted to knit some challenging pieces. The MAK girls gave this to me for my birthday and I’m in love with the process of watching the leaves form. I still have a little bit to go and it will have to be seriously blocked but I love working on it!

I love Knitpicks because you can get anything as a kit so that is what I did. I also bought this and can’t wait to start it.

I’m getting ready to start my blanket/square drive for the Assisted Living with our talented crafting community.

Spring Fling is around the corner too.

I’m trying so hard to be organized and give a little time to each of these areas so they don’t all hit me at once. But with MD S and W around the corner…I tend to get distracted. lol

Bright blessings and happy crafting.
Ruinwen
:)