What if you could stop wasting time staring at your blank journal page, and just know exactly what to ask yourself? (Oh yeah, and bonus… what if those questions would help you LOSE WEIGHT, too?) My friend, not only do I have the solution here on today’s podcast, but I’ve also got a brand new free resource for you with the four most effective journaling prompts for faster weight loss.
Hello, hello, my ambitious menopausal friend, and welcome to the podcast. It’s been a minute, and I’m happy to be back in my minivan, recording a new episode.
I’m so excited to dig into this topic with you today. And before we even get into it, let me tell you about the free resource you can download as a guide for your daily journaling. It’s called “The Four Most Effective Journaling Prompts for Faster Weight Loss,” and there’s a link in the show notes, or you can grab it right on my homepage, at getyourgoal.com
I’m sure you started wondering, my beautiful skeptical friend, as soon as you read the title of this episode: Why do these prompts work? Why are they “effective” and how do they actually speed up weight loss?
I’m so glad you asked. Here’s the dealio: No matter what you’re doing in life, you will be better served by working WITH biology instead of against it. And here’s the thing to know about biology: we humans are always always always seeking pleasure and avoiding pain.
And instead of trying to override this with willpower or self control or discipline or restriction or hard work – which are all the tactics you’ve been told to use your whole life – there’s an easier way. You can simply work with biology.
It’s easier than you think, and it all comes down to this. You simply prioritize pleasure, and reduce pain.
So these journaling prompts are effective because they shine a light on what’s pleasurable for you and make it very clear where you’re trying to force yourself to do something… well, not necessarily physically painful, but emotionally unpleasant or uncomfortable, like denying yourself your favorite foods or making yourself exercise in ways you don’t enjoy.
I’m also going to give you extra points for skepticism if you’re wondering how in the world these prompts will help you lose weight faster. I love this question, and I will tell you that this is a concept I am really learning on my way to my goal right now.
Simplicity and systems equal speed.
Taking a big, long-term goal like weight loss and trying to untangle all of the different mindset blocks you might have can feel like an incredibly daunting task. But breaking it down into natural, understandable chunks (simplicity) that you can tackle with repeatable processes (systems) is the fastest way to get any goal.
Once again, we’re working with biology here. Your brain loves to categorize information, and it’s literally hard-wired to enjoy repetition.
So, these four journaling prompts? They’re like a win-win-win-win situation, as far as biology is concerned.
So let’s dig in. Here are the four most effective journaling prompts for faster weight loss, how to use them, and when they’re most useful on your weight loss journey.
Effective Journaling Prompt Number One: What do I want?
This one’s good right at the very beginning of your weight loss journey, when you’re deciding on your goal weight, and your habits.
It is such a simple question, but it’s the one we hardly ever remember to ask ourselves.
Instead, we waste time and slow ourselves down with a question like, “What’s a reasonable weight for me to get to?”
I absolutely applaud your desire to be practical, I’m all about practicality. But the problem with this question, (or others like it, like, “What does my doctor think I should weigh?” or “What would a healthy weight be?” or “What BMI should I aim for?”) is that there’s literally no PLEASURE in it.
At best, you’re watering yourself down and aiming for something that’s “not that bad.” And at worst, you’re screeching your weight loss journey to a complete halt before you even get going.
Compare that question with asking yourself what you WANT. What you DESIRE. What you would ENJOY. What would feel dreamy and delicious and amazing and sexy and like everything you’ve wanted your body to feel like.
Seriously, can you feel how different this question is than “What’s reasonable?”
What do you WANT?
This question is also good for when you’re working on creating habits – like tracking calories or weighing yourself or getting in your water or exercise. Instead of asking yourself, “What do I have to do to lose weight?” (which is an even blech-er question than what’s reasonable!), ask yourself what do you WANT to do?
When do you WANT to go to bed? How much do you WANT to eat? What meals do you WANT to eat? The more you lean into what you WANT, what you DESIRE – pleasure – and the more you remove yourself from shoulds and have tos – pain – the faster and easier weight loss will be.
Effective Journaling Prompt Number Two: What do I think about _____? (fill in the blank)
This question is super effective when you have really good intentions to do something and – we’ve all been there – you suddenly “find yourself” not following through. You know consistency is key, and it really seems like you could eat your calories, or drink your water, but for whatever reason, you’re just not doing it.
And we all use that phrase, too – “For whatever reason.” and then we let it drop. As though that’s an explanation. Or as though there isn’t an explanation.
But there is. Of course there is. Your actions are NEVER a mystery.
The reason you do things is because you’re seeking pleasure. And the reason you don’t do things (like getting up with your alarm, or getting out your journal, or tracking your calories) is because you’re avoiding pain.
Again, I’m not talking about physical pain, but emotional discomfort.
There’s something about the habit you’re trying to create that your brain just doesn’t like. So instead of forcing yourself to do it anyway, you gently and curiously come to your journal and ask, “What do I think about _____?” and then fill in the blank with the habit or behavior you’ve been finding yourself not doing.
And a quick note of clarification here, because I see this all the time. You’re not asking yourself “What do I think about not doing that task?” like “What do I think about eating way over my calorie target?” because all you’re going to find there is recrimination and judgment. That’s not useful information.
What you’re looking for is the reason why you’re avoiding your calorie target. You have a thought that your calorie target is “painful.” Emotionally painful.
Like magic, it’ll become very clear that you actually hate going to bed early, or you really can’t stand drinking water at night, or that tracking calories feels claustrophobic.
Now you know why you’re not doing what you intended. You, you lovely product of biology, are seeking pleasure and avoiding pain.
So instead of continuing to force yourself to go against nature, you can use good ol’ question number one again, and ask yourself, “What do I want?” and set your habits from there.
Enjoyable, pleasurable habits that you can be consistent with are the ones that will take you to your goal weight.
Effective Journaling Prompt Number Three: What did I make that mean about me?
Okay, now we’re getting to the good stuff, and this is where journaling really speeds you up instead of letting you stay stuck. Somewhere in the middle of your weight loss journey, you will come to a plateau. You just will. Everybody does. And it’s not your body, it’s your brain.
If you’re like everybody I’ve ever worked with, you’ll spin your journaling wheels here asking yourself questions like, “What am I doing wrong?” or “What am I missing?” or “What do I need to change?” or “What if this is just my body’s set point?”
But none of these questions move you forward. You’re not doing anything wrong, you’re not missing anything, you don’t need to change anything, and the myth about set-points has been debunked.
What’s actually going on here is that your brain has made an association with the weight that you quote-unquote can’t get past. This is just biology, your brain is always clumping things together. And remember, we’re working with biology instead of fighting against it. So, brainstorm on the number that seems sticky and find out what your association is.
Is that what you weighed when you lost your job, or when you moved away from a neighborhood you loved, or one of your parents got sick?
Your brain has made that weight and that event, whatever it is, mean something about YOU.
So, when you’ve brainstormed and figured out what the association is, ask yourself, “What did I make that mean about me?” and listen to your answer.
And that, right there. That uncomfortable thing you just heard about being a loser, or a failure, or weak, or helpless, or out of control, or all alone in the world, or whatever – the pain of that feeling is what’s stopping you from getting to that weight
It’s wild, right? Like, obviously your weight has nothing to do with the event. But your brain thinks it does, and we’re working *with* biology here, instead of fighting against it and telling ourselves that it doesn’t make sense or it shouldn’t be this way.
It is.
And your next step here is to actually allow yourself to feel that feeling, instead of shoving it down and pretending it doesn’t exist.
And let me tell you something, I’ve done this work myself and I’ve helped dozens of women inside the Get Your GOAL membership do this work, and it works.
Feeling your feelings releases you from the association and lets you lose the weight you want to lose much faster than you would if you just stayed here spinning your wheels and wondering what you’re doing wrong.
Effective Journaling Prompt Number Four: Who am I at my goal weight?
This is such a great question, and you can use it at any point along your weight loss journey to really speed things up. When you ask yourself “Who am I at my goal weight?” it gives you a chance to experience the pleasure of already weighing your goal weight, which helps your brain move toward it.
I know I’ve really hammered this home, but I’ll say it again: we’re always seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. So intentionally creating pleasure for yourself by picturing your future self at your goal weight speeds you up.
My friend. Let me recap for you here, and I’ll also remind you that you can download my free guide with these four journaling prompts from getyourgoal.com
Prompt Number One is “What do I want?”
Prompt Number Two is “What do I think about ______?” and you fill in the blank with the specific task you notice yourself not being consistent with.
Prompt Number Three is to brainstorm the associations your brain has with certain weights and events, and then ask, “What did I make that mean about me?”
And Prompt Number Four is “Who am I at my goal weight?”
Go download the freebie. Journal with simplicity and systems so you can lose weight faster.
Thank you so much for listening, I’ll talk to you again soon.
