A Powerful Tool To Reach Your Goals | Journalling Tips

A journal is an under-rated tool on your wellness journey! Our team of Registered Dietitians believe that a journal is an effective way to track progress, identify patterns, and set intentions. 

How you utilize your journal will depend on your personal wellness goals. For example, some factors we have our clients monitor include:

• Food: Food journaling is an effective way for clients to share their intake with their nutritionists. The nutritionists at Vitality Nutrition remind clients that food journaling is meant to be a non-judgemental opportunity to collaborate and make adjustments to their intake based on their personal goals! Some clients even enjoying using their journal to plan meals for the week! Clients who take the Vitality Nutrition Fundamental Four online course are encouraged to spend 4 weeks journaling their intake and identifying the four food groups in their meal to optimize energy, body composition, and blood sugar management!
  
  
• Digestion: Clients looking to improve digestion track digestive symptoms throughout the day like bloating, cramping, or the frequency and type of their stool. Sometimes clients share that this exercise can feel like “TMI” but it truly is necessary to capture the information needed to improve digestion! Working with a Registered Dietitian like Darian Kotchorek who specializes in digestive health can help you understand the root cause of digestive discomfort and create a strategy to improve symptoms.

• Menstrual Cycle: Depending on the clients unique goals with their menstrual cycle we may have them note what phase of the cycle they are in and what symptoms they experience (eg. cramps, mood shifts, breast tenderness, and more) or cyclical changes they are experiencing with mood, energy, digestion, and more. Understanding trends in the cycle ensures our team of Registered Dietitians can identify actionable habits to address the client's unique symptoms. These habits may relate to fertility, hypothalamic amenorrhea, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), perimenopause, menopause, or endometriosis. If you are looking to embrace the power of nutrition and lifestyle strategies for hormone health then reach out to our team of Registered Dietitians to get started.
  
  
• Training: Our sports nutritionists have athletes note what they are completing in their exercise program to ensure that optimal nutrition strategy are employed to fuel the athlete to maximize performance and recovery. Additionally, athletes find that a training log allows them to progress training whether that is hitting their paces for endurance training or increasing weight in their strength training sessions. We work with athletes with goals related to improving performance in sport, building muscle and strength, losing body fat, or optimizing recovery. If you are looking for support to reach your exercise goals then reach out to our team of dietitians who have experience with sports nutrition and can help you match your nutrition to your unique training style and goals (eg. triathlon, running, CrossFit training, Olympic Weightlifting, sport-specific training, and more)

• Values: Our team of Registered Dietitians often have clients reflect on their core values to ensure that our nutrition strategy takes into account how food connects to values beyond wellness, fitness, and nutrition. For example, identifying values may be important to appreciate the role that food plays in connecting with family, friends, and/or a romantic partner. In some cases, enjoying food may be an intentional opportunity to embrace the power of food when it comes to connecting with people we love and value. You can read more about the Vitality Nutrition “fuel the body, feed the soul” philosophy here. If you are looking to improve your relationship with food and overcome feelings of guilt when it comes to enjoy food then it may be helpful to work with a Registered Dietitian like Hannah Murray who specializes in building a healthy relationship with food. 

Other factors you might consider journalling include mindset, energy, sleep, steps, recovery, and more depending on your personal goals. 

Of course, there are many ways to capture data including Apps, smart watches, and Spreadsheets. However, a good old-fashioned journal is a timeless tool that can bring awareness and intention on the road to your goals.

Aside from journaling specific factors as mentioned above, questions you may consider answering in your daily journal include:

• What 1-3 actions can I take today to progress towards my goals and values?
• What is one thing that I am grateful for?
• What is one thing I can do to make today a great day?
• What is one thing I can do for someone else today?

If you are looking for specific support from our team of Registered Dietitians to reach our unique wellness goals then connect with our team of dietitians based out of Canada to get started on your journey!

Looking to purchase a notebook to get started with journalling? Our team of Registered Dietitians love this bullet journal!