Your Perfect Weight Success Diary

Need to remind yourself to pick up some cereal and tomatoes at the store? Simple: You write it down. The grandson's birthday is coming up and a pitstop at the local toy store is in your future? You jot down some gift ideas. Heard some interesting medical news on a talk show that you want to discuss with your doctor? You write it down.

In this busy life we all lead, it's impossible to remember everything that's crucial, and luckily it's unnecessary to keep all that stuff in your head. Writing things down helps us remember what we need to, focus on what's important and then get on with the rest of our lives. And now that you've decided that losing weight and keeping the extra pounds off is a priority for you, there's no better way to help you meet your goals than with a food and exercise diary.

If you're a bit intimidated by the idea of maintaining a written record of everything you eat and drink and how much exercise you do (and don't!) get each day, fear not. The point of this diary is to help you keep your mind on your short- and long-term health and fitness goals.

Was it three pieces of toast you had yesterday, or only two? Did you walk for 20 minutes, or was it actually more like 45? Did you drink two quarts of water you'd planned on, or just a couple of glasses at lunchtime? Knowing what you've done can help you better plan what you want to do the next time around.

What's more, keeping a written record of your progress and your step-by-step successes--whether that means dropping a pound and a half last week or comfortably boosting your walking program from 30 to 40 minutes per session--gives you a continuous pat on the back for a job well done, all of which tends to lead to a very positive spiral.

Over the next 15 pages you'll see a week's worth of diary pages to help you get started. You'll note that the first day's diary (one for a woman, one for a man) has already been filled in and commented on. That's to help you see how you might use and work with your own diary entries.

We suggest that for the first few days you not attempt to change your usual eating and exercise pattern: Just write down whatever you've been doing all along. (Don't forget that under the category "Type of Exercise" come such lifestyle workouts as vacuuming the carpets, raking the leaves and those brisk, twice-daily walks with your collie, Samson.)

As you review what you've written, start to look for patterns. Do you always join the guys for beers and high-fat snacks during Friday night happy hour? Do you invariably wind up eating those cookies you bake with your granddaughter whenever she comes to visit? Do you eat especially carefully when you go out to lunch with your slim, fashionable cousin?

The food and exercise sections are fairly self-explanatory. As for the "Mood" sections, the notes you jot down here will help you begin to get a better idea of why, for example, you grabbed that chicken leg on the way to the car on Tuesday even though you'd eaten a substantial dinner and you weren't even particularly hungry at the time. The diary aims to help you grow in awareness of your habits. And you'll also notice spaces provided so you can record how your changing eating and exercise patterns are affecting your sleep and medication requirements.

You should also be aware of those items you're not being asked to fill in on these diary pages--things like "Calories Consumed" or "Total Daily Fat Grams." Surprised? It's simply that we believe that as long as you're making a concerted effort to increase your level of exercise and decrease your intake of fat, particularly saturated fat, you needn't count calories or grams or anything else--that effort is certain to be rewarded with a slimmer, healthier body.

As for checking and recording your weight and body measurements, we recommend that you do so no more than once a week. (You'll see there's only one space provided each week for those numbers.) Anything more frequent may lead to inaccuracies about how much fat you're really losing and may cause you to fixate needlessly on the scale rather than your improving health and fitness levels.

Plan on reviewing your diary entries each evening before bed (it'll help ward off midnight snacks!) or the next morning, and jot down your own comments, more or less as we have. Do that, and you'll soon begin to find new and clever ways to cut back on fat, increase your fiber and get more out of your exercise.

When you see that you're coming to the end of the sample diary pages in this book, simply photocopy them to use in future days and weeks. Or just get a notebook (a spiral-bound type is probably easiest to use) and keep track of the same information there.

Good luck! Actually, the success you're sure to see won't be a matter of luck but of your decision and determination to take charge of your weight and your health, now and forever.