Getting to Know Myself

I'm keeping a food diary (writing down everything I eat) and plan to do it for the whole three weeks.

I'm keeping an emotions journal. I write down the emotion I'm having (or had) and why. This has been very eye opening. The first thing I realized is that EVERY SINGLE emotion I had would make me want to stick something in my mouth. It has also shown me that when I've been restless/cranky/anxious? - it's because I had "emotional buildup." Once I sit down and download the emotions that overwhelming feeling is gone. (And if I write out my emotions after having an eating binge I'll see that it's connected with an emotional overload).

I am keeping track of when I have bowel movements (and a little more details about them which I will spare you). If they are irregular it affects the way I feel. I can see by comparing my food diary and my exercise log why the pattern is as it is.

I have to keep a check off list of the medications and suppliments I take each day. There are so many of them that I can't remember if I've taken them or not.

I'm supposed to take my blood pressure on a regular basis. I bought a super duper blood pressure monitor that has a memory and keeps your readings for you. Now I just have to remember to do it!

I keep a tally of the number of times I fill up my water bottle each day. I carry it with me constantly (in the house and whenever I go anywhere). This is the only way I can acurately tell how much water I'm drinking. My trainer wants to know and it makes a difference in the BM pattern too.

I've had a struggle trying to keep some sort of record of how much sleep I'm getting. When I'm ready to fall asleep I don't want to grab the pen and paper and write. I get up several times in the night to go to the bathroom (I have an overactive bladder). That's where I always hit a snag. I don't remember to mark how many times I'm up or what time it is when I wake up (thus telling me how long I've slept). I don't go to bed at the same time every night. I've tried to. It works for a few days, then I'll have a night where I just can't fall asleep. I'm restless so I get up and stay up until I am drowsy, which may not be until 5:30 or 6:00 AM (which messes up my whole sleep cycle).

I was given an assignment to make a list of ways to pamper/reward myself that did not include food or drink. It couldn't be shopping (because that could lead to another problem if I started compulsive shopping). This has also been a struggle for me to do. A bubble bath would be a good one (if we had a big or deeper bathtub). We have a regular size one and the water doesn't cover most of me up. It's just not the relaxing spa effect I'd want. I like to scrapbook. That's a big thing to do for myself (I don't have my supplies handy to be able to sit down and do a page on a whim). It's a fun thing to do when I have more time to spend. I thought about sitting down with a cup of tea and a good book (oops! that's a drink).