RFS: Journal For Success ~ April 2014

APRIL 2014

We are going to try the Journal For Success swap as a monthly series of swaps. You can join any month you want - no minimum requirements. Deadline to sign up for the following month will be the last day of the previous month - send by date will be the 10th of the following month.

You will keep a "Journal for Success" journal for the designated month for your partner. Try your hardest to make some sort of entry every day.

You can use a small notebook, notebook paper in a light weight binder, etc. You can decorate the cover and you can decorate the pages as you go but this is not a requirement - what you write and what you learn about your Success Journey is the most important part of this swap.

Somewhere in your journal you need to include an introduction about yourself to your partner. I usually do this as I go through the month instead of doing it all at once at the beginning (throughout the month I give some insight into my past struggles with weight, where I am now, etc.).

Otherwise, what you include is up to you! Some ideas:

• Your starting goal at the beginning of the month
• The goal weight you want to achieve by month's end
• A list of what you consumed on that day - calories, Weight Watcher points, etc.
• Exercise you did
• Goals for the day (or for the next day, week, month)
• Recipes
• Tips
• Before/after photos
• Your thoughts and feelings on ANY topic - doesn't have to be strictly about weight loss/healthy living - as you know, everything going on in your life affects everything else...
• How certain foods affect you physically and emotionally
• The history of your weight gain
• What you've done in the past to lose weight
• What you are working on in other Swap-Bot swaps
• Photos of what you are eating
• Labels from what you are eating
• Quotes
• Daily hurdles - what trips you up?
• Comics, jokes
• Whatever you want to include!

Please make the journal interesting, not just a list, it's a journal and should be used for journaling. Make the journal something you would love to receive from someone - the most important part of this journal is to help YOU but you want to create something that your partner wants to read and gets something out of (whatever that might be). These journals are meant to help keep us on track and to help us to see that other people have some of the same thoughts and feelings.

Please be honest. If you don't stay as on track as you want to this month, you can do better next month! On the bright side, your down days will help the receiver not feel so bad about theirs.

Any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.