Writing to eat less

Writing is hardly a weight loss activity. Unless you plunked down a wad of cash for a Walkstation combo workstation/treadmill, you just sit on your bum clicking keys. Usually a cup of tea and a carbohydrate-laden snack perches nearby.

But writers out there have new hope in Julia Cameron's book, The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Size. Between its pages, Cameron has adapted her creative writing program to target weight loss. The main premise is eating is often used to manage feelings, but writing about feelings is a healthier way to fully face life issues. You don't eat your way around them.

Cameron discovered the weight loss power of writing when she gained 40 pounds after taking mood-stabilizing medication. As a teacher she had been assigning "morning pages" to students for 25 years, and had seen students look healthier as a course progressed. But only through her own frustration with weight gain did she identify writing as an actual weight loss tool.

There are tremendous benefits to journaling feelings and recording your eating habits. I eat much healthier on the days I count calories. I joined Weight Watchers (WW) to lose the weight after each of my kids were born, and tracking food intake via their Points system was insightful. It was during that time I discovered my weight-loss-sabotage-time -- I always reach for high-glycemic carbs in the late afternoon. Although I suspect officially stepping on their scale each week and witnessing the WW staff record my number was even more motivational.