Why I Created the Wellness Journals

And How They Can Help You

As I've gotten older, I've begun to notice that I can no longer eat all of the things that I used to eat without consequences. I used to be the person who could eat just about anything except a salad on an empty stomach, and feel just fine.

I love a good steak, I love spaghetti and pizza and cinnamon streusel muffins and fresh bread with butter. I used to be able to eat any of those things, any time of day, and my digestive tract was totally fine with it. But now that I've reached the half-century mark, I'm learning that I have to be more careful of what I eat and when I eat it.

All of the foods that I mentioned now cause me acid reflux when I eat them. I find that beef is harder and slower for my body to digest than chicken. I can still eat steak, spaghetti and pizza, but I need to eat them for lunch and not supper unless I want to spend the night sleeping upright or popping antacids like candy. I know the problem is the tomato sauce and not the pasta because I can eat pasta with Alfredo sauce, no problem. And dinner rolls are ok with a meal, but a slice of buttered bread by itself will make me miserable. And I especially don't want to be eating anything that is acidic if I'm going to be working in the garden or doing any kind of heavy lifting.

If I am out among other people past my bedtime, regardless of what I've eaten, and even if I'm having a great time, my stomach will often give me trouble. I've figured out that's a stress thing, and not a food thing. Since eating and socializing often go hand-in-hand, it took me a good long while to figure out that I had two separate problems with similar symptoms.

What I’m getting at here is that unless something is a really big problem for me, I don’t pay it much attention. Which means that problems can creep up on me, and I’ll have little idea what might be the cause. It took me a while to catch on to which foods and situations were causing problems for me. If my symptoms hadn’t interfered with my sleep, it would probably have taken me even longer to catch on.

I’m pretty sure I’d have caught on to cause and effect a whole lot sooner if I’d been keeping track of my diet, daily activities and symptoms.

Here’s another example:

For most of my adult life, in a room where everyone else is comfortable, I'm usually freezing. I like to wear wool socks from September to May because my feet are freezing most of the time. While that is still true, now I will wake up in the middle of the night absolutely soaked in sweat, even with the thermostat set at 65 degrees. I’m not putting up with anything that messes with my sleep.

After researching which supplements might help with the night sweats, I began taking one semi-regularly (meaning that I usually remember to take it sometime during the day, but occasionally I forget). I didn't really notice that the supplement was helping me (because I was blissfully asleep) until the first time I forgot to take it. Had I been paying attention to the quality of my sleep each day, I’d have noticed positive results much quicker, and made sure I didn’t forget my supplements every single day.

I’m trying really hard to spend as little time with my phone as possible every day. I’ve accomplished a LOT in the past 6 months because I made a conscious effort to silence the notifications and focus on making daily progress. As a result, I’ve created planners, record books and journals that I’m really proud of. I don’t want to be pestered all day by devices, and I value my privacy, so I’m not going to use any apps that I don’t absolutely have to.

I created the journal that I needed to keep track of my daily eating habits (they’re not great, yet) sleep, hydration (I still don’t much care for drinking water), exercise (I need more), and the physical and emotional results of my daily activities. I know I make better decisions when I can see what the consequences (good or bad) of similar decisions have been. And I want to be able to see how the work I do today pays off down the road.

Maybe you are looking for a way to track your health, spot the cause of symptoms you are experiencing, or establish better sleep, exercise or nutritional habits too. If so, I think my journals can help you to achieve your goal. At the end of 12 weeks, you should be more in tune with your body. And once you've completed your first journal, you can start a new one with a whole new set of illustrations!