“Lunch: half a sandwich. I felt satisfied and put the rest away.”
“Lunch: Did poorly again.”
This experience was recorded in the same fashion a week later. Most importantly, a week later you will remember how you felt, but not what you had eaten nor what you had observed about the meal.
Read the Entry as If Someone Else Wrote It
For example, “I was good all day until dinner” could be explored in more detail. What happened at dinner time? Did you eat later than you had planned? Did you inadvertently eat something that you had not planned to eat? Were you distracted and failed to realise what you were eating? The same approach could be applied to yourself to fill in gaps in your
Rewrite the Phrases That Turn Notes Into Grades
| If the entry says… | Try writing what you know |
| “I ate badly at lunch.” | “I ate about half my lunch and put the rest away when I felt full.” |
| “I failed at tracking again.” | “No entries on Wednesday. I started logging again on Thursday.” |
| “The scale ruined my morning.” | “The reading was higher than last time. I felt discouraged and kept thinking about it.” |
| “I should have been more disciplined.” | “I didn’t make a note until the evening, and by then I couldn’t remember the details.” |
Note that the “I felt discouraged” statement is included in the scale entry. Your feelings deserve to be recorded if you think they matter to you. In an entry of factual information, both facts can be included: the number you observed and your feeling about it. The blank space is like this also. A blank means there is no information recorded for Wednesday. It does not mean what you ate, how you felt, or how much effort you expended.
Leave Room for “I Don’t Remember”
I can remember that I had soup for lunch, but I have no idea how much I had. “Soup at lunch; amount unknown” is a valid note based on my recollection. An empty hydration note is also a valid note. If I were to put an exact amount in the notes based on my memory, then the notes would give a false sense of a true memory.
Make the Record Easier to Keep
The friction could just be typing. It could be that while cleaning up after your meal, you recall what you ate for lunch, but when you sit down to write about it, you’ve already moved on. Make your first record as brief as possible: the food and a fact that you might forget. Glowise is a GLP-1 tracker app with VoiceLog, which lets you describe a meal aloud. You could say, “Soup and toast at noon. I left some of the soup because I felt full.” Read the entry back once to make sure it reflects what you meant. A notebook or a single note on your phone can work, too, if that’s what you’ll actually reach for.
Review What the Log Gives You Back
Return to the log entries after a few days, and ask yourself the following question: “What do I now know about myself that I would have otherwise forgotten?” Surprisingly, it is the entry where you reported how you felt after having eaten until satiated that becomes important to you. The entry that you fill on a daily basis is of no importance to you
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Do I need to record all meals in the diary while using the GLP-1 medication?
For personal use, simply record the information you want to remember. For example, write down the unusual meal or the change in your appetite that you wish to discuss.
2. Should I add an entry for the day I missed logging?
Note only the information you can remember. The phrase “added from memory” can be helpful. In case you cannot remember something to make an entry, do not write anything and continue with the next day.
3. Can I record my feelings without monitoring calories or weight?
Yes, in case the aim of keeping the personal log is to remember your feelings, you can note them as they are. “Felt satiated before usual time during lunch” can be clear enough. Add any required measurements in addition.
4. What if this logging makes me feel even worse?
Share your thoughts about this process with the clinician. It can be the stress caused by a certain number or the stress of completing the whole entry. This will give you
