i am required to keep these things for 4 weeks. i am a food addict. i struggle every day. if i could eat a perfect 1200 calorie diet and write how i felt about it and it worked, i wouldn't be considering WLS...

so how the heck do i do them? i have to meet with nutritional counselor for as many times as it takes 'to be ready'. i am ready now. seriously. i am not even sure if they are REQUIRING me to lose weight during this phase. i think so, but not even sure. i will speak with the nurse at surgeon's office tomorrow but i want to do them right so nothing slows down this process.

how did everyone approach them?

I didn't have to journal preop which I was thankful for but now that I'm post op I do keep track of what I'm eating. Do you have a smart phone? I use my fitness pal for tracking. I think you can do it online with a PC too. I just put in everything I eat through out the day. If you're required to journal your feelings too you might just want to get a cheap notebook and do that separately. Best of luck to you. The 4 weeks will fly by.

I journal to track how often I eat and how long it takes me. It's painful to write down every bite. I've been doing it for a month and I can see my bad habits changing. No more diet coke, no more Easter candy, a drastic reduction in carbs etc. I have a cheap steno pad. Don't think of it as a chore. Think of it as a tool.

It's something I have to do post op too.

how did everyone approach them?

Hi!

I -- like a lot of others -- use MyFitnessPal.com to track what goes in, what I weigh, my measurements, and other things. I'm not trying to advertise for them, but I really like the work they've put into such a great project.

Their web site is pretty much where you go to get your printouts and reports, but if you have a smartphone (Android or iOS), you can use their app to add things in from anywhere you happen to be. It also allows you to scan barcodes of food to instantly look up and add the item.

Best of all, it's free and it's very, very easy... You just have to be absolutely honest with yourself and not "cheat" (meaning, you need to log everything that goes into your body...

Wayne

I've been logging in My Fitness Pal for almost two and a half years and would be lost without it. Next to the surgery, food logs are the single most powerful tool that you can have in your arsenal. Study after study has shown that folks who log their food lose more weight, lose it faster and maintain their goal weight better than those who don't. Amazingly powerful tool!