{"id":2701,"date":"2016-10-05T11:16:34","date_gmt":"2016-10-05T10:16:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/?p=2701"},"modified":"2019-01-09T17:15:07","modified_gmt":"2019-01-09T17:15:07","slug":"health-journal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/writing\/diaries-journals\/health-journal\/","title":{"rendered":"Why &#038; how to keep a health journal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-3947\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bigstock-193574632-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Health journal\" width=\"650\" height=\"434\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bigstock-193574632-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bigstock-193574632-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bigstock-193574632-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bigstock-193574632-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bigstock-193574632.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re experiencing any kind of illness, a health journal is a great method of tracking symptoms. Even if you\u2019re currently as fit as a fiddle, a health journal is still beneficial as it will provide an excellent comparison for you if you start experiencing changes in your health.<\/p>\n<p>I began journaling my health several years ago when I became ill, and wished I had started keeping track of it long before, as I had forgotten what \u2018normal\u2019 felt like by that point. However, the journal was still very useful, and I took notes from it to my GP and various specialists, as my symptoms were complex and I didn\u2019t want to rely on just my memory in a pressured environment. These notes proved invaluable, as it turned out my symptoms weren\u2019t just the result of one illness, but several; without detailed notes, I\u2019m not certain this would have been concluded.<\/p>\n<p>You may feel like you\u2019ve had a few headaches recently, but when you check your journal you realise you\u2019ve had a headache every day for the past two weeks. Or perhaps that rash from precisely 8 days ago hasn\u2019t gone away yet. Time to visit your GP. A health journal really can be invaluable!<\/p>\n<h2>What to write in your health journal<\/h2>\n<p>So, you may be wondering how to begin a health journal, and what you should keep track of. The contents are a very personal choice, however some basics include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Past and current health diagnoses<\/li>\n<li>Weight<\/li>\n<li>Body measurements<\/li>\n<li>Food and water intake<\/li>\n<li>Sleep quality<\/li>\n<li>Exercise<\/li>\n<li>Aches or pains (rate the pain on a scale of 1-10)<\/li>\n<li>Fatigue<\/li>\n<li>Illness, allergies, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Perhaps start with the above and then begin to personalise your journal as you become accustomed to using it and figure out what your personal needs are. Some further suggestions for health factors to track include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Menstruation \u2013 this can bring a myriad of symptoms with it, so it is a good idea to track it<\/li>\n<li>Stools \u2013 they can be an excellent indicator of health, so they are worth tracking<\/li>\n<li>Time of eating \u2013 this can be useful for tracking bad reactions to food<\/li>\n<li>Skin changes \u2013 another indicator of health<\/li>\n<li>Minor ailments \u2013 your health journal is the place to note down <em>everything<\/em> health-related<\/li>\n<li>Medications \u2013 it is very helpful to note down medication changes, including brand changes<\/li>\n<li>Emotions \u2013 don\u2019t forget your mental health, as it is just as important as your physical health<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Layout<\/h3>\n<p>You can lay your journal out however you like, as it will depend of what you choose to keep track of and how often, but I\u2019d recommend a quick daily summary so as not to miss anything important \u2013 especially if you are currently ill and experiencing symptoms\u00a0\u2013 and then perhaps a weekly summary of things such as weight and body measurements. You could use an app for your health journal, but I\u2019d opt for a real paper journal as you have the freedom to track and write whatever you like. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/journal\/\">Our range of Moleskine and Paperblanks journals<\/a> are a good option.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re experiencing any kind of illness, a health journal is a great method of tracking symptoms. Even if you\u2019re currently as fit as a fiddle, a health journal is still beneficial as it will provide an excellent comparison for you if you start experiencing changes in your health. I began journaling my health several&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[111],"tags":[113,265,264,119,120],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.7.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why &amp; how to keep a health journal - The Pen Company Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Write a Health Journal, and keep track of pains, aches, allergies, rashes, skin, stools, and any changes in your health. Read our guide, here.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/writing\/diaries-journals\/health-journal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why &amp; how to keep a health journal - The Pen Company Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Write a Health Journal, and keep track of pains, aches, allergies, rashes, skin, stools, and any changes in your health. Read our guide, here.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/writing\/diaries-journals\/health-journal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Pen Company Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ThePenCompany\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-10-05T10:16:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-01-09T17:15:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bigstock-193574632.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1067\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lucy Williams\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@thepencompany\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@thepencompany\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lucy Williams\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/writing\/diaries-journals\/health-journal\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/writing\/diaries-journals\/health-journal\/\",\"name\":\"Why & how to keep a health journal - The Pen Company Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-05T10:16:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-01-09T17:15:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thepencompany.live\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b621584a04332c39a493182f2dca6376\"},\"description\":\"Write a Health Journal, and keep track of pains, aches, allergies, rashes, skin, stools, and any changes in your health. 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