I Lost 25 Pounds in Three Weeks By Writing- The Pen and Paper Diet

Don’t let the headline fool you; I didn’t lose twenty-five pounds by eating only pens and paper, although that would make a decent episode of My Strange Addiction. I lost twenty-five pounds in three weeks by keeping a daily morning journal. I wrote myself thin, and you can too.

At the beginning of 2021, I read the cult classic book The Artist’s Way, and it changed my entire life nearly instantly. During the Pandemic, I gained the typical quarantine twenty, thanks to a year of DoorDash deliveries, an unlimited supply of red wine, and a lack of fucks given. I didn’t like who I became during the Pandemic. I felt isolated, creatively blocked, and bored as hell. I needed inspiration to get me out of the funk because living that way wasn’t sustainable or true to who I was. So I finally read The Artists Way, which had been on my reading list for more than a decade.

The book is about creative recovery, nurturing your child artist, and getting un-fucking-stuck. Julia Cameron, the author, talks about keeping something called The Morning Pages. The gist is that every morning when you wake up, immediately write down three full pages using stream of consciousness. Don’t stop and think; just write. If you don’t think you can write three full pages, you’re wrong. Write about what time you went to bed the night before, any dreams you had, what you’re doing that day, how you’re feeling, where you’re going, who you’re hating on, what you want to buy, and anything that’s bothering you or making you happy. Just write until you hit the…