Research has shown that self-monitoring and reflective writing can support behaviour change, stress management, emotional wellbeing, and recovery.

While a journal alone cannot treat Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S), studies suggest that regularly recording thoughts, feelings, behaviours, and habits can help people:

✓ Increase self-awareness

✓ Recognise patterns earlier

✓ Improve adherence to recovery behaviours

✓ Reduce mental overload

✓ Process stress and emotions

✓ Support habit formation

✓ Improve communication with healthcare professionals

✓ Feel more in control during recovery

When I was experiencing RED-S, one of the hardest parts wasn't just the physical symptoms — it was the mental load.

There were so many thoughts constantly going around in my head.

Questions.

Worries.

Appointments.

Symptoms.

Training decisions.

Work pressures.

Life.

Sometimes it felt exhausting carrying everything mentally.

Writing things down gave those thoughts somewhere to go.

I've found that getting those thoughts out earlier in the day can help free up mental space, reduce stress, and make it easier to focus on recovery, work, family, training, and everyday life.

Sometimes writing something down means you don't have to keep carrying it around.

I created this journal because it's something I wish I had when I was experiencing RED-S.

At the time, I thought tracking meant counting calories or trying to be "perfect". But what I really needed was a simple way to understand what was happening in my body and my life.

Looking back, I now realise that recovery, performance, and health are influenced by so much more than just food.

Sleep matters.

Stress matters.

Training load matters.

Hormones matter.

Mood matters.

Life matters.

Modern life places demands on all of us. Training stress, work pressures, poor sleep, busy schedules, travel, illness, hormonal changes, family commitments, and inadequate nutrition can gradually accumulate, increasing the risk of under-fuelling, overreaching, burnout, Low Energy Availability (LEA), and Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S).

Often, these changes happen slowly and the warning signs can be easy to miss.

This journal has been designed to help athletes, exercisers, professionals, students, and active individuals (like you and me!) monitor the key factors that influence energy availability, recovery, performance, wellbeing, and long-term health.

It provides a simple way to step back, identify patterns, and better understand how training, nutrition, recovery, sleep, stress, mood, and everyday life interact.

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Tracking Shouldn't Be About Calories

When people hear the word "tracking", they often think about calories.

But tracking can be much broader than that.

Tracking can help you understand:

✓ Your stress levels

✓ Your sleep quality

✓ Your training load

✓ Your mood and emotional wellbeing

✓ Your recovery patterns

✓ Your fuelling consistency

✓ Your menstrual cycle and hormone health

✓ Your energy levels

✓ How work, family, study, illness, or life events affect your body

Tracking isn't about judgement.

It's about awareness.

And awareness helps us spot patterns before small problems become bigger ones.

Rather than focusing on perfection, this journal encourages curiosity, self-awareness, and consistency.

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Why Include Sticker Charts?

Throughout this journal you'll find optional sticker charts and tracking tables.

These are simply visual tools to help make habits feel easier and more enjoyable.

Sometimes placing a sticker on a chart for:

• Eating breakfast

• Fueling before training

• Prioritising recovery

• Getting enough sleep

• Managing stress

• Drinking enough fluids

• Simply getting through a difficult week

…can help celebrate small wins and reinforce healthy habits.

Progress doesn't have to be complicated.

Sometimes a small sticker can be a reminder that consistency matters more than perfection.

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How To Use This Journal

Think of each page as a journal entry.

Use it daily, weekly, or whenever you need it.

Simply download a fresh copy, add the new date, and start again.

There are no rules.

No pressure.

No expectation to complete every box.

Some weeks you may write a lot.

Some weeks you may only tick a few boxes.

Both are enough.

This journal is designed to meet you where you are.

You can choose to:

✓ Fill it out digitally on your phone, tablet, or computer.

✓ Print it and write by hand.

✓ Add stickers to the tracking charts if that helps motivate you.

✓ Use only the sections that feel helpful to you.

✓ Download a new copy whenever you want a fresh start.

We've provided the journal in Microsoft Word format because it is easy to edit and personalise yourself.

You can add your own notes, colours, appointments, goals, reminders, training sessions, or anything else that supports your health and wellbeing.

There is no "perfect" way to use this journal.

What matters most is finding a system that works for you.

Because consistency is more important than perfection.

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The Goal Is Simple

✓ Improve energy availability and support everyday function

✓ Build sustainable fuelling habits that fit real life

✓ Support recovery, adaptation, and training consistency

✓ Protect hormone health and physiological function

✓ Understand the relationship between training load, stress, sleep, mood, and nutrition

✓ Recognise early warning signs of under-fuelling and excessive stress

✓ Reduce the risk of Low Energy Availability (LEA) and Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S)

✓ Support immune function and overall resilience

✓ Promote healthy bone health and reduce injury risk

✓ Maintain menstrual health and reproductive function

✓ Support testosterone production and hormonal balance in males

✓ Improve concentration, focus, and cognitive performance

✓ Enhance mood, emotional wellbeing, and confidence

✓ Support healthy growth and development in younger athletes

✓ Improve energy levels for sport, work, family, and everyday life

✓ Encourage a healthier relationship with food, exercise, and recovery

✓ Reduce the likelihood of burnout and chronic fatigue

✓ Support long-term health, performance, and longevity

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Additional Resources Included

This journal also contains links to free RED-Scue educational resources, webinars, blogs, videos, research papers, and community support.

Because awareness and action work best together.

Sometimes we need information.

Sometimes we need support.

Sometimes we simply need reminding that we are not alone.

RED-Scue™

Awareness Fuels Action

Fuel Consistently • Recover Better • Perform Stronger