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Maren Muter

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Fireside Friend

Side by Side - the Dieting Journal

  • Marinating Set (T in Austin): T’s entries are a cycle of self-reflection, guilt, and plans that never fully launch. They fixate on past failures (tacos, granola), emotional roots (loneliness, family), and a “plan” (calorie counts, affirmations) that’s just more rumination. The focus stays inward, reinforcing the struggle without real movement—classic marinating.

  • Doing Set (R in Denver): R’s entries are action-driven, rooted in facts (calories burned, miles walked) and observations (elk signs, hawks). There’s no emotional dissection—just a goal (165 pounds) and steady steps (cooking, walking, weights). Progress is tangible (2 pounds down), and the narrative moves forward without wallowing.

The marinating set shows how even a “plan of action” can be part of the cycle if it’s just more thinking, while the doing set proves forward motion comes from acting, not overanalyzing.


Set 1: Marinating

April 20, 2025 

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Maren Muter

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Fireside Friend

Let's Look at Journal Entries - Marinating

Date: April 15, 2025 Location: Seattle, USA Local Weather: 13°C (55°F), dreary rain, gray skies pressing down


Dear Diary,

It’s me, sitting in this Seattle apartment, listening to the rain tap against the window like it’s trying to get in. The weather matches how I feel—soggy, heavy, stuck. Today, I keep thinking about that fight with Mom ten years ago, the one where she said I’d never amount to anything. I was 16, and it cut so deep I still feel the sting. Why does it keep coming back? I want to heal from it, so I’m writing this to figure out why I’m still so broken.

I cried this morning—again—because I can’t shake the feeling that she was right. I look at my life, this cramped space, my dead-end barista job, and it’s like I’m proving her point. I keep replaying her words, trying to understand why they hurt so much. Was…


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Maren Muter

a wink of luck

Fireside Friend

Let's Look at Journal Entries - That are not Marinating

Date: April 15, 2025 Location: Lisbon, Portugal Local Weather: 19°C (66°F), sunny with a light sea breeze, clouds teasing the horizon


Dear Diary,

Olá from Lisbon, where the trams rattle like they’re auditioning for a horror flick and I’m pretty sure I’m the one being watched. I’m supposed to be tailing Viktor, our charming double agent—6’2”, scar on his left cheek, partial to cheap cologne and cheaper lies. Fact: Lisbon’s got 7 hills and about a million cobblestones trying to break my ankles. Observation: Viktor’s not just dodging me—he’s mirroring me. Saw him at the pastel de nata stand in Belém, pretending to fumble with euros while eyeing me over his custard tart. Amateur move, but bold.

I ducked into Alfama’s maze of alleys—narrow, laundry flapping overhead like surrender flags. Thought I’d lost him, but there he was, sipping espresso at a café I passed 10 minutes later. Coincidence? Please. My cover’s a…


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Maren Muter

a wink of luck

Fireside Friend

Journaling - the Downside

When you sit down to journal about that fight with your boss or that breakup that’s still gnawing at you, you’re not just venting. You’re replaying the movie in IMAX—every gritty detail, every sting, now inked onto the page. You’ve already been stewing in it all day, and now you’re, what, giving it a director’s cut? Writing it down doesn’t purge it—it’s like hitting “save” on a Word doc titled “My Misery, Volume 3.” And here’s the kicker: your brain loves a good story. The more you write that negative narrative, the more it sticks—like how you accidentally memorized the jingle from that dumb car ad.


Repetition strengthens neural pathways. It’s how you learned to tie your shoes or sing “Sweet Caroline” off-key. So, when you journal about how “Ugh, I’m such a mess, why does this always happen to me,” you’re not processing—you’re reinforcing. You’re training your brain to…

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"Her authenticity, the vulnerability she shares as a human being. Refreshing."

maren@marenmuter.com

The services rendered by Maren Muter are held out to the public as a form of motivational coaching combined with instruction in meditation. Maren does not represent her services as any form of medical health care or direct psychotherapy, and despite research to the contrary, by law she may make no health benefit claims for her services.

If you are suffering and have thoughts of imminently hurting yourself,

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