How to Keep a Diary of Eating Behaviors

The battle against eating disorders can take many months and even years to overcome with the proper help. Maintaining a diary of eating behaviors has proven to be an effective way to manage disorders like anorexia and bulimia. The diary gives the individual a written and factual account of all feelings, thoughts and activities surrounding eating and issues of weight. Sharing the information in the diary with a professional can help the professional take the proper steps to treat the patient.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Notebook
• Pen or pencil

Keep a Diary of Eating Behaviors

1. Set up the diary to keep track of important factors involved in eating behaviors. Create columns on the page to list the time of day, food and drink taken in, where eating happens, binges, purges or other compensation efforts and thoughts and feelings during meals. Leave space on the page for general thoughts and feelings.
2. Fill in the columns every time you have a meal. For example, "12:15 p.m., one piece of pepperoni pizza, one glass of Diet Coke, school cafeteria, felt like I added 5 pounds to my body."
3. Record all bad eating habits such as frequent vomiting, eating sweets often, eating too much at any meal and other eating habits you feel are negative.
4. Write down overall thoughts and feelings at the end of the day and feel free to express yourself fully in the diary.
5. Read through the diary on a weekly basis to look for trends in eating, feelings, thoughts, compensation efforts and other aspects of eating behaviors.
6. Write out the trends you noticed on a page dedicated to a weekly wrap-up of eating events.
7. Create a goal to achieve in the next week that will show positive improvement in your eating behaviors, thoughts and feelings. Make sure the goal is reachable and is not too difficult.

Tips & Warnings

• Purchase a diary with a lock to keep the journal personal so younger family members cannot read the book.
• Keep the diary with you so you can write in it after every meal and at any time during the day.
• Work hard to replace bad eating habits with good eating habits, which is easier than simply trying to stop bad eating habits.
• Be prepared to experience a wide range of emotions.
• Professional help and the help of family and friends are needed to overcome bulimia and anorexia in most cases.
• Don't wait until the end of the day to write in the diary because many important details will be forgotten.