How to Keep a Food Journal

Keeping a journal of your eating habits can help you determine which habits need breaking - and how you can get back on the path of eating right.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Notebooks
• Pens
• Pens
• Notebooks

Recording Your Eating Habits

1. Record the day and time of your snack or meal.

2. List the food and serving size at every snack or meal, with a different food or drink on each line. For instance, if you ate a hamburger, fries and a soda, list fries on one line and soda on another; then break up the hamburger into its components: meat on one line, buns on the next, tomatoes on another.

3. On the same line, write down your reason for eating and your feelings during the meal. Were you really hungry? Bored? Upset?

4. Make a note of where the snack or meal took place. Did you eat at home? At a fast-food restaurant?

Interpreting Your Journal

5. Determine your motivation for eating. Are you truly hungry when you eat? If not, are you eating for emotional reasons?

6. Compare the types of food and portions you eat with the food pyramid. Do you eat well-balanced meals with good serving sizes? Do some areas have room for improvement?

7. Take note of your eating habits. Do you eat regularly, or do you eat a little and then overindulge later?

8. Use the above as guidelines to determine your problem areas, and brainstorm ways to repair those problems.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have any questions or concerns, contact a physician or other health care professional before engaging in any activity related to health and diet. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment.

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[tovmemcache]

on 4/24/2009 Great information!

[ursulasmom]

on 2/21/2009 Sensible and direct advice. Thanks for posting.

on 2/12/2007 If you are having trouble with this, it keeps you on track if you have to share your journal with someone. Find another food-journalizer that you trust and who will not pass judgment.

Also, going online will help to trade food journals for review. This will hold you more accountable than you know.

on 11/22/2005 There are many online versions of food journals, most of them free. These programs automatically calculate the calories for the foods you enter, and you can also program in meals and customized foods. After having my resting metabolic rate measured, I used one such site in combination with exercise to lose almost 30 pounds!

on 11/22/2005 Start with a food group you enjoy, like fruit for instance, and add records for another food group as your success consciousness grows