Did you know that studies show, that keeping a food journal is one of the best ways to ensure successful weight loss. In fact, diet research shows that those who keep a food diary lose 30-50% more weight than those who don’t!
And… A food journal does not have to be just about the foods you eat. The purpose of the food diary is to get to know yourself better, to create awareness, to understand your eating habits better and to be able to draw connections so you can make lasting change.
You can record everything that you are doing (eating), how much (portions) what you are thinking before and after you eat, how are you feeling? Write down your ups and downs, your struggles, and your achievements.
You can have a section for food but also a section for your goals and intentions, you can even have a section with your weekly weigh-ins if that gets you motivated.
Write down everything related to your diet, food, exercise, your mood when you are eating, how hungry you were when you ate.
Times that you feel cravings and what your cravings are, barriers that you come across and anything else that will help you understand yourself and your eating behavior.
The more you write the better. Get to know yourself and it is ok to have a bad day, write it down and move on.
Keeping a food diary can:
Give you an insight to what you are really eating? Are you eating enough fruit and vegetables? Are you eating too much sugar? Are you drinking your calories?
Keeping a food diary will give you a feel for portion control.
If you are counting calories, which I recommend for a few days, keeping a food diary can help you understand the sources of your calories. It is not just about the total amount of calories that you consume but the breakdown of where those calories come from.
The food diary can also help you identify if you have a calorie surplus or deficit. Do you eat more than you use?
The food diary can help you Identify situations where you binge eat, when you eat because of hunger or boredom or even help you see patterns when you have terrible cravings because you skipped breakfast and now your blood sugar levels have dropped.
The food diary can help you with emotional eating. Are you noticing any specific cravings when you are stressed or sad for example?
The food diary can also work as a great motivator, it will force you to eat better since you know that you will have to record it.
A food diary will make you aware of your habits and by making you aware, it can change your behavior!
How long should you keep a food diary for?
Ideally you should record a week or at least 5 days, 3 normal week days at work and 2 days off work, this is the minimum of days that a nutritionist would ask from you.
The food diary will be the source from where to analyze you. However, if you see that you are eating better and healthier when you are keeping a diary and if you feel that it motivates you, keep going!
It might feel daunting in the beginning to keep a food journal and you may find it time consuming but that will change once you get in to it.
If you don’t want to keep a physical diary, there are some great apps that you can download on your mobile phone, digital diaries are also a great option where you can upload food pictures. Seeing what you are eating and drinking can be super helpful too.
Keeping a food diary is a great starting point for successful weight loss and I believe it will be an eye-opening experience.
Here are some questions to get you started?
How much weight do you want to lose?
Why do you want to lose weight?
If you visualize yourself in your ideal weight, how does that make you feel?
What are your goals and intentions?
What can you do today, to get closer to your goal?
What’s your plan?
This week’s action step: Get a food journal and start recording.
Visualize, plan, record, analyze!
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