by Carri Night

Created on: October 05, 2008   Last Updated: October 14, 2008

The Importance Of Keeping A Food Journal

Cheers to your health! Keeping a food journal is an important step to jump start your diet. I assist a doctor and see several patients who have no idea how much they consume, not mentioning all the quote "free calorie" drinks that seem to miss the diet radar. I also talk to many women who in spite of eating what they describe as "not that much", gain more and more weight each time they are at the scale. Many of the men and women I have talked to don't keep a food journal simply because it sounds too complicated or takes up too much time out of their hectic schedules.

So what are the benefits of keeping a food journal? If you see the whole picture there are many. First of all you get to map out all the nooks and crannies of your diet routine. You can use this list as an example:

How much nutrients are you getting out of what you currently eat?

How well do you balance the food groups?

How much fiber do you eat, are you getting enough?

What times of the day do you eat the most/least?

How large are the portions I'm eating on average?

What is the fat/calories/sugar/salt/carbohydrate content of the food/drinks I had today?
This list is vital to keep track of what is preventing you from being healthy or losing weight. Another benefit of keeping a journal is if you have health problems, it may be connected to what you are eating. For example, if you are having stomach discomfort every time you eat cheese or drink milk you may be lactose intolerant. If you have food allergies, it could help you and your medical provider narrow down the possible suspects such as nuts, shellfish, gluten etc. If you gained weight and your habits are the same you could check to see how much salt you had in your diet, water weight is often overlooked.

Keeping a food journal can be a challenge. It is important that you jot down everything including those drinks they you may think don't matter and any supplements/vitamins. Everyone has their own unique way they keep a food journal, so it is important to do it the way it is most comfortable for you. This is what could be included in your journal:

The date and time of each meal, snacks and drinks.

Description of the food or beverage and exact size/portion.

Nutritional information about each item.

A bonus is to write how you feel at the end of the day. Do you feel sluggish, energetic, nauseous, bloated or depressed? It may not seem like this matters, but it could be very important. Also jot down what foods make you more hungry or what foods make you feel full. It could help you re-program your eating habits into healthy ones.
If you are diabetic, a food journal is like a life line. It can help you to control your glucose levels. Every one is different, so what may bring the sugar up in one person may not in another.

My ending to this article is that without a food journal a healthy diet is a shot in the dark with no map to follow. In my personal experience if you start to educate yourself on your daily food habits and make changes, long term weight loss will be more realistic.

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