by Lauren Hewitt

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

In the struggle to lose weight, getting into the habit of tracking your food intake can be vital to your success. While you may be able to recall what you had for breakfast, lunch and dinner yesterday, will you remember the handful of chocolate-covered almonds you grabbed as you walked by the candy dish at your co-worker's desk? And what about that steamy caffeinated concoction that you bought while you were running errands on your lunch break? You may be eating a lot more than you think without even realizing it!

To get a more complete picture of what you're eating, start a food journal. It doesn't have to be complicated, but it does have to be accessible and easy for you to work into your daily routine. If you're on-the-go all day, you may want to use a small notebook which is easy to carry around. For those who spend the majority of their days in front of a computer, online food trackers may be more useful. Often, these have the added bonus of calculating calories, macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein and fats) and the vitamin and mineral content of the foods you enter. Websites such as The Daily Plate or FitDay are excellent online tools and free to use. For those who prefer to use a notebook but who also want to track calories, CalorieKing (www.calorieking.com can provide you with complete profiles for most foods (including most popular brands), and even has nutritional information for many restaurant meals!

Once you've established what type of food journal you want to keep, it's time to get started. The most important thing is to be honest! Leaving out "naughty" food items renders your journal useless, as you won't have a complete picture of your daily food intake. Knowing that you'll have to write down those chocolate-covered almonds will make you less likely to stop by that candy dish. After you've tracked your food for a week, go back and read through what you've written down. Calculate the calories, if you can, and find areas where you can substitute better choices, such as an apple in place of that fat-filled morning muffin, or a glass of water instead of that sugar-laden soda you drink each afternoon. Even small changes such as these will make a huge difference to your efforts in the long run.

While you're recording your daily meals and snacks, it can be helpful to note the time at which you ate or felt hungry. Recognizing the difference between feeling hungry and feeling bored, emotional or lonely can also help in the struggle to lose weight, and a food journal can be a helpful tool in this aspect as well. Try to tune into your body while recording your food. How are you feeling? What are you craving? When are you having these cravings? Recognizing patterns and trends can go a long way towards establishing a diet which sustains your energy levels throughout the day, helps you bypass those darn almonds, and brings you closer to your weight-loss goals.

The simple act of jotting down your meals and gaining a complete picture of your daily food intake will take you a lot further in your weight-loss journey than any "magic" diet pill or complicated-looking exercise machine. It's easy to do and costs no more than a little notebook (or nothing at all if you use a free online food tracker). Keeping track of food intake is vital to any weight-loss plan, so what are you waiting for? Start tracking!

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