Content

• Steps
• Advice

Keeping a food diary helps you get an exact picture of what you eat every day. It can be a great way to take more control of your diet and help you better understand what you eat and how it affects your health and lifestyle. For example, if you have indigestion or have a medical condition, journaling can help you manage or lose weight or eat healthier. Start recording your diet and you will be surprised by what you learn.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Part One: Track What You Eat and Drink

1. 

   Write diary. The easiest way to keep track of your diet is to journal in a journal or download food journal software to your phone. You need to keep track of the date, time, location, type of food used, amount consumed and other notes.
   • If you want to write by hand, use a blank notebook or buy a journal with enough space per page to keep track of your daily food intake. You can search online for sample food journal pages to print and use or copy to your journal.
   • You can use network monitoring software or equipment if you want. Today, eating diary is very popular so there are many good software for you to choose from.

2. 

   
   
   Record everything you eat and drink. Exact eating diaries will be very helpful. Try to write down or take note of what you put into your mouth, including meals, drinks, snacks, and even foods you taste while cooking.
   • Keep detailed records, separating complex foods according to ingredients. For example, instead of writing "turkey burgers", write the weight of the bread, chicken, and seasonings as separate sections. Record mixed foods, such as casseroles and smoothies in the same way. This will help you remember what's in the food or the total calories.
   • Be sure to include any junk food or junk you eat, such as biscuits that you've been offered to eat at work.
   • Record all drinks. Don't forget to keep track of the types of water you use as well. Keeping track of how much water you drink helps you understand whether you need to drink more water to stay hydrated.

3. 

   
   
   Record the exact amount. If you are concerned about calories, writing down how many foods you eat are important numbers in your journal. You may need to purchase a food scale or measuring cup to ensure correct amounts.
   • Before changing the amount of food you eat, start by measuring how much food you normally eat at each meal. If the parts are too many or too few, make the necessary changes.
   • Measure food or use specific measuring cups, bowls or containers. This will help keep the journal accurate. Estimates or "visual measurements" are inaccurate and often underestimate total food and calorie intake.
   • You may have to estimate the quantities when you go to a restaurant or when buying foods that are difficult to quantify. If eaten at a chain of restaurants, check online for information on ingredient amounts in each serving. Also, try to find household appliances that can compare to regular serving sizes. For example, a deck of meat the size of a deck of cards weighs 85-110 g or 1/2 cup or an egg weighs 55 grams or 1/4 cup.
   • Calorie control. If you are trying to lose or gain weight, it can be helpful to check the total daily calorie intake. Several food journal apps provide nutritional and calorie information for you. If you are using a notebook or a photocopy of your food diary, you will have to look up food online for the calorie information they provide. Choosemyplate.gov is a reliable source of information.
   • Start by controlling how many calories you usually consume each day and making changes as needed.
   • Losing or adding 500 calories daily will cause you to lose or gain 0.5 to 1 kg.

4. 

   
   
   Record the date, time and where you ate. This is an important part of figuring out what type of eating habits you have.If you are trying to make changes in your diet or lifestyle, this information can help you understand why you eat certain foods at specific times.
   • Try to record the exact times, instead of just writing "snacking" or "snacking at night."
   • If you want to be in great detail, you can record exactly where in the house you eat. Are you sitting in front of the TV? Or at home table? Sometimes certain places or activities will make you want to eat. For example, you can eat to reduce boredom while watching TV.

5. 

   Record your feelings after eating a food. Whether you're writing in a journal to lose weight or trying to find a possible food allergy, your emotions matter. Take note of your feelings about food or meals.
   • Wait 10–20 minutes after eating to assess how you feel. It takes 20 minutes for your body to know you're satisfied. Record the satisfaction that your food gives you.
   • You should also try recording your feelings before eating. This can help you understand the problems you are experiencing with emotional eating. For example, you may find that you are under stress and eat larger servings or higher fat foods.
   • Record how much hunger you have before and after a meal. If you are extremely hungry before eating, you may find yourself eating a slightly larger portion.
   • Don't forget to include your body symptoms or side effects after eating. For example, you may experience a hangover and stomach ache after eating dairy foods.
   advertisement

Part 2 of 3: Part Two: Data Analysis

1. 

   Find the type of food you eat. After a few weeks of tracking what you eat and drink, you will discover a number of patterns. Some are obvious, like eating the same thing for breakfast every day, while others are more obvious. Check out the journal and think about the following questions:
   • Are these types of foods related to how they affect your mood?
   • Which meals keep you hungry and what makes you more satisfied?
   • Under what circumstances do you tend to overeat?

2. 

   Count the number of snacks a day. Many people are surprised to find out how many times they actually snack on a particular day. A handful of almonds here, a cookie or two over there, and finish with a pack of potato chips while watching evening TV. Use a journal to evaluate whether your snacking habits are healthy or if you need to make some adjustments.
   • Do you tend to have healthy snacks or just grab anything nearby to eat? If you run the risk of eating out and don't have time to prepare fresh foods when you need a snack, think ahead and have snacks on hand instead of looking for a snack vending machine when hungry.
   • Does snacking make you full or make you hungry? Record your thoughts after snacking and analyze whether or not snacks should be changed.

3. 

   Compare weekdays and weekends. For most people, work and school have a big impact on their eating habits. You may find it difficult to have time to cook on working days, but spend more time in the kitchen on days off. See if you can find out what eating patterns affect your eating habits.
   • Do you tend to overeat on certain days? If you find yourself going to a restaurant four times a week because you come home late from work, that means you need to prepare food on the weekends for healthier meals during the week.
   • Use information to organize meals. If you know you don't want to cook one night, prepare healthy foods in the refrigerator in advance.

4. 

   Write down your feelings about food. Find out what circumstances in your life affect your eating and drinking during a particular day or week. You may find out what type of food you choose in times of stress, loneliness, or depression. You may not be able to sleep, so you have to snack at night, or you eat fast food after a stressful working day. Knowing these can be helpful as you plan your diet.
   • See if there is a problem overeating when you are bored. If so, try engaging in more relaxing activities instead of eating when you're stressed.
   • Conversely, if there is any food that leads to negative emotions, you need to stop eating to see what happens. For example, you may feel anxious or restless after drinking too much coffee.

5. 

   Circle all that are not tolerated. Find out how food affects your body. You may find you are lactose intolerant as your notes regularly report nausea, abdominal pain, and bloating after you eat dairy foods.
   • See what foods are causing you to have bloating, gas, headaches, nausea, or simply get too full. Share these notes with your doctor or a licensed dietitian.
   • Celiac disease (a gluten intolerance that causes diarrhea, depression), irritable bowel syndrome, and others can be much better by adjusting to your diet and eliminating some of the ingredients altogether. If you have symptoms that make you believe that foods could make them worse, bring your food diary to your doctor to see if food changes help.
   advertisement

Part 3 of 3: Part Three: Tracking Other Useful Information

1. 

   Record physical activity. If you keep a food diary to keep track of your calories and to stay fit, you should also keep a record of your physical activity.
   • Take note of the type of activity and when it is run. If possible, you should also add calories burned data while doing the activity.
   • See how exercise levels impact your hunger threshold and how you eat. Note whether you notice that your hunger generally increases or only increases immediately after exercising.

2. 

   Record nutrition information. If you keep a food diary to see if you are getting enough of a particular nutrient, you will want to record nutritional information for each food. You can easily find nutrition information for any food online, and many food journal applications automatically provide this information for you. Examples of nutrients to watch for include:
   • Fiber
   • Protein
   • Starches and sugars
   • Iron
   • Vitamin D

3. 

   Track your progress to reach your goal. A food journal can be a motivating tool when you have goals related to your diet. Whether you want to lose weight or just try to eat more fruits and vegetables, keeping track of your progress will keep you going and show you that there are still ways to improve. Here are some ways to follow:
   • Record weight. Record your weight at the end of each week to see how your weight changes.
   • Record important milestones. If you successfully eliminated gluten from your diet for a month, keep a journal.
   • Record how much exercise you can do. For example, keep track of progress toward your 5-kilometer goal.

4. 

   Track your food expenses. You are ready to take notes of everything you eat, why not note their prices? It's a great way to control your daily, weekly and monthly food expenses. You might be surprised to find out what food you spend most of your money on.
   • Record how much you spend on each meal, including meals at home and out.
   • Find the types of foods you decide to spend on a weekly or monthly basis and find out which foods you can reduce your spending.
   • You should summarize the amount spent on food purchased out. For example, you could spend money on a coffee or a lunch with a colleague. Gradually these small expenditures will increase.
   advertisement

Advice

• If you are journaling because you want to lose weight or have an eating disorder, it helps to add the column "Feeling after eating". This will help you keep track of why you are eating.
• You do not need to take specific notes every day, but you will gain more information if you follow it more often. If you are not taking notes every day, try to record at least a few days a week and a weekend.