Benefits of Keeping a Food Journal and Week 2 of mine
2012
Studies have shown that you are twice as likely to achieve your weight loss goals if you keep a food journal . I recently tried an experiment of keeping one and writing down everything I ate and I can conclude that yes, it does make a big difference in what you consume when you actively write down everything you eat.
The results from a recent yearlong study identified 3 helpful strategies for losing weight. The first and most effective of these strategies is to write down everything that you eat in a food journal. The other two are to not skip a meal and not eating out. The study mentioned tracked the diet habits of 123 overweight and post-menopausal women and the results were published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietics.
Why keeping a Food Journal works
Keeping a food journal makes you more mindful of what you eat which is the primary reason it works – No mindless eating. The more you think, the better you eat.
It keeps you focused on your diet. This is great motivation to eat more healthily.
It makes you accountable to yourself. You can’t hide the facts when they are on paper.
It is easier to see and evaluate your overall food choices when you see it written down on paper. It makes you aware of your eating habits and it is easier to make changes when you can clearly see your day to day food choices. Journaling will show you if you need more variety, more vegetables, less coffee or less processed foods.
It gives you a chance to make better decisions. That minute or two that it takes to write down what you are about to eat is enough time to re-evaluate your food choices and to change them if you decide it is a bad decision.
It can be encouraging to see yourself making better food choices, which you often do when you write down everything you eat.
How to Keep a Food Journal
You can use anything to write your journal in, whether a notebook and pen, a computer document or an app on your iPhone, as long as you have it with you all the time, so you write down everything in it as you eat, or just before or just after. There are also online diet journals such as Fitday and Myfitnesspal, which helps you to track you intake and also count calories. But really, a pen and paper is enough; if you write it down, you will eat better.
You know yourself best and so use your best judgement what will work best for you. Will writing it down first make you rethink choices? If so, write down your food choices before you eat and change it if what you ate was different.
Write down everything that goes into your mouth, including condiments, sauces and toppings.
It is best to keep track of portions. If it’s portion control that you need to watch, make sure you list portions or calories. If your concern is mainly eating healthier foods and not snacking, it may be enough just to write down the foods you are eating with a general description of amounts.
Pictures can be helpful. Take a picture of your meals to put in your journal.
Note how you felt when you ate, especially if you are an emotional eater.
Note what you were doing when you ate, especially if you have a tendency to mindlessly eat while doing other things.
Be honest. This is a journal to help you. It is not for others but to help you, so make it work for you.
My Food Journal: Week 2 – August 24th to 30th
Continued from Week 1
Fri, Aug 24
note: first time ever having a bag of Kettle corn ; ) and I was out a lot today.
9:00 am – Golden Protein Cookie and Tea with Almond Milk. Then last of the bag of Kettle Corn (2cups)
11:00 am – Green Smoothie
1:30 pm – 1 fried Egg, Salad, 2 Falafels
4:00 pm – ¼ c Mixed Nuts
6:00 pm – Green Smoothie with ITbsp Chia and 1 tsp Maca. Then a small bowl of Cream of Leek soup
7:00 pm – Coffee with Almond Milk
9:00 pm – Glass of Red Wine, 2 bites of Pizza Crust
10:30 pm Tea with Almond Milk and ¼ c Chia Protein Pudding (realized I should have eaten more earlier)
Sat, Aug 25
7:30 am – Golden Protein Cookie and Tea with Almond Milk
9:00 am – Coffee with 1 cream
11:00 am – Green Smoothie + 3 Strawberries
1:30 pm – Omelette with 2 Eggs and lots of Broccoli, Mushrooms, Onion, Peppers, seasonings + hot sauce, Salad with Balsamic vinegar and Tea with Almond Milk
3:30 pm – 8 Strawberries and Tea with Almond Milk
6:00 pm – Green Smoothie
7:00 pm – 2 Veggie burgers, one wrapped in a Collard leaf with Dill pickle, Mustard, hot peppers, sprouts..and broccoli, mushroom veg left over from omelette, 2 small Pickled Beets. After had Tea with Almond Milk and 1 small square 85% Dark Chocolate
Sun, Aug 26
9:00 am – 2 slices Watermelon
9:45 am – Golden Protein Cookie and Tea with Almond Milk
11:00 am – 6 Brazil nuts
12:00 pm Green Smoothie
1:30 pm – 2 Falafels and Salads (pic) and Tea with Almond Milk
4:00 pm – Watermelon (1/8th) and a couple Pineapple slices
5:00 pm – Green Smoothie
7:00 pm – Taco Salad (pic) and Tea with Almond Milk
8:30 pm – 4 squares of Chocolate Protein Fudgesicle squares
Lunch..
10:30 am – Golden Protein Cookie and Tea with Almond Milk
12:00 pm – Green Smoothie
1:00 pm – 2 Chocolate Fudgesicle Squares
1:30 pm – Taco Salad with 2 Tbsp Beet & Potato Salad and 2 Falafels
4:00 pm – Coffee with 1 cream and sample of Blueberry square from Starbucks
6:00 pm – Green Smoothie
7:30 pm Salad with steamed Broccoli and Edamine beans, Beets, 2 Crackers with Hummus (pic)
Dinner..
Tues, Aug 28
11:00 am – Golden Cookie and Tea with Almond Milk
12:00 pm – Green Smoothie
1:00 pm – ½ Cantaloupe with Tea and Almond Milk
3:00 pm Coffee with 1 cream
4:00 pm – 4 Crackers with Dill Hummus and Alfalfa sprouts, Tea with Almond Milk
7:30 pm – Taco Salad with Avocado, Tea with Almond Milk and 2 small squares 85% Dark Chocolate
Dinner..
Wed, Aug 29
7:30 am – Golden Protein Cookie and Tea with Almond Milk
8:30 am – Green Smoothie
10:00 am – Coffee 1 cream
12:00 pm – Tossed Salad, Broccoli Salad, Apple Crumble (large/reg size piece)
1:30 pm – Tea with Almond Milk, ¼ c Mixed nuts
3:30 pm – 8 slices Watermelon, Tea with Almond Milk, 2 squares Chocolate Protein Fudgesicle
5:30 pm – Green Smoothie with Maca
7:30 pm – Vegetable Stir fry with Green Curry Sauce and Salad, Tea with Almond Mil, small slice of a Date Square
Thurs, Aug 30
9:30am – Golden Protein Cookie and Tea with Almond Milk
10:30 am – Coffee with 1 cream
11:30 am – Green Smoothie with Maca
1:30 pm – Collard Wrap with Nutmeat and Veg stir fry and Green Curry sauce (left over) and Salad veg, Tea with Almond Milk after
4:30 pm – Tea with Almond Milk and 4 small pieces Dark Chocolate covered Ginger
6:00 pm – Green Smoothie
8:00 pm – Vegetable stir fry with Green Curry, Salad with Nutmeat, 5 very small baby Potatoes, 1-2 Tbsp Mustard Pickles
10:00 pm – Tea with Almond milk
Dinner..
