Making a Food Journal
A food journal helps you to record your daily food intake as you go through an intensive fitness program, such as: an accurate picture of what you eat daily, a good way to gain more control over your diet, give you a good insight into what you’re eating and how it affects your health and lifestyle, and, best of all, may help you manage or lose weight or eat healthier.
Prepare your food diary by first deciding where to record it, in a notebook or by downloading a food journal app on your smart phone, then type the headings of the following: a record of the date, time, place, item eaten, quantity consumed, and some comments. If you have chosen a notebook, select one that has a lot of pages for your daily track and if it’s an app, you can download from the web or you can try online tracking device.
Record your daily food intake
Make it as much as possible to be accurate in your recordings, such that you be very specific in taking notes of everything that goes into your mouth and breaking down complicated foods, by noting down the specific ingredients used so that you’ll remember what foods went into each dish and its equivalent calories. It also helps to record snacks, beverages, and, most of all, your total water intake so you’ll have a better insight on whether you need to consume more water to help you hydrated.
Record how you feel after eating each food
Write everything in details: your impressions to the meal served before eating them, as well as 20 minutes after eating; your reactions to the variety of foods that you have eaten, noting down what particular foods satisfied you and give a reason for that; your moods during the meal and your hunger level; and instances of side effects after eating, like feeling nauseous or having an upset stomach.
After a week of keeping track, most likely you’ll discern a food pattern developing which reflect from your food references, which you need to analyze so you can determine which foods affect your mood or which meals leave you hungry or satisfying or what situations do you tend to overeat.
Record also any improvement in achieving your goal
A food diary can be a motivating tool, if your goal is to lose weight, to help you reach that diet plan, such that being able to track your progress can be inspiring for you to keep on going until you feel satisfied and happy on this chosen path to your goal. To track this significant progress, record your weight at the end of each week and see if it is fluctuating and note what foods were eliminated for helping you maintain weight without feeling hungry or weak, and record what exercises you have performed during your food diet journey.