The Importance of Keeping a Food Diary Even Though I Don’t Like To

The Importance of Keeping a Food Diary

When starting a new diet/lifestyle, it’s helpful to keep a food diary. A food diary has many advantages as you’ll see below. I’m going to show you the importance of keeping a food diary with ideas below.

I personally despise keeping a food journal. And it’s not because I don’t want to keep track, it’s because I’m not very technical when it comes to apps. And it takes me forever to record everything which ends up frustrating me especially when I can’t find a specific food. I just need to get over it.

Should You Keep a Food Diary?

It sounds like a daunting task to write down/record everything you eat every day, but statistics show that people who keep up with and are completely aware of the food they consume have a much better success rate than those who don’t. It really does work even though I don’t like it lol.

But when you keep a food diary, you don’t have to second guess yourself on what you ate or how big of a portion you had. It’s all right there in front of you and allows you to adjust your food intake should you need to.

The Advantages and Importance of Keeping a Food Diary:

The advantages of a food diary is that you can see your daily calorie intake, and other nutritional information, like carbs and protein at a glance. No more guessing or trying to remember what you ate for lunch. Keeping track of everything in a food diary keeps it all at your fingertips and easy to manage.

It also helps to keep yourself accountable. Staying accountable to your new diet/lifestyle can be hard if you don’t have a way to keep track of it. Some people have accountability partners, but this doesn’t work for everyone. You can keep yourself motivated and accountable by keeping a daily food diary.

Keeping track of your food helps you reach your goals. It’s a well known fact that keeping up with your daily food intake, along with your exercise routine will help you keep and reach your goals. It’s easier to see where you’re at, where you need to be and how far you have come. People who don’t set goals and read over them on a regular basis often give up on them within a few weeks. I know because I have been there, done that.

It also helps control and avoid binge eating. When you know you’re going to write down everything you eat, it makes it easier to avoid foods you shouldn’t consume. You have to make the choice to stay accountable to your food diary and write down every thing you do eat. Otherwise, you’ll probably slip up.

You will make healthier food choices. Keeping a log of the foods you eat not only helps you to see your weak spots and where there are empty calories but also how many unhealthy foods you eat. It can help you stay on track eating a more healthy diet. Your daily food journal should be full of whole real foods and less processed junk. You can quickly make adjustments and better food choices if your food diary is not full of these types of food.

As you can see, the above advantages show the importance of keeping a food diary. Keeping a daily food diary can help you reach your goals and keep them in check. If you’ve been struggling with living a healthy lifestyle, try using a food diary to see if it keeps you motivated and accountable.

The Benefits of a Weight Loss, Dieting & Health Journal

There is also a benefit to keeping a weight loss, dieting and health journal. Having one of these helps you maintain healthy habits and journal everything besides your food intake. Write your short and long term goals in here too.

Keep track of weigh in’s (don’t do this daily but dedicate a page to it for weekly weigh in’s), measurements because we all know we lose inches before the pounds melt off right?, keep track of vitamins, supplements and medications you take, and ladies keep track of your monthly cycles, exercise (such as type & duration) etc.

Many people also keep notes of how they feel each day. Do you feel energetic, motivated, tired, sluggish or fatigued? This can help you determine if you eat according to your mood or if something emotional has triggered your eating. It can also help you keep track of the days you felt awesome. You should also write something positive about each day, an affirmation of your goals.

A journal like this will also help your physician to diagnose anything that might be ailing you.

I think since I’m just getting back into the swing of things, I might try the food journal thing in May. I’ll start with writing things down then possibly move on back to either My Fitness Pal or Spark People. What say you?

Do you keep a food diary or health journal?