When we have a goal, it is important to track our progress so we know how to succeed and when we succeed. If you have a food-related goal — for example, to eat more healthy foods, to significantly cut back on junk food and sugar, to lose weight — then keeping a food diary is a very important tool that I challenge you to use for the next 10 days.
The food diary is a powerful tool to bring awareness to our eating patterns. So often, we eat mindlessly. In order to reach any goal that is related to food, we must start eating mindfully. The food diary will make you aware of what you eat because you will be required to write it down. I encourage you to write it down when you eat it because if you wait til the end of the day, you will forget things. As you write down what you are eating, also write down how that food makes you feel: too full, satiated, bloated, headache, tired, distracted, alert, focused, hungry soon after, irritable, hyper, etc.
For some people, the idea of keeping a food diary makes them uneasy because sometimes we don’t really want to know what we are eating. We can keep denying any problems that we have with food or our diet if we don’t pay close attention to what we are eating. While writing things down may sound silly and unnecessary, it is not. In fact, you may be surprised at the feelings you attach to your food. You may even be surprised that food has an even bigger emotional charge for you than you realized.
So, keep a food diary for the next 10 days to get a handle on what you are eating. Once you do that, I’ll challenge you to evaluate what you learned and develop goals to make the changes you want.
Here is a Sample Food Diary Page; print numerous copies. You can also use the many online food diaries (just do a Google search). Or just use a small notebook that you keep in your purse or pocket.
This food diary process is designed to be fun, informative and free of negative judgments. If negative feelings arise, or you feel guilty for eating something “bad.” just remember that recording this information will help you later see the connection between what you eat and how you feel.
If you forget to write a meal or even several days down, just keep going. It’s all fine.
Sources: Institute for Integrative Nutrition; Potatoes Not Prozac by Kathleen DesMaisons, PhD, Simon & Schuster.
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