Tracking Your Meals: The way to Do It

When you begin a diet one of the most often heard pieces of advice is to keep a food journal in which you write down every thing you eat during the day. Keeping a food record makes it possible to determine the foods you are eating as well as the foods you are not eating. For example, once you keep a food log for a few days you could notice that even if you eat lots of fruit, you almost never eat any vegetables. When you write every little thing down you can see which parts of your diet must change as well as have an easier time figuring out what kind and how long of a workout you need to do to shrink your waist line and burn the most calories.

But what happens if you write everything down but no pounds drop off of you? There is a good way and a sluggish way to track the food you eat. There is more to food journaling than creating a listing of what you eat during the day. You have to account for some other very important information. Here are some hints that you can employ to help your food tracking be more successful.

Be as specific as you can while you write down what you take in. It just isn’t enough to simply write down “salad” on a list. The right way to do it is always to write down all of the ingredients in the salad as well as the kind of dressing that is used. You should also record just how much of the foods you are eating. “Cereal” is just not as good an entry as “one cup Honey Nut Cheerios.” Remember the more you take in of something the more calories you take in so it is vital that you list quantities so that you know exactly how much of everything you’re eating and how many calories you need to burn.

Write down the time you’re consuming items. This helps you discover when you feel the most hungry, when you are prone to snack and what you can do about it. After a few days you’ll observe that even though you might be eating lunch at the same time every day, you are still hungry an hour later. You may also be able to identify when you are eating in order to have something to do. This is essential because those are times that you can select other things to fill your time with than food.

Write down your feelings when you eat. This makes it possible to pinpoint when you use food to help soothe emotional issues. This may also show you whether or not you gravitate for particular foods based on your mood. Many people will reach for junk foods if we are upset, angry or depressed and will be more likely to choose healthier options when we are happy or content. When you pay attention to how you eat while in your different moods and mental states, you will be able to keep similar but healthier choices around for when you need those snacks–you might also start talking to someone who can help you figure out why you try to cure your moods with food.

Tags: diet, food journal, food log, food record, honey nut cheerios, how many calories, lunch, snack, vegetables, waist line, workout