Weight loss trackers, also called food diaries and weight loss journals, track more than your weight. They're useful tools that help paint a complete and specific picture of your entire weight loss journey. They're used to record weight lost, inches lost, foods eaten and even moods and life events that could affect weight loss or gain. There are many free websites and smartphone apps that can do this work for you, but if you'd like to create a simple tracker you can write in each day, it's just as effective.
Step 1
Choose a notebook that meets your recording needs. Pick one you can conveniently carry with you and with enough pages to record the amount of history you'd like to track.
Step 2
Create a list of items you want to track and write it on the first page of your notebook to use later as a reference. Include items related to food and eating such as what you ate, how much, when, where and how you were feeling, according to FamilyDoctor.org.
Step 3
Open your notebook to the second day and begin to address each variable you listed on your reference page. Record what you ate at each meal and how much.
Step 4
Consult an online or print calorie counter, like MyPyramid.gov, to determine the nutritional value of the foods you've recorded. Write down those values next to the food item you ate. Remember to make calculations according to serving sizes. For example, if you record two servings of a food that has 100 calories per serving, you'll need to track 200 calories in your log.
Step 5
Include fitness and exercise information, such as what physical activity you performed and for how long. Use a calculator, like the Exercise Counts calculator provided by the American Cancer Society, to record how many calories you burned from each activity.
Step 6
Record any remaining factors, such as weigh-in information, measurements, menstrual cycle information, blood sugar readings and medications you took. Repeat this recording process each day for three to seven days, according to Brigham Young University, to help you look for factors that might be inhibiting your weight loss or causing weight gain.
Things You'll Need
- Notebook
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