A food journal is an effective way to track your calorie and nutrient intake, and can help you meet weight loss and nutrition goals faster and more efficiently than you would without journaling. Often people will use a food journal when they are adjusting to dietary and lifestyle changes, and then gradually phase the journal out when they become familiar with their new eating habits. Family Doctor.org, a website of the American Academy of Family Physicians, also recommends keeping a food journal to help your doctor or dietitian design an eating program to meet your individual needs.
Step 1
Create your blank food journal. You can either use a blank notebook or a computer template, but either way your journal needs to have space to record what foods you ate and the calories or nutrients you want to track. If you are trying to lose weight, you probably want to focus on calories, and maybe key nutrients such as fat and fiber. Your journal should have a space for breakfast, lunch, dinner and any snacks throughout the day, with spaces for the food you ate and how many calories and nutrients that food contained. If you struggle with emotional or recreational eating, you can also include spaces for your mood or what activity you were doing when you ate each item, to see how your feelings affect your food choices. You can also leave a space at the beginning of the day or week for goals, and a section at the end to reflect on what went well and poorly for that day or week.
Step 2
Fill out your food journal immediately after you eat, with the precise amounts of each food you ate. If you are just starting a new diet it's important to measure your foods before you eat them, to get an accurate idea of portion size. Use nutrition labels to determine calorie and nutrient content, and write everything down in your food journal before you forget.
Step 3
Total your calories and nutrients at the end of each day, and write the total in your journal. Don't be too obsessive about hitting your goals exactly, but if you ate significantly more or fewer calories or nutrients than you meant to, try to look back at your journal and figure out why that happened. Put a star or a flag on days when you met your goals, and see how you structured your meals to make that day so successful.
Step 4
Keep track of your weight, cholesterol, blood pressure or other health indicators to see how your food choices are positively affecting your health. Write your weight or vital statistics in your journal at the end of each week, and see how your food choices that week led to those results.
Things You'll Need
- Blank notebook or computer template
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