How To Create A Food Journal

A food journal helps keep you accountable to your diet and makes you aware of how much you eat daily. A study from researchers at Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research published in the "American Journal of Preventive Medicine" in August 2008 found that of 1,700 dieters, those who undertook behavioral methods like keeping a food journal along with a low calorie diet succeeded in losing twice as much weight as those who did not alter their behaviors. Keeping a journal may take a little extra effort, but the potential benefits are worth it.

Step 1

Select the type of food journal to keep. Choose from a notebook or a personal digital assistant (PDA), whichever works best in your lifestyle. Both are effective in helping you lose weight, according to a study of 176 people in an April 2008 publication of the "Journal of Behavioral Medicine."

Step 2

Carry your journal with you. Write down anything you eat as soon as possible to prevent missed entries. Snap a photo of your meal with your cell phone if you forget your journal so you can log it later, suggests Jennifer Sygo, MSC, RD in the "Oxygen Magazine" January 2010 issue.

Step 3

Note the times you eat and briefly jot down your feelings at the time of eating. Make notes like "starving," "bored," "tired" or "happy" to help you identify your motivations for eating.

Step 4

Keep your entries honest. Do not omit foods you regret eating as this defeats the purpose of journaling. Know before you put that cookie in your mouth that you will have to own up to it in your journal.

Step 5

Measure food with measuring cups and spoons or a food scale to get a more accurate record. If you are trying to lose weight, keeping more precise track of your calories eaten will help you see results.

Tips and Warnings

Another option is to jot down your feelings and food intake in a notebook and then input the info into an online program like The Daily Plate to get information on your macronutrient breakdown and calories in versus calories out ratio. A food journal may help you lose weight, but only if you use it to help you reduce calories below your daily burn rate. Consider keeping a journal of your regular eating pattern for a week or two, and then reviewing it to see where you can cut back without losing nutrition or feeling deprived. You may also use a food journal to help you gain weight if you are underweight as it can show you if you are hitting your calorie targets.