A diet food log, or food diary, is a place to record the foods that you eat while you are on a diet. A food log helps you keep track of what you eat so you can lose weight and keep it off. If you need to lose weight, a nutritionist can help you develop a healthy eating plan and teach you how to keep a food log.
Paper or Electronic
Choose the diet food log that you feel is easiest for you to use. If you like to write using a pen and paper, you can keep a diet food log in a journal or notebook. If you prefer, use an online diary. Some, such as the MyPyramid Tracker from the USDA, are available for free. Advantages of many internet-based food logs are that they save your frequent foods, so that you do not have to search for them each time, and they calculate calorie and nutrient totals for you.
Basic Approach
Whether you use a paper or an online system, your diet food log should be a complete list of all of the foods that you eat each day. Record the type of food and the portion size that you ate, as well as how you cooked it. Small items may seem unimportant, but they can add up quickly, so remember to add foods such as condiments, cooking oils, dressings, small tastes during cooking, snacks and beverages. You may want to record the calories, carbohydrates or fat in your foods.
Other Details
Small details in your food log can help you identify patterns for when you eat well and when you have trouble sticking to your food plan. You may want to record your mood at each meal or snack, how hungry you were when you started and stopped eating, where you were when you ate it and whether you were with other people. Your diet food log is also a good place to note your daily exercise, as well as to track your weight.
Tips
Complete your food log as soon as possible after each meal or snack, or at least once per day, so that you stay motivated and are less likely to forget foods. Practice updating your log at regular times so it becomes a habit. Even if you do not stick to your diet plan for the day or meal, write it down in your log. This can help you prevent cheating on your diet in the future, since you will know that you have to face your food log later. It also helps explain why you see the results that you are seeing on the scale.
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