1. What's a Food Diary?
Many nutritionists ask their clients to keep a food diary or food log. It's easy to do; you just have to get started. Take sheets of paper, ledger sheets, a spiral notebook or even use your computer to keep a log of everything you eat and drink throughout a 24-hour period. Have sections to record your food and drink intake with the time, what food you ate, how much, who you were with and what mood you were in. It seems like a lot to keep track of, but once you get started, it's pretty easy.
2. Let's Be Honest
You have to be completely honest in your food diary recordings. If you cheat, you are cheating yourself. Record everything you eat in the food diary, such as recording "two biscuits," not "biscuit," when you eat two biscuits. Look at the snack you grab and honestly record the amount. "A handful of nuts" is different from "half of a can of nuts."
3. Exercise Your Snacks Away
Incorporate exercise into your day and add the exercise into your food diary. See if the time of day you do your exercises that could be changed, adjusted or added to help you with your snacking and overall food and calorie intake.
4. Do Your Math
Add up the total calories that you eat every day and record this in the food diary. In addition, learn to calculate the amount of protein you are getting through your food as well as carbohydrates, fats and sugar. Make small changes, keep doing your calculations of calories, carbs, proteins, fats and sugar intake and weigh those numbers against the calories you burn through exercise.
5. Learn From Your Own Mistakes
A food diary can be your tool to healthy and realistic eating habits. Study your food diary to figure out what you are eating and when. Do you eat more when you are in a bad mood? Do you make poor food choices when you are under stress at work? Are you eating more calories than you thought you were each day? Maybe you are eating healthy meals, but your snacks are out of control. Learn to control your cravings based on your moods. Study your food diary, make small changes and keep perfecting your diet towards healthy food choices and appropriate serving sizes.
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