How to keep a food journal

I was talking to a nutritionist friend of mine to get some good ideas on how to food journal correctly. She showed me an example of the journal she gives her clients and offered some pointers on analyzing it.

Categories that should be included in your journal:

• Food you ate (this includes all drinks)
• Time of day you ate
• Your mood (stress level and hunger level)

Write down if you were hungry, or just grabbing food out of stress or boredom. What kinds of snacks were you consuming? Are these the best ones for you? How much time did you wait between meals? Were you skipping meals? On the nights you drank alcohol, was your eating pattern different? Also make notes about how you are sleeping.

I would keep the journal for at least a month — this will give you time to really see what your eating patterns are all about. A few important suggestions:

• Don't skip breakfast. It's proven that people who eat a good breakfast tend to eat less throughout the day.
• Watch out for the easy to grab, sugary snacks as well drinks high in calories.
• Don't wait too long in between meals and snacks. 
• Avoid booze before dinner because it can lead to over eating. If you are going to have a drink then have it with your food.

So many people who have been successful at losing weight and keeping the weight off swear that food journaling helped them monitor their nutritional intake. We eat all kinds of food for various reasons that we may not even be aware of. By keeping track of our patterns, we can adjust or eliminate any habits that are holding us back from reaching our goals.

If you want to go it alone after a month, then try it. If you hit a rough patch then just go back to keeping a journal again. The journal is almost a safe guard against feeling like you are out of control. By writing it all down, you will be able to see exactly what is going on with you and your life, and what's going into your mouth.

Now I would like you to add notes about your exercise habits to your journal. Try your best to be active at least twice a week for the first two weeks. Then, increase the frequency to three days a week. Notice how your eating patterns, stress levels, and food choices are affected by exercise.

You might journal with a friend and swap them at the end of every week. Each of you may learn from the other and also see patterns that you both didn't recognize. Good luck.