Keep A Food Journal

It's a pretty basic thing to do and a good thing to start your journey to your healthy future with.  After all how can you make any changes in your diet if you don't remember what you ate?   Remember to be HONEST with yourself in your journal ~ if you ate 6 cookies then write it down!  The journal will reflect your food choices, your portion sizes and your daily eating habits.  It can be a great tool in your health quest and with setting goals for yourself.  Your journal can be as simple or as complicated as you want it.  The choice is yours.  I don't care what you decide, just do it! 

NOTEBOOK:  Remember you decide!  Any kind/size of notebook will do.  Bigger notebook gives you more writing room, smaller notebook gives you more portability.  <insert ~ more likely to carry and keep near you and use>.  If you are more into electronic devices, I'm sure there's an AP for it.  You can try some free websites that will keep an online journal for you.  www.sparkpeople.com is a good one.  And if you want Uncle Sam to spy on you to know what you are eating you can try www.mypyramid.gov for fun. 

ORGANIZE:  Set your notebook up how you want.  It's yours, personalize it your way, make it a tool you will want to use.  Record the date, time, place, food items eaten, quantity of food, beverages consumed, feelings while eating, and physical activity.  You can make little columns for easy glance or you can just write the items as you go in a list fashion.  I think it's important to record these things so you can see patterns in your eating habits.  Example...you find yourself eating everyday around 3:30 PM a little snack while you are standing in the kitchen thinking about what to do next, you are not hungry but you eat anyways.  Can you pinpoint this time of day and relate it to those after school snacks you had growing up?  Just a thought but you see how you can relate your current eating habits to something you grew up doing?  Solution ~ eat a healthy snack @ 3:30 or do another activity so you are not standing in the kitchen @ that time of day! 

RECORD AS YOU GO:  Be as specific as possible and record one item at a time.  Don't wait until the end of the day and write "around 11:30 AM I ate about 2 handfuls of nuts"  break it down!  Pinpoint it!  Don't write hamburger on a bun ~ write 4 oz of ground sirloin, on a whole wheat bun, with ketchup, mustard, fat free cheese, etc.  This uncovers the hidden food we eat without thinking about it. 

RECORD YOUR FEELINGS AND HUNGER LEVELS:  I mean be for real ~ do you only eat when you are hungry?  Or do you eat when you are happy, bored, nervous, tired, depressed?  I think the only time I don't eat is when I am mad!  So I'm thinking if something makes me mad every day I'll be skinny as a twig soon!  Did I just go there?!  But you get the jest of it, it's important to know why you are eating.  Don't feed the emotions ~ go ahead and write the emotions down in your journal ~ it may make some sense to you later on! 

DRINK UP!  But do record it in your journal.  If your goal is to drink eight 8 oz glasses of water per day, write it down and track your progress.  If you drink high calorie bevs record it.  If you drink big peep's drinks ~ well record it if you can.  <insert hard to write in your journal when you are on the floor with room spinning>  And have you any clue how many calories a Starbuck's bev puts in your body?  Google it. 

LET'S GET PHYSICAL!  Now I'll have a certain song stuck in my head the rest of the day... anyhow, when you workout journal it!  What did you do?  How long did you do it?  Did you survive?  Maybe do something different tomorrow....  Did you park in the far out parking lot to avoid door dings <doesn't work someone will always park right next to you> and walk to the store?  Did you take the steps instead of the elevator?  And what about at home in that two story house ~ do you take items up as you have them or do you pile them on the bottom step and make one trip?!

REVIEW:  No, we aren't gonna review this post....you are gonna review your journal!  Take a close look after about a week.  Do you see any patterns <insert eating when not hungry @ 3:30 PM everyday>.  Do you eat the same thing every day?  Do you exercise the same intensity every day?  Do you see where you can eliminate some high calorie foods here and there?   Is there a certain high calorie beverage you can cut back on?  Baby steps, baby steps!  Think about it, think before you eat, be honest with yourself.

NOTE TO SELF:  That's right make notes to yourself in your journal like I am a fat cow and I need to take off 100 pounds by tomorrow morning little positive notes, inspirational quotes, Bible scriptures, jot your short term and long term goals down <you don't have goals set yet?! we'll cover that another time>.  You can even draw little picture doodles in your journal ~ just a plain ;-) will do!

Remember it's your future....be there healthy!