Whether you aspire to lose weight, tone up or gain muscle, diet is key!
Recording your diet in a food journal is one of the most effective self-monitoring tools to succeed in reaching a health goal. Keeping a food journal works because it increases awareness and accountability. Logging everything you consume helps you decrease mindless eating by raising your consciousness of the quantities and qualities of items in your diet.
An effective food journal should include these basics:
1)Date: Note the day of the week for quick comparisons of weekday and weekend intake.
2)Meal Type and Time Consumed: Ex: Breakfast-6:30am
3)Food Description: Ensure that all food and drinks are listed in detail(brand names, preparation methods, toppings used, etc.)
4)Quantities: Accuracy is very important, so measure everything with serving sizes.
5)Notes: Designate an area in your food journal for recording notes/feelings just before or after a meal. This helps in recognizing when you may be more prone to unhealthy or unplanned eating, such as late at night in front of the television, after a stressful workday or after an emotional bout.
Questions for a Food Journal Review?
1)Do you include an overall variety of foods each day?
2)Are you choosing lower-fat protein sources, such as seafood, poultry, lean meat, eggs and beans?
3)Does your diet feature “whole” grains instead of processed grains?
4)Is there sufficient amounts of fruits and vegetables?
5)Are you staying away from full-fat varieties of dairy foods?
6)Do you consume minimal amounts of added sugars?
7)How’s your fiber intake?
8)Does your diet include healthy fats, such as olive oil, nuts, avocados vs. solid fats such as butter?
9)Are you consuming only moderate amounts of alcohol, if any? (a maximum of one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men)
*Honest record-keeping is the foundation of your journal, which is only useful if it is accurate. Writing out your behaviors and habits may make you feel vulnerable to feelings of self-judgement, guilt and shame. Encourage yourself to report everything you eat, including the unhealthy items. Omitting or under-reporting will not help you improve in areas you need.
*Minimize omission errors by making journal entries just before or immediately after meals.
*Keep the journal in a handy location that provides continual reminder to keep logging meals.
*If you forget to log a meal, begin journaling at the next opportunity rather than wait to start fresh the following day. This help eliminate the temptation to overindulge.
*If you don’t have your journal with you, take a picture of your meal and log it when you can.
*Goal setting with small incremental steps form the basis for long-term lifestyle changes. After looking at a week of your journal, set an objective that is specific and measurable. For example, if you need to eat more vegetables, you may set a goal to incorporate one extra serving of veggies every day for the next 7 days. Writing the goal directly into the food journal can be a visual reminder throughout the week.
#foodjournal #nutrition #diet #selfmonitor #healthgoal #increaseawarenss #accountability #logmeals #record #varietyoffoods #lowfatprotein #wholegrains #fruitsandvegetables #lowfat #addedsugars #fiber #healthyfats #alcohol #healthyhabits #journaling #goalsetting #smallsteps #healthylifestyle #specific #measurable #accurate #realistic #timely #SMARTgoals #visualreminder