How to Keep a Decent Food Journal

The last entry we went over was on how to start with balanced and healthy eating…there are many reasons for people to want to begin losing weight, but as time passes so does the motivation: in Most cases. So even though you know where to start and how to start with eating because of the last entry (here if you missed it), it’s back to square one without any sustainable motivation.

It’s not easy to stay motivated…at anything. A friend and I flipped a house which meant lots of work without any initial pay; hard to stay motivated? Uh yes. We’re American; we want instant gratification…I mean INSTANT. It takes a lot less discipline to make $20 an hour now for 6 months than being given $20,000 in 6 months…but guess what? If the persistence is followed through COMPLETELY to the end then it’s worth the wait.

The same holds true for progress in regards to fitness and nutritional health. You won’t see much instant gratification…you won’t see a six pack of abs pop directly out from a 5 mile job or a salad for dinner, but give it time and you’re on your way: easy right? Wrong. How do you stay motivated?

An effective way for tracking progress, results, and staying motivated and disciplined in general is to be accountable. It’s great to be working out with a friend or family member because that person keeps you from giving up. Ever tried running With someone one day and then Without the next? Notice the difference? It’s usually a lot easier to run side-by-side someone because it provides friendly competition and a sense of urgency to not let that individual down…so you keep going. But what about when you’re on your own? It’s so easy to reach for that McDonald’s Big and Tasty right?

The game plan is to use a food diary or journal…it’s a proven method to keep anyone who wishes to maintain a healthy regime of eating on track for success. It works by documenting each item of food that is consumed within the day to keep yourself honest in areas of success and areas needing improvement.

A food diary can be logged either between meals, after every meal and snack, or more conveniently at the end of each day. Consequently, it is the most burdensome to write down what is consumed at every time of feeding, but the more often you log entries, the more effective the food journal becomes; it’s proven in many cases and will work for you as well. Why? Well, because you, me, We’re…HUMAN.

Some other things to be logging are the times and places of consumption along with the general portion size and caloric intake. This tracks not only what you eat but also when you eat, how much you eat at a time, and how well you eat in regards to healthy choices.

The best method of journaling is to pre-outline a week of days; try splitting the each day into 3 normal size meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and 2-3 snacks in between meals consisting of 200 calories or less. This will give you a pre-written expectation of your total consumption for the day and for each week so you’ll know what to aim for before you go down this road.

Try to be as accurate as possible and as honest as possible…don’t be embarrassed with your own progress; it doesn’t hurt anyones’ feelings to laugh at themselves. Review the journal on a weekly basis and begin highlighting areas of strength and areas of weakness. Within a couple weeks you’ll be much improved and more knowledgeable on how your schedule works…should be a lot smoother of a road from there.

How are you going to know what foods to eat and how to eat them? Well, subscribe to our blog if you would for daily updates and nutritional and fitness advice so you’ll never falter from your goals…it’s another great source of accountability and place of discussion for like-minded individuals such as yourself.