Keep a Food Journal to
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| Keeping a food journal may help you lose weight, especially if you have food amnesia. When you aren’t aware of the foods you consume, eating can become an almost unconscious activity for some people. |
Call it convenient forgetfulness or whatever, people often eat out of habit instead of when they’re really hungry. Something many people overlook is the amount of food they consume each day.
It also makes sense to journalize the emotions you associate with the foods you eat when you're eating them. How were you feeling when you reached for that extra snack? Why did you eat it? Was it a habitual decision, an unconscious decision, or were you simply hungry? Why did you make an unhealthy choice instead of a healthy choice?
Knowing your emotions helps you understand why you choose certain foods at different times.
When you write down what you’re eating, you’ll also have a good idea of how many calories you consume in a day. You’ll be able to scrutinize how much you’re actually eating, as opposed to how much you think or remember eating.
When you keep a log of what you’re eating, the amount of food you’re eating is in your face. It’s much harder to ignore the foods you consume or use convenient forgetfulness as an excuse to eat more.
Listing everything you eat helps you take a critical look at your eating habits. Keep your food journal in a small notebook or on the computer. If you can’t write down what you eat immediately, do it as soon as possible so you’re notes are accurate.
Food Journal Recommendations
You might also write down how much (if any) exercise you got and how you slept the previous night. Write down any events that stand out during each day like a fight at the office or the kids getting bad grades in school. The more you know about the emotions you associate with certain foods, the better you'll be able to control inappropriate urges or food choices.
Serving Sizes Per Day
Keep these serving sizes in mind as you eat throughout the day. Be sure to write down any pertinent information. Here is an example of how to make journal entries.
| FOOD/SNACK | AMOUNT | TIME/PLACE | SENSORY | EMOTION |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| oatmeal | 1 serving | breakfast at home | energetic | happy |
| chocolate cookies | 1 pack or 6 cookies | 10am - office | very hungry | stressed out |
| cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, pickles, light mayo | 4 ounces meat, 2 ounces cheese, vegetables | 1pm - Andy's restaurant | starving | hurried to get back to the office |
Below is a simple table you can print out and use for your food journal. Simply highlight the table below, go to: file, choose: print, then choose: print 'selection'. Your printer will do the rest. Print out as many pages as you like and bookmark this page so you have it handy.
Food Journal Worksheet
| FOOD/SNACK | AMOUNT | TIME/PLACE | SENSORY | EMOTION |
|---|---|---|---|---|
You can now download this journal worksheet and save the document to your computer. Simply click on the link. It will open in a new window. Then save a copy to your computer documents. Its a easy as that!
To view this file, you'll need to have Adobe Acrobat. You can download a free version here:
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