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Keep a Food Journal to Lose Weight

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.

junk food image
It also makes sense to journal the emotions you associate with the foods you eat when you eat 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

Record what you eat and drink asap.

Take note of what you’re doing while you’re eating — driving, watching TV, computer, etc.

What were your emotions - angry, sad, happy, nervous, starving, bored?

Be honest. This is your journal. No one else will read it.

At the end of each day, read over your journal to better understand how your emotions affected your eating habits.

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

9 servings of whole-grain cereal, rice, or pasta (1/2 cup) or bread (1 slice).

5 servings of fruits and vegetables (1/2 cup).

3 servings of low-fat milk, yogurt, or cottage cheese (1 cup).

8 ounces of lean meat, poultry, or fish, eggs, or cheese (1 ounce of meat = 1 egg, 1/2 cup beans, or 2 to 3 ounces cheese).

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!

Food Journal Worksheet.pdf

To view this file, you'll need to have Adobe Acrobat. You can download a free version here:

Adobe Acrobat Reader Related Products

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To go to the next Healthy Ways to Lose Weight page, here's the link: Natural Weight Loss - Take Comfort In Your Food

To view the previous Healthy Ways to Lose Weight page, here's the link: Normal Serving Size for Weight Loss