Keeping a food journal is one of the most effective tools available for improving nutrition and supporting long-term results. Many people overlook it, but food journaling for weight loss can create a much clearer understanding of eating habits and help guide better decisions throughout the day.
While yes, it may take a little more time to keep one, and it is something else carried around during the day, the benefits are quite helpful. Even just writing down the basic what, when, and why for all food consumed helps make each eating choice a more conscious one about what we are eating. Also, writing down the why behind eating can help identify key triggers that may be unnecessary or unhealthy. Being able to identify these eating trends allows us to set up a game plan for healthier foods, or, if eating for the wrong reasons, to find different coping behaviors or activities when stressed or bored.
Higher levels of food journaling include measuring food and tracking calories. Measuring the food we eat is important because it gives us a more accurate view of our perceptions of portions, which is important during a weight loss program because our perceptions of portion sizes can get distorted, causing our progress to plateau.
Calorie tracking is recommended for anyone who is struggling with weight loss. Weight loss is essentially calories eaten versus calories burned during any period of time. It is difficult to break through a plateau without knowing where one of these important variables is really at. Before changing anything else, you should know where your calorie levels are at. For example, if your workout commitments are already at maximum, it is not worth trying to find more time or overcomplicating the workout when there could easily be changes to caloric intake.
For basic food journaling, just a simple notepad and writing utensil are needed. The notebook doesn’t have to be a huge item; it can be small enough to fit in a pocket. For more advanced journaling, a larger notebook may be needed, but there are also applications available on most smartphones that can calculate calories if the food has already been measured. Also, there are online programs that can calculate the calories, but remember, keeping a food journal throughout the day is still recommended to help with conscious decision-making with our food choices.