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Why keep a food diary? - Harvard Health Blog
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Keeping a food diary
A food diary is a useful tool to help people improve their health. It can help you understand your eating habits and help you identify what foods you eat regularly.
In a weight-loss study, participants who kept a daily food record lost twice as much weight as those who did not keep a record.
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Tips for successful food journaling
- Write down the food or beverage as soon as you consume it.
- Be very specific. If you are drinking a latte, write down the type and size.
- Include any alcoholic beverages you consume.
- Use smartphone apps like Lose It! or MyFitnessPal for information on calories and other nutrients.
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What you should include in a food diary
- Write down what specific foods you are eating, your beverage consumed, and how your food is prepared (baked, fried, etc.) Include sauces and dressings.
- List how much you are eating in household measures (cups, teaspoons, tablespoons.) If possible, weigh and measure your food.
- Note the times you're eating to identify potentially problematic times, such as late-night snacking.
Also jot down where you are eating, what else you're doing while eating, who you eat with, and how you feel while eating.
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After completing a food journal for a week
Step back and look what you've recorded. Look for trends, patterns, or habits. You might consider these questions:
- How healthy is my diet?
- How many servings of fruit and vegetables do I eat every day?
- Am I eating whole grains each day?
- Do I consume added sugar? If so, how frequently?
- Do my moods affect my eating habits?
- How often do I eat on the run?
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Set SMART healthy eating goals
Once you know which areas you can improve, set one or two healthy eating goals using the SMART goal format. That is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based.
For example:
- Observing that you eat two servings of vegetables per day, a SMART goal can be to eat three servings of vegetables per day.
- Or if you order takeout three nights per week, your SMART goal can be to order takeout only once or twice per week.
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Weight-loss interventions
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Ten healthy habits
- Keep a meal routine: Eat at roughly the same time each day.
- Go for healthy fats from nuts, avocado, and oily fish instead of fast food.
- Walk off the weight: Aim for 10,000 steps a day.
- Pack healthy snacks when you go out.
- Always check the labels for fat, sugar, and salt content.
- Use smaller plates, and drink a glass of water and wait five minutes before going back for seconds.
- Break up sitting time.
- Choose water and limit fruit juice to one small glass per day.
- Slow down and eat while sitting at a table.
- Always aim for five servings of vegetables a day.
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Revisit what you know
Energy balance is the first key to achieving one's ideal body. It's a way of saying calories in versus calories out. Your body needs a certain amount of calories to maintain its c...
Steer clear of opaque food containers
Don't eat out of food containers, boxes, and bags that aren't clear.
Our brains are highly visual. We take visual cues as to how much food we’ve eaten to help us know when we should stop. When you can't see how much food you’ve had, you never get that visual feedback and you end up eating way too much.
Ditch dieting
Dieting limits one's mind-set.
Once you're off your diet and have lost weight, you might revert back to eating poorly, not exercising and ultimately regain pounds. Instead, focus on your long-term eating habits.
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Tracking your food
During the lockdown, many people have to cook more at home. It makes this a great opportunity to start tracking what you eat.
Small steps toward understanding your eating habits can mak...
Measuring cups and a scale
Measuring your food can give you an idea of what a serving looks like. Measuring cups are handy, but they're even better when used with the scale. Weighing gives you a better understanding of a serving.
If you don't have a scale or cups, there are some very rough ways to estimate serving size metrics. For instance, your fist is about the same amount of volume as one cup, and the palm of your hand as four ounces of meat.
Use and app or paper
An app or a pen and paper can be used to track what you're eating
- MyFitnessPal has become a popular food tracking app. It gives detailed information about different types of food.
- ASA24.com is a self-administered 24-hour dietary assessment tool provided by the National Cancer Institute.
- Weight Watchers or Noom offers support on top of simple tracking and give guidance to your eating.
- HealthyOut is an app to help break down the nutritional information of food from restaurants.
Ultimately, choosing the right app is a matter of preference.