Why keep a food diary?
By recording your eating habits over a week or fortnight, you can see where and when you’re eating the ‘wrong’ sorts of food or skipping meals... and take steps to change things.
How to keep a food diary
It couldn’t be easier:
- Buy yourself a notepad or notebook, preferably one small enough to carry round in a pocket or handbag.
- In your food diary, make a note of everything you eat and drink during the day. And where you are, who you are with and any other relevant information you think might have a bearing on your eating habits. Always write your entries there and then, as it’s easy to forget exactly what you had for lunch or breakfast at the end of a busy day.
- Record what you eat on at least one week day and one weekend day, as most people change their eating habits a little at weekends. If you can record what you eat for a week or more, you’ll have an even clearer picture of any patterns that emerge.
- Be honest with your entries! The point is to get to the truth of what you eat so you can go about changing things. Leaving out snacks or that second helping of pudding means you’re only cheating yourself.
Once you’ve kept your food diary for a week or so, you’ll be able to identify the ‘trigger factors’ that lead to any poor eating habits you have.
For instance, you might find passing a certain food shop at lunchtime provides too much of a temptation to indulge yourself. If that’s the case, then changing your route can be a simple but effective way of cutting out the temptation.
If you stick at it, you’ll soon find your food diary can be a powerful way to take control over your eating.