What Did You Eat Today? – Keeping a Food Diary
It’s a simple question – what did you eat today? Upon first glance, it may seem simple and straight forward…but can you actually remember everything that went into your mouth? Furthermore, exactly what did you consume over the weekend? Now that’s when this exercise becomes a little trickier.
You see, the biggest problem that many of us face when it comes to weight loss is watching what we eat. Just a few minor changes with nutrition can go a long way in terms of losing that unwanted body fat. However, in order to solve the nutritional problem that you may be facing, you first need to know exactly what the problem is. Without knowing exactly what you have consumed and when, it can be difficult to isolate the area’s that require tweaking.
For many of my clients, I have suggested to record a food diary that details the foods that were consumed, in what amount and at what time. It’s quite simple to do and does take a little of your time (say, 5-10 minutes in a day). For such little effort, it can provide a wealth of valuable information! I cannot count the number of clients that, upon reviewing their food diary, have said to me “Wow…I didn’t know I ate that much” or “I couldn’t believe how many sweets I ate this often!”. More often than not, it comes as a bit of a shock.
Ultimately, it’s very easy for us to forget all the details of foods that we consume, particularly when:
- You are probably really busy with other tasks
- You would rather forget about eating the junk food!
The other big advantage of a food diary is the accountability of keeping one. You have to be honest with yourself, otherwise this exercise is useless. But by writing down everything that you eat, you know that you have to answer to yourself. Even better, have someone else (a friend, family member or personal trainer) to check it for you to keep you really honest!
Wouldn’t it be better to have your complete food diary written down, objectively, so you can review and analyse what exactly is going wrong? Try giving it a go for a week and see what value it brings to your weight loss efforts.
