In a world inundated with information, we often overlook the vital connection between what we consume and how it impacts our well-being. The journey toward a healthier lifestyle begins with mindful awareness, and one of the most effective tools for cultivating this awareness is the practice of keeping a fitness and food diary. This article delves into the numerous benefits of adopting this practice, illustrating how it can be a game-changer on your path to wellness.
Introduction: The Overlooked Key to a Healthier You
Many people start the new year with a resolve to improve their health. Tracking daily food intake creates a heightened sense of awareness about what you consume. It encourages you to be more mindful of your food choices, fostering a deeper connection between your body and the nourishment it receives. This awareness is the first step toward making informed decisions about your diet.
Unveiling the Benefits of Food and Fitness Journaling
Keeping a food journal is a simple task that can come with big benefits, especially for weight loss. Here's how it can transform your approach to health and fitness:
Enhanced Awareness of Eating Habits
A food journal can help you understand your eating habits and patterns, and help you identify the foods - good and not-so-good - you eat on a regular basis. The process of writing down meals can make any high-calorie or less healthy foods you are consuming more obvious. Plus, you may notice that you are eating bigger portions than you thought. Food journaling may be helpful for those who want to lose weight for several reasons.
Portion Control and Balanced Nutrition
One of the key advantages of food tracking is gaining insight into portion sizes. It's easy to underestimate or overestimate the amount of food we consume. Tracking allows you to visualize your portion sizes and, over time, develop a more accurate understanding of what constitutes a balanced meal. Beyond just counting calories, tracking daily food intake enables you to focus on the nutritional content of your meals. Are you getting enough vitamins and minerals? Is your diet well-balanced? Tracking helps you identify areas where you might be lacking and make adjustments to ensure you meet your nutritional needs. Eating a balanced plate at meals, with sufficient amounts of proteins, vegetables, complex carbs, and healthy fats, is helpful for losing weight. Writing down your meals in a food diary is a good way to see if you are eating too much or too little of a certain food group. Once you identify gaps in your nutrition, you can take steps to fill them.
Read also: Is 6 Pack Fitness Worth It?
Weight Management and Goal Setting
For those on a weight loss or weight maintenance journey, tracking food intake is a powerful tool. It provides a clear picture of your daily caloric intake and allows you to set realistic and achievable goals. This precision can be a game-changer when working towards weight-related objectives. Some research shows that people who kept food records had greater weight loss success than people who didn’t track what they ate.
Identifying Triggers and Breaking Negative Cycles
By consistently recording what you eat, you can identify patterns and potential triggers for unhealthy eating habits. This self-awareness is instrumental in breaking negative cycles and developing healthier alternatives to cope with stress, emotions, or environmental cues. Add notes about what you were doing while you were eating. Working? Watching TV? Also include how you were feeling at the time. Hungry? Do you see any patterns or triggers that are barriers to your goals?
Accountability and Motivation
Recording your daily food intake creates a sense of accountability. It's a tangible record of your commitment to your health goals. Moreover, looking back on your progress can be incredibly motivating, reinforcing positive habits and inspiring you to stay on track. Journaling is often considered a great practice to stay accountable when you are setting healthy eating or weight loss goals. When you anticipate writing down your meals, you may be more likely to choose nutrient-dense foods and stay on track.
Improved Digestion and Energy Levels
Understanding how different foods affect your body allows you to make choices that promote better digestion and sustained energy levels. Tracking helps you pinpoint foods that may cause discomfort or sluggishness, leading to a more energized and comfortable daily experience. Better recognition of foods that zap or boost energy and increase blood sugar. Keeping track of how you feel after meals can help you better understand which foods lead to cravings, overeating, or energy crashes and which ones leave you satisfied and full of energy. If you have diabetes, food journaling can also be helpful in identifying which foods raise your blood sugar versus those that help you maintain stable levels.
The Impact of Dining Companions and Mindless Eating
Do you find yourself eating more food when dining with friends and family compared to going to lunch with your colleagues or eating alone? Your dining companions can affect what you eat, how much you eat, and how often you eat. Sometimes you eat, unaware of how much you consume because of distraction by people or everyday activities. Mindless eating contributes to consuming more than you probably should. A food journal will instill self-control by helping you acknowledge this behavior.
Read also: Looking for fitness challenges to lose weight? Read more.
Unveiling Hidden Realities
You may believe that you drink tons of water a day and you eat the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables, but food journaling might open your eyes to a new reality.
Scientific Backing
In 2008, the Kaiser Center for Health Research conducted a study of 1,700 people, reporting that dieters who kept a food journal for six months lost twice as much weight as those who didn’t. A new study in the Journal of Obesity suggests that self-monitoring the foods you consume is the most effective way to lose weight. A review of 15 studies found that self-monitoring techniques, including paper food diaries, were significantly linked to weight loss. In addition, one randomized trial that compared strategies for maintaining weight loss found that the more food records participants kept each week, the more weight they lost.
Food Elimination Diets
Food elimination diets like the AIP diet can also benefit from this approach to food journaling because it helps you be more aware of how your body reacts to each individual food, whether it’s in its raw form or prepared some other way.
How to Start and Maintain a Food and Fitness Diary
Most experts agree that the secret to successful food journaling is accuracy and consistency. Here's how to get started:
Choosing Your Method
Figure out your method of journaling. You can use a paper diary or a smartphone app like Lose It! or MyFitnessPal. There many tools available that can help you log your food on your phone. Start out slow. Food journaling is a marathon, not a sprint.
Read also: Delicious Beef Stew: The Ultimate Guide
What to Record
So, what should you record?
- What are you eating? Write down the specific food and beverage consumed and how it is prepared (baked, broiled, fried, etc.). Be as specific as possible.
- How much are you eating? List the amount in household measures (cups, teaspoons, tablespoons) or in ounces. If possible, it is best to weigh and measure your food. Enter the amount consumed in teaspoons, tablespoons, cups, or fluid ounces for fruits, vegetables, nuts, and liquids. Use weighted ounces for protein and starch. Once you’ve measured for some time, you’ll be able to make educated guesses.
- When are you eating?
- Where are you eating?
- What else are you doing while eating?
- Who are you eating with?
- How are you feeling as you're eating? Write down the food or beverage as soon as you consume it.
Timing and Consistency
Log entries as soon as you can. Try to write down what you ate shortly after doing so, in order to prevent falling behind. Stay consistent. Set a goal for how long you want to keep a food journal and try your best to reach it. Choose a short timeframe, such as 5 or 7 days, at first. Then, reflect on how the process went, what changes you want to make, and whether or not you found it helpful. Then, set a new goal for how long you want to continue.
Identifying Patterns and Setting Goals
You've kept a food diary. After completing a week's worth of food journaling, step back and look at what you've recorded. Search for any trends, patterns, or habits. Am I eating vegetables and fruit every day? Am I eating foods or beverages with added sugar? Do my moods affect my eating habits? Once you've identified areas for improvement, set one or two healthy eating goals for yourself. In doing so, use the SMART goal format. That means your goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based.
Don't Forget Drinks
Remember to include beverages and not just food.
Making Adjustments
Make changes as you go. The ultimate goal of food journaling is to help you better understand your eating habits so that you can make changes to support your goals. It can be easy to get wrapped up in keeping a journal and forget about making changes. Remember to take some time to brainstorm healthy swaps, sign up for meal prep services or diet meal delivery if needed, and pinpoint other actions you can take to improve your diet. As you start to develop healthier habits, eventually you may find that food journaling is no longer necessary.
Food Tracking and Nutrient Value
Food tracking informs you of your food’s nutrient value. It’s pointless to track calories if you are only monitoring food with no nutritional value. Your body needs macronutrients (carbs, protein, and fat) to function properly. Food trackers will allow you to log your food intake and show you exactly how many macros you need - and how many you’re actually getting. To get the macros you need, eat a rich diet of fresh produce, healthy fats, complex carbs, and protein.
Food Tracking and Accountability
Food tracking holds you accountable. It’s easy to forget everything you’ve eaten in a day-or even a few hours ago. But everything from a piece of cake to a baby carrot should be accounted for. When you consistently log your food, it keeps you accountable, and you become much more intentional about why and when you’re eating.
Food Tracking and Goal Achievement
Food tracking helps you reach your goals. Humans want achievement. But achievement is hard to come by when dealing with vague ideas. Food tracking puts hard numbers down as your targets. And achieving these targets will send dopamine rushes to your brain that will make you want more.
Moderation and Awareness
Food tracking allows you to eat your favorite foods in moderation. While logging food is an essential part of staying committed to a healthy diet, eating some of your favorite non-healthy foods is still ok - as long as you eat it in moderation. And don’t forget to log this food. It helps you know when you’ve had enough or when you’ve gotten off track. Food tracking raises awareness. Have you ever thought, “wow, I had no idea that burger was full of that many calories”? Once you start tracking your food, you become aware of the good -and bad- that you’ve been putting into your body.
Mindful Logging
Be mindful while logging and ask yourself, why am I eating? Is my body actually hungry? If you feel like you have overindulged, be sure to write it all down. Then you can learn what foods led to this overeating.
Exceptional Science & Inspiring Speakers
Get access to over 60 hours of the best science and latest clinical information at your convenience.
Addressing Potential Downsides
While food journaling has many possible benefits, it’s not for everyone and can come with downsides and challenges. Keeping a food diary may be harmful for those who struggle with disordered eating or obsessive thoughts about food. In addition, some people may find that writing down meals sparks feelings of shame, guilt, or failure and takes the joy out of eating. Finally, online food journaling programs or apps may not always be accurate and therefore may discourage users who want to have a better understanding of daily calories or nutrients. Before starting a food journal, consider your health history and how the process makes you feel to help decide if it’s right for you. If you have an eating disorder, or a history of disordered eating, I don’t recommend tracking amounts and calories because too much focus on food and numbers and amounts can trigger disordered eating and potentially cause a relapse,” she continues. “But journaling about your thoughts and feelings is always a good idea.”
Mindful Eating and Food Journaling
Mindfulness can easily be translated to “awareness.” In this case, it could be the awareness of what we are eating, how we are eating, why we are eating, and when we are eating? Many of us enjoy snacking or grabbing “seconds” at dinner time. There are also those of us that eat when we are sad or depressed. Unfortunately, this type of behavior can cause the daily calories to quickly add up! To sum it up, mindfulness is a behavioral technique that can help us put our habits in perspective. Our habits are a large part of who we are and can determine whether or not we are successful. At times, our habits must change so that we can accomplish our goals and grow as an individual. Studies show that mindfulness has a great influence on how much we eat, how we feel when we eat and when we choose to eat. Food journaling, or food tracking, is a method of mindful eating. Some may argue that this can turn into an unhealthy habit, which is definitely possible. boredom rather than hunger.
The Role of Choice in Adherence
Poor clinical and behavioral outcomes are often the result of poor adherence to therapeutic and behavioral regimens. Research suggests that treatment outcomes may be improved if patients perceive greater control over their treatment choice. It is well described in education literature that providing choice can be a powerful instructional strategy. According to the self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), choice should be relevant to the students’ interest and goals (autonomy support), not be too numerous or complex (competence support), and be congruent with their cultural values (relatedness support) (Katz & Assor, 2007). A meta-analysis of 41 studies that tested the effect of providing choice on intrinsic motivation found when individuals are allowed to affirm their sense of autonomy through choice they experience enhanced motivation, persistence, performance and production (Patall, Cooper, & Robinson, 2008). Therefore providing choices may be an important tool to promote adherence.
Preferred Diary Method
Participants who used their preferred diary were more adherent to recording both food intake (64.2% vs. 43.4%, p=.015) and exercise (60.6% vs. 31.2%, p=.001).
Diary Options
Currently the three most common ways to self-monitor energy intake and expenditure are: Paper diary, hand-held electronic diary (PDA) and Web-based diary. Maintaining detailed records on specific behaviors, is considered one of the most essential features of behavior therapy (Baker & Kirschenbaum, 1993; Berkel, Poston, Reeves, & Foreyt, 2005; Fabricatore, 2007; Shay, 2008) and consistent self-monitoring has been associated with improved adherence to dietary measures,(Schnoll & Zimmerman, 2001; Yancy & Boan, 2006) although accuracy is generally poor (Goris, Westerterp-Plantenga, & Westerterp, 2000; Livingstone & Black, 2003; Schaefer et al., 2000; Stone, Shiffman, Schwartz, Broderick, & Hufford, 2003). Because a positive effect is also seen without accurate recording (Blundell & Gillett, 2001; Boutelle & Kirschenbaum, 1998; Boutelle, Kirschenbaum, Baker, & Mitchell, 1999; Goris et al., 2000; Guare et al., 1989; Hollis et al., 2008; Kruger, Blanck, & Gillespie, 2006; Rosenthal & Marx, 1983; Sandifer & Buchanan, 1983; Sperduto, Thompson, & O’Brien, 1986; Stalonas & Kirschenbaum, 1985), it is likely that accuracy is not as important as consistently focusing attention on the behavior (Helsel, Jakicic, & Otto, 2007). The more consistently individuals self-monitor their daily energy balance the more weight they lose(Baker & Kirschenbaum, 1993; Boutelle & Kirschenbaum, 1998; Burke et al., 2008; Helsel et al., 2007; Hollis et al., 2008; Wadden et al., 2005) Unfortunately low adherence rates due to the tedious nature of keeping a detailed food diary is well known (Baker & Kirschenbaum, 1993; Burke, Sereika et al., 2006). One contributing factor to low adherence rates may be the lack of choice in the type of food/exercise diary used. Weight management programs generally instruct all attendees to use the same type of diary. Because individuals often have different learning styles they may have different diary prefer ences. For example, some individuals prefer to use a Web-based diary while others prefer a paper diary or a portable electronic device such as a personal digital assistant (PDA). Of the three methods, the PDA diary provides both portable access to nutrition and exercise information and rapid computerized data entry. The paper diary is portable but not automated and the Web-based diaries provide rapid computerized data entry but are not particularly portable.
Real-World Applications
Bariatric Surgery
If you struggle to lose weight and have more than 100 pounds to lose, weight-loss surgery might be something you consider.