Losing weight often feels like an uphill battle, but the key to success lies in building consistent, healthy habits. A weight loss journal can be a powerful tool on this journey. Research indicates that tracking your progress in a journal can double your weight loss. It all boils down to awareness: you can't change what you're not aware of.
What is a Weight Loss Journal?
A weight loss journal is a personal record of your journey towards achieving your ideal weight. There's no right or wrong way to create one, and format options are abundant. Some people prefer the flexibility of a bullet journal, while others find convenience in weight loss apps. The core purpose remains the same: to monitor your diet, exercise, and overall well-being.
Why Keep a Weight Loss Journal?
Increased Awareness
A weight loss journal brings awareness to your eating habits and patterns. Keeping a record of what you eat, when you eat, and how much you eat sheds light on your eating habits. Do you skip meals? Are you overeating at night? Do you mindlessly snack throughout the day? Food journaling makes you more aware of your choices and encourages you to be more mindful of not only what you are eating, but also how, why, and when you are eating.
Identifying Triggers
A food diary helps identify certain triggers of unhealthy eating. For example, are you grabbing that vending machine cookie or bag of chips when feeling stressed or bored at work? Do you eat a late night bowl of ice cream because you’re feeling lonely? Once you identify the emotional connections to eating, you can work towards meeting those emotional needs in more effective and healthy ways.
Monitoring Progress
Tracking your measurements in a journal or calendar can help you recognize the progress you’ve made and spot any issues or negative patterns that might be impacting your success.
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How to Maximize the Benefits of a Weight Loss Journal
Be Diligent and Consistent
To truly tap into the benefits of a weight loss journal, you must remain diligent. Most experts agree that the secret to successful food journaling is accuracy and consistency. Journaling daily is the most beneficial approach, so do whatever fits into your life. It doesn’t need to be overly detailed. Note what you have been eating, any substitutes that you’ve tried, and how you are handling temptation. To make it even more useful to you, start keeping track of how much you sleep, how active you are, and what the numbers are on the scale.
Acknowledge Your Successes
When you acknowledge your successes, you are much more inclined to keep the positive momentum going.
Track Your Mood
Recording the food you eat, time of consumption, calories, and your mood can be a great way to monitor your diet. Every day, jot down what you eat, how much you eat, and when you eat. For example, you may have had an argument with a family member or a bad day at work, which prompted you to eat something indulgent. Make sure to note how you felt about that choice afterward. Did it make you feel guilty? Did you end up feeling sluggish and tired?
Review Your Journal with Your Doctor
As you find yourself in the midst of a weight loss journey, your physician should be a part of a team effort. Explore the benefits of your weight loss journal together as you look back to the beginning and focus on the entries dating up to your doctor’s visit. A weight loss journal will also be a helpful tool if you choose to explore alternatives to weight loss. Your medical team will appreciate the record of your dedication and your efforts.
What to Record in Your Weight Loss Journal
Food and Beverages
Write down the specific food and beverage consumed and how it is prepared (baked, broiled, fried, etc.). Be as specific as you can with the food or beverage.
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Amount of Food
List the amount in household measures (cups, teaspoons, tablespoons) or in ounces. If possible, it is best to weigh and measure your food. The amount of food we consume is often what escapes us because we may be eating mindlessly. Think about that 24-ounce bag of chips that disappears when you’re watching a TV show. Depending on your goal, it is imperative, at least as first, to measure your food to see how much you are actually eating.
Time of Consumption
Note the time of day that you ate something. Noting the time of day that you ate something helps to identify your pattern of eating. For example, you can see if you’re skipping meals or going too long without eating, which leads to unhealthy eating later in the day or night.
Location
Record where you are eating. Are you rushing and eating in the car or mindlessly eating in front of the TV? How often are you dining out or eating at fast food restaurants? Are you sitting down and eating at the dinner table or standing at the counter while multitasking? This is a valuable factor to include in a food journal that allows greater awareness of why you are eating and how much you are eating.
Activities While Eating
Note what else you are doing while eating. A food journal can allow you to pinpoint whether distractions like working, watching TV, or scrolling your phone while eating affect how much and what you eat and how you feel afterwards. Once you figure out the effects of distractions on your eating habits, you can make changes that promote more mindful eating that doesn’t lead to overconsumption.
Emotional State
Write down how you are feeling as you're eating. Many people eat outside of true physical hunger and eat beyond feeling satiated. Being mindful of how you feel before and after you eat can help identify the true reasons why you eat. You’ll learn what can trigger unhealthy eating patterns such as emotional eating at night or raiding the vending machine at work due to stress.
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Tools for Journaling
Traditional Journal
Treat yourself to a nice, hard-cover diary book - you can find these in most bookstores, office supply shops, and online.
Smartphone Apps
A smartphone app like Lose It! or MyFitnessPal can support your efforts. There many tools available that can help you log your food on your phone. They also can help calculate calories to make sure that you are eating enough to get through the day. MyFitnessPal has its own database where popular products and foods are stored and can be used by other members.
Online Communities
Thanks to the Internet, anyone can start a blog. If you are comfortable sharing your personal journey, you might want to start your own weight loss blog or weight loss-focused social media profile. An alternative to creating a public blog is finding a community within a weight loss forum.
Analyzing Your Journal
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.
Mindful Eating and Food Journaling
Food journaling, or food tracking, is a method of mindful eating. 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.
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.