Lose Weight - Keep a Food Diary as a Record for Your Weight Loss

When you first start out on your journey to lose weight one of the smartest things you can do is to keep a food diary. This is simply a notebook where you can record what you eat during the day. There are a number of things you can track in this food diary or you can keep it simple. Either way it can be a great way to encourage and motivate you to stick to a healthy eating weight loss plan.

There are a number of pieces of information you can record in your food diary. First, consider just listing your daily foods. As well as what you eat at main meals don't forget to include snacks and drinks. It is no good 'cheating' when you do this and 'forgetting' to write down those 3 chocolate biscuits that you had with your cappuccino. You must be totally honest with yourself. Remember nobody else has to see this only you. This will help you actually see what you eat on any given day and notice patterns of unhealthy eating that you never considered before.

Some people like to keep a record of calories, protein, fat, fiber and other nutrients as well as portion sizes. You could make a note of when you eat and why. Maybe you had a particular craving, were feeling depressed about something or any other emotions and feelings about your diet on any given day. Do what's right for you - it's your diary.

Other people also like to keep a record of exercise they have done during the week. Write down things like when you got off the bus a stop earlier or parked at the far end of the car park when shopping. Maybe you've been for a walk a few times a week of gone to the gym. In fact, anything that shows an activity you have done during the week.

When you start a food diary it doesn't need to be anything fancy or you don't need to go out and buy a particular type of diary. Some people just use a simple notepad, maybe you like to record things on a computer in either a word document or excel or any other data entry program which helps when it comes to adding totals at the end of the day. You should use something that feels right for you.

Get into the habit of recording in your food diary every day and review it at the end of the week in order to track your progress. You might wish to make a note of when you hit any weight loss goals or when you gain weight in order to look for causes. Your food diary is something you can show to your health professional in order to make sure you are staying healthy as well and getting all the correct nutrients needed.

Why not start a food diary today and keep a record of the weight you lose?