Do you keep a food journal?
Jotting down EVERYthing you eat throughout the day can be eye opening. You start to see which foods work best for you and foods may be sabotaging you without even realizing.
Wondering how to get started? I got tips to get you started my friend!
You can get started with carrying a notebook in your purse to record each meal. If you prefer using your smartphone, choose an app like “MyFitnessPal” to keep an electronic record. It even has a barcode scanner option to quickly add food! This is my go-to food journal and for most of my nutrition clients.
If you’d rather keep it simple sister…try an app that allows you to take a picture of each meal as your food journal. I recommend the app “Ate” to many of my clients that don’t love to count calories.
Here’s what you’ll discover about yourself when you start keeping a food journal.
You’ll begin to unravel that mysterious question, “Why do I eat if I’m not hungry?”
Food journaling can help you get to the root of WHY you’re eating WHAT you’re eating, and why you’re even EATING at all.
When you record all the food you eat (Yes even those nibbles and bites!), note meal times, how hungry you are before eating it and how full you feel afterward— You will discover patterns.
You may spot that you eat on cue even when not hungry thanks to a stimulus (trigger) like watching TV or stress. When you can identify your triggers and thoughts you can change your behavior. It will give you the power to overcome! And that friends will help you stop the habit in its tracks.
Your food journal will help you see how much you’re actually eating. Eating can sometimes be a mindless activity if you aren’t careful. Food journaling helps bring you back into mindfulness when eating.
Take note of your meals, not just what you fill your plate, with but how much of it. Merely writing “veggie stir fry” won’t give you any clues later, especially if you neglected to write down that you ate two bowls full. #truthbomb
You can discover how you truly feel when you eat what you eat. Take a few moments to record
(1) Your hunger level before your meal
(2) How satisfied you feel after
(3) How did you feel or any observations after you ate.
Taking note of how you feel after eating certain foods will help you see patterns, you may be completely unaware of at this moment.
After you eat, think about if you feel refreshed and energetic, unmotivated and fatigued, uncomfortable in any way? Taking notes on how the food you eat impacts your life will help you make better choices.
Have you ever kept a food journal? If not, are you excited about starting one? Let’s go my friends!!
