How Using A Food Journal Can Make You Lose Weight?

A food journal is a built-in mindfulness tool to check in with yourself on how you feel before, during, and after you eat.
A new study published in magazine Obesity found that tracking what you eat takes less than 15 minutes a day when done regularly.
Logging foods can help you lose weight by informing your choices for the future.

A food diary is a record of foods that you eat on a meal-by-meal basis. It can help you better understand your eating habits and patterns. It can also help you to identify the foods — good and not-so-good — that you eat on a regular basis.

Writing down every bite of food and sip of water that you consume will make you more accountable for what you are eating and drinking. Plus, there are some surprising benefits to keeping a daily food log:

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12 Impressive benefits of keeping a food diary

Sometimes it may be difficult or possibly too tedious to regularly put down every food or drink that you ate, but with the right motivation, this can be achieved. The motivation here comes in the form of benefits that a food journal can afford you.

1. Weight loss

This is one of the benefits of using a food diary. The diary helps you to keep track of all the foods eaten and helps you to know which foods are harmful to you. It will also point out all the harmful habits that you indulge in so you can cut down on them. Research has shown that persons who have food diaries tend to lose twice as much weight than those who did not. This will definitely be an interesting way for you to lose weight!

2. Hold yourself accountable to control your food intake

When you record and keep track of everything you eat, it makes you regulate whatever goes into your mouth, making you more accountable for your weight gain. Since every drink or snack is recorded, you become more self-conscious of the harm certain cravings cause, making you more responsible for what you actually eat.

How Using A Food Journal Can Make You Lose Weight?

3. Detection of allergic reactions

When you keep a food journal, it helps you record foods and how you feel after eating each of them. This could help you determine which of the foods you are allergic or intolerant to. For example, if you continually feel bloated or in pain or uncomfortable after taking milk, it is possible that you could be lactose intolerant. Some people react badly to nuts or foods that contain gluten. All these may not be easily detected because those foods are taken alongside others but with a food diary which makes you put down how you feel after a particular meal, it is easy to pick out when you are having an allergic reaction.

4. Eat healthily

Keeping a food diary helps you to see which areas of your daily meals need changes and what nutrients are lacking so you can include foods rich in them into your diet. It will also help reduce the amount of processed foods intake and encourage a well-balanced diet for you. A food diary will make it obvious when you are only eating foods rich in one nutrient and will help you choose foods rich in others so as to eat healthily and have a balanced diet.

5. Analyze your eating habits

A food diary helps you to learn about your eating habits. Whether you indulge in a heavy snack after meals or if it is late night eating, a food journal will help you see the pattern and make effort to break it. A food diary can help spot unhealthy habits and the triggers to these habits. For example, when you do not eat all day only to overeat at night. This is an unhealthy habit which is self-triggered by starving.

6. Keep track of your calories

A food diary helps to calculate how much calories you need in a day so that you can monitor your intake. This is for people who are keen on gaining weight healthily.

7. Record your food buddies

Usually when filling out your food diary, it is required that alongside the foods you eat and the quantities, you should record who you ate with; if you did not eat alone. The reason is because some people are likely to make you eat more than you usually do. This is not of their volition but it means when you are around these people, chances are that you will overeat. The food diary monitors this and gives you feedback which can help you change your food buddies.

8. Increase awareness of your food intake

Consistent use of a food journal increases your self-awareness to the foods you are taking in. It makes you realize that at times you eat when you are not hungry, which could also indicate triggers.

9. Control your food intake

Keeping a food journal helps you exercise certain levels of self-control. Just knowing that you have to write everything you eat exactly deters people from sneaking a snack. It develops your self-control.

10. Compare your perception vs reality

A food diary will help you to compare your reality to perceptions about your diet. Sometimes we tend to over emphasize or exaggerate the parts of our diet that are healthy and ignore the rest. A food diary will show you how the unhealthy foods are rendering useless the healthy ones.

11. Motivate you to accomplish your goals

Keeping a food journal serves as a motivation to achieve the goals you have set when you look back to your first few weeks. It reassures you that your goals are attainable.

12. Diversify meals

A food journal can give you the level of creativity you need to try out new foods and combinations that are healthy. It enables you to plan your meals ahead and enjoy them while trying to lose weight.

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Does keeping a food journal help you lose weight?

Yes. Tracking what you eat at each meal or snack can help you improve your health and lose weight for two major reasons.

First, you’re accountable to an observant yet nonjudgmental party (the trusty food log). Consistently logging your food helps you consider why and when you’re eating and how hungry or satisfied you feel. This record-keeping can help you have a more positive relationship with food in general. It draws your attention to food-related pitfalls that may have previously thrown you off-track and gives you the information you need to move forward from a place of honesty.

The second reason why it works is that provides you with a wealth of information about you. You’ll learn more about both the foods you enjoy (and don’t enjoy) plus the places and situations that you find yourself eating. It can help you notice any negative feelings related food, and identify why you might be eating for reasons that have nothing to do with how hungry you actually felt.

Tips to get started with your food journal

Keeping a food journal doesn’t have to be difficult or overly time-consuming. Here are a few quick tips to help you get going.

1. Keep track as you go

If you wait until the end of the day to write down your meals and drinks, there’s a good chance you’ll forget a few items here and there.

Plus, it can be much trickier to estimate portion sizes once you’ve already eaten your food.

As such, updating your food diary throughout the day is the best way to ensure that it’s as accurate as possible.

If you aren’t able to keep your food diary with you, jot down some notes on paper or in your smartphone after you eat and add it to your log later that same day.

2. Write down everything

While a quick nibble or bite during the day may not seem like a big deal, it’s important to include it in your food journal.

This is essential if you’re trying to detect any food allergies or sensitivities in your diet — even small amounts of certain foods might affect your symptoms.

Similarly, calories, carbs, and sugar from snacking can add up quickly over a full day. This is important to consider if you’re trying to lose weight or monitor your macronutrient intake.

According to one review, snacking while distracted — like when you’re watching television — can lead to overeating, reduced awareness of the quality and quantity of snacks consumed as well as increased calorie intake.

3. Be specific

When tracking your intake, it’s best to be as specific as possible and write down as many details as you can.

Not only does this involve writing down any ingredients, spices, or seasonings used in your meals, but it also requires you to get specific regarding your portion sizes.

Try using measuring cups or a food scale to get a more accurate idea of how much you’re eating and drinking.

Alternatively, you can estimate your portion sizes visually or compare your food to other items — like a deck of cards, a baseball, or a golf ball — to gauge how much you’re eating.

4. Consider using an app

Smartphone food journal apps can be a convenient alternative to writing everything down using pen and paper.

Not only do most apps have an extensive library of foods and drinks to choose from, but they may also provide detailed information about their nutritional content and ingredients.

This can save you time, eliminate any guesswork, and allow you to see more accurate data about your daily intake of potential food sensitivity triggers, calories, macronutrients, and vitamins.

5. Monitor your mood

Although many people focus solely on what they eat or drink when filling out a food journal, keeping track of how your mood changes throughout the day and with each meal can also be beneficial.

In fact, identifying how you feel before or after eating certain foods can make it easier to identify patterns and understand how your diet might be affecting your mental health.

If you struggle with emotional eating, determining which factors trigger you could also help treat its root cause to prevent overeating.

In particular, studies show that negative emotions like anxiety, sadness, and perceived stress could increase food intake and contribute to overeating.

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What to write in a food diary ?

Once you have your diary, you should log several pieces of information in it each time you eat and drink. These include:

How much: List the amount of the food and drink you consume each time. This might be measured in volume (such as 1/2 cup), weight (such as 2 ounces), or the number of items (such as 12 chips).
What kind: Write down the type of food and drink. Be as specific as you can. Don’t forget to write down extras, such as toppings, sauces, dressings, or condiments. Examples include butter, ketchup, or sugar.
When: Keep track of the time of day you eat and drink.
Where: Make note of where you eat and drink. If you’re at home, write down the room. For instance, at the dining room table, in the kitchen, or on the sofa. If you’re out, write down the name of the restaurant or if you’re in your car.
Who with: If you eat by yourself, write “alone.” If you’re with friends or family members, list them.
Activity: In this column, list any activities you do while you eat or drink. You could be working, watching TV, or playing a game.
Mood: You also should include how you feel when you eat and drink. Are you happy, sad, or bored? Your mood can impact what and when you eat or drink.

Recap your food diary journey

After a few weeks of recording your meals and snacks, you will need to analyze the information in your diary.

Check out the data for eating patterns that are similar. What foods always require a snack and those that keep you full throughout the day.
Take note of how many snacks you have daily and how often these snacks are taken.
Check if you eat heavily on weekdays or weekends. For some people, work has a great effect on their eating habits and others tend to eat more when they’re idle on weekends.
Where your aim is to lose weight, also record your physical activities vis-a-vis the amount of calories you take per day. This will help you to know if you are burning as much calories as you are consuming so as to adjust appropriately.
Keep track of your progress and your food expenses. Usually one would affect the other. Where there is progress, your expenses will either reduce or increase depending on whether you are cutting down on junk food or whether you are investing more in healthy foods.

Are food diaries effective?

A food journal holds you accountable and creates a personal reference guide that can inform your future choices and, ultimately, your habits. However, it’s not for everyone. If you know you’re susceptible to obsessive eating patterns or food phobias; have a history of an eating disorder; or if for any reason at all a food log makes you feel guilt, shame, or fear, then this isn’t for you. Keeping track of what you eat is supposed to help you stay mindful and accountable — not bad about yourself.

How Using A Food Journal Can Make You Lose Weight?

Whatever inspires you to show up for yourself and for others, do that, and do it consistently. If a food log helps you make positive lifestyle changes, then that’s 15 minutes of your day well-spent!

Our Clients Speak-
Sandhya 32/F August Batch 100 Days Elite Program Lost 12 Kgs
"At FITrebel you are encouraged to write down and keep track of everything you eat, it makes you regulate whatever you eat, making you more accountable for your weight management."

How Using A Food Journal Can Make You Lose Weight?