How To Food Journal Properly

One of the most helpful tools that you should be considering using as you go about your fat loss diet plan is a food journal. Food journaling can take a little bit of time out of your day, but believe me, it’s time that will be very well invested.

When it comes to weight loss programs, the diet element of things does to be where most people do tend to struggle the most, so anything that you can do to make this process easier and more effective for yourself is definitely going to yield great results in the long run.

Food journaling is something that will help out many people for a variety of reasons, so it’s a skill that you will want to learn.

Let’s look at how you should go about food journaling properly and why you should be using it in the first place.

Why Food Journal?

First let’s talk about why you should consider food journaling in the first place. The first reason why this is such a smart idea is because of the fact that it will allow you to keep a clear record in place of each and everything that you ate.

This way, you can look back at the food journal over time and see how the various foods you were eating influenced your progress.

For example, if you tried one diet approached and noticed great progress with your weight loss and then switched over to something new and found the results were slowing, you then know for the future what does and does not work with your body. Since each and every person is different in terms of how their body will respond to the foods they eat, it’s important that you take the time to learn your own body well.

Another great reason why you should food journal is because simply doing so will keep you more accountable. When you know that you have to write down each and every thing that you put into your mouth, you might think twice about taking a little bite here and there, or indulging in that dessert that you know you just don’t need.

This can save you loads of calories over time and really enhance the overall rate of fat loss that you see taking place.

Furthermore, food journaling also can help you determine whether you’re eating for reasons of hunger or whether there may be other issues at play such as eating for joy, sadness, anxiety, stress, or loneliness. For some people, emotional eating is the primary reason why they are overweight in the first place and food journaling can help you get to the bottom of that so that you are better able to address the issue and put it behind you.

So as you can see, there are definitely a number of positive benefits to food journaling. When you weigh the pros it provides you with the additional five to ten minutes it takes per day, the decision should be clear that this is something you need to be doing.

Now let’s look at how to food journal properly.

How To Food Journal?

In order to get the best benefits from food journaling, there are some important things that you must remember about how to do this correctly.

First, it’s important that you track everything. And by everything, we mean that little bit of sandwich you took while cleaning up your kids lunches for the day, as well as that handful of chips you snacked on while you prepared dinner.

Each and every thing that passes through your lips, write it down. This is a must for success.

The second thing that you need to make sure you’re doing is tracking how much you’re eating. This is very important because if you only record what you eat, you’re only getting half the picture. Remember that your calorie intake is what determines whether you gain or lose weight and your calorie intake is primarily determined by how much of a certain food you are consuming.

If you eat too much of any given food, weight gain can still occur.

Along with tracking what you eat and how much, also write down the time of day that you eat so that you have a clear record of that. This will help you spot patterns in your eating habits.

Moving on, rate your hunger on a scale of one to ten as you list what you’re eating. This is helpful to know as it will then indicate how well you’re actually listening to your body’s own internal cues.

Then finally, the last thing that you need to write down is how you feel when you eat. This is where you want to go into as much detail as you can. Any thoughts, feelings, or emotions that you have present as you are tracking what you’re eating, write them down.

It can help to set a timer for two minutes and force yourself to write straight for those two minutes. Even if you’re just repeating the same sentence over and over again, if you continually keep writing, you will force emotions out of yourself that you may have no realized you had. This can be very effective for pinpointing deep reasons why you are turning to food for comfort when you aren’t all that hungry.

And then it’s those reasons that need to get addressed if you’re able to overcome the emotional eating problems that you’re battling with.

So there you have the in’s and out’s of how to food journal properly. This is definitely a valuable tool that you want to be sure that you’re using on a regular basis as you go about your diet program because nothing is going to give you a better overview of how you’re doing with your plan and what may need to change if you are going to see the most optimal success possible.