My Journey with Food Journaling

by Megan on Thu, 03/07/2013 - 6:43pm | 0 comments

A substantial part of my life and professional career are enhanced and elevated by staying lean.

However, being from a wholesome family that perceives obesity a bit differently than society at large, in my household it was challenging to keep things trim. Even as a kid I recognized that without helpful tools, growing up fit would be a rugged journey.

Count me in with the innumerable amount of fitness models and shapely individuals in the spotlight who extol the virtues of maintaining a food-journal.

An Ongoing Exercise

My mother loves to cook and so do I. Her passion with food is definitely intoxicating and to this day I’m emotionally drawn to chocolate chip cookies once a week. The smell brings me back home immediately, and I just feel downright better!

It got to the point where I needed to ask my mom to start hiding things because too many cookies and other yummy baked goods began to gather on the pages of my food journal. She was kind enough to put them out of sight. Thanks mom, you’re my most powerful tool.

5 Reasons I Use A Food Diary

This is a quick breakdown of how important keeping a food diary has been for me. In my humble view, I see it as important as keeping financial records. Honestly, what could be more important than our health and wellness?

  1. Enlightening: Obviously the first thing they do is show you exactly what you’re eating. Munching is most often mindless, and consuming calories feels as natural as breathing. The journal makes light of all the little things, like random spoonfuls of mom’s cookie dough, we don’t pay attention to.  
  2. Trimming: If you use a food journal for one month you have a 99.9% chance of losing some excess weight. The first few weeks are usually a pain, but after a month or so certain patterns start to appear. It’s almost impossible not to change them, and in accordance to that change weight will taper off.
  3. Planning: Journalist makes you a better consumer. You think before you grab that impulse buy with pretty packaging. Furthermore, planning meals becomes less of a chore.
  4. Informing: Along with showing you exactly what you eat, it shows you what you aren’t eating that you probably should. How many pages are devoid of fruits & veggies? The food diary will unobtrusively inform you where your diet is lacking.
  5. Inspirational: Point blank - they keep me on track towards my goals far more efficiently than just winging it. There’s something incredibly satisfying about seeing my pages filled with healthy food choices. I read through them and know deep down that I’m a healthy person!

One of the side-effects of being faithful to my journal is that it shows me how regularly off base I am when attempting to guesstimate my caloric intake. When compared to my food journal, I’m always off in left field somewhere. Take it from me, if you haven’t teased the thought of having a food journal yet, have a chocolate chip cookie and think about it again. 

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