So how many times have you forgotten to do something after making a “mental note” and being sure you’d remember? Most people tend to remember things that they write down far better than those they don’t. And that is the basic benefit of maintaining a weight loss journal.
When you actually write down everything you eat in a food diary, it helps you lose weight in a number of ways.
- It makes you more aware of what you’re actually eating
- It makes it more difficult to cheat
- It gets you more involved in your weight loss journey
4 Steps to Start a Weight Loss Journal
Even if you already track everything you eat on an app, a written food diary becomes ever-present in your life, not just a new blank screen to be filled in each day.
- Find a Template or Make Your Own in a Bullet Journal – One way or another, you need a place to actually record what you eat, when and other pertinent facts about the calories you consume and burn each day.
Here’s a good printable food journal page.
- Be Sure to Record Your Nutrient Information – This may not be easily available for everything you eat. But do your best to make it as accurate as possible. At a minimum, the information should include how much protein, carbohydrates, fats and fibre in everything you eat. This is perhaps the best way to become very aware of exactly what you’re eating and which foods will help you most to lose weight. If you have a Herbal One meal plan, you’ll know exactly what is the nutritional content of everything in the plan.
- Record Other Pertinent Health Information – In addition to rows for each meal, snacks and even dessert, and columns for food choices, serving size and nutritional information, the food journal above includes spaces for you to enter your step counts, exercise time, sleep time and miscellaneous notes. Record actual or estimated calories burned for each activity.
- Use the Information in the Journal – Recording everything is just the first step. You should analyze everything you recorded at least weekly. Ultimately, you should have a calorie deficit – burned more calories than you consumed. If not, check the information to see where you can make improvements.
If you enjoyed this post, check out our recent article about how to work the night shift and stay healthy.