I read an article in Oxygen Magazine’s January issue about food logging. It had a lot of great tips that I wanted to pass along to you all. Keep in mind, food logging is NOT for everyone. If you have a tendency to get a little OCD about things go ahead and try food logging. BUT, if you feel yourself starting to go a little crazy, don’t let it take over your life. It would be best to take a step back and relax for a while.Â
With that said, food logs can be very helpful for many people. Here are some tips for making food logs work for you:
1. Begin by tracking your normal eats for a week. Then you will be able to review it and see where you are already on the right track and where you may be coming up short. It will give you a solid starting ground.
2. Pen or PDA, it doesn’t matter. Online food journaling seems to be all the rage these days. But studies have shown that people who journal with a PDA or an old fashioned pen and paper lose the same amount of weight. Do what you can stick with.
3. Carry your journal with you and write down everything you eat right away. If you wait until the end of the day to record your food, you WILL forget things. Studies have shown that food logs are only accurate and most helpful when they are carried with you and filled out AS you eat. Also, keep track of every little bite. Many people, especially all of us stay at home moms, slip and don’t keep track of the bites off kids plates, the candy you grabbed off your co-workers desk, etc. Count it all, or you won’t have an accurate representation of what you are doing.
4. Know when to start and when to stop. A great time to start journaling is before or after a significant event such as a vacation, wedding, party, etc. Events can be great motivators! It is effective to journal about 4 days per week or for a couple weeks a month. For short term, more urgent, goals, journal daily until your goal is reached.
I hope these tips have given you some ideas and helped you decide weather or not food journaling is for you!
Now, I want to know, do you log or don’t you?
