Diet Diary and Food Journal
Journaling is a powerful tool to help you succeed in your health transformation journey.
I often ask my patients to make a note of everything they eat or drink for 2 weeks. Before we decide together what diet changes would be most practical and best for them.
How do you do a food journal?
Alongside a description of all food, drinks and snacks, make notes of how you feel during and after eating/drinking. It is astounding how much insight you can gain from simply being more aware of what goes into your system.
Many people tell me that by keeping a food journal, they realized how little water they drink during the day, or how much coffee they drink.
When we are forced to focus on what we eat and drink, and write everything down, we tend to eat less, and we eat better. In addition to becoming more conscious and aware of the types and volume of food we eat, keeping a written record of how that food makes us feel is remarkably useful. We can see patterns emerge that reveal food intolerances or even allergies.
How long should you keep a food journal?
2 weeks is usually enough time to give a lot of very helpful and applicable information that is specific to you, your body and your habits. You can see what your normal weekday food routine is like, as well as what happens on the weekends. Typically, weekdays are different to what happens over weekends, or during festivities.
Many of my patients continue to keep their food journals going for longer than just 2 weeks because they find it a very useful exercise that helps them monitor their nutritional intake as well as how their body responds to food. Do try it for yourself!
Download this template and record what you eat and drink as well as any symptoms. Identify food intolerances and poor eating habits. This is a great tool to help you monitor your diet intake and recognize ways you can improve.