Today I am going to talk about Food Journals, my favorite subject.

When people come to me and express interest in working with me, the first thing I ask for is a 7 day food journal. I have mentioned food journals before; writing down what you eat has many benefits, from calorie tracking to eating accountability. I find that when I track my food intake I tend to eat less. Writing down what I eat helps me stay on track and not over eat; but that’s not the only reason I request a food journal from my new clients. By tracking your food intake you can figure out what your hunger schedule is. When you’re just eating to eat, when you are truly hungry, and when you love to snack.

I find that I can control my appetite until the middle of the day. Then I love to snack on anything and everything I can find. To address my mid day snacking issue I make sure to drink plenty of water, and only purchase healthy snacks. When I’m searching through my house looking for junk food, I only find fruit, raw vegetables, and healthy alternatives.

I find that some people like to over eat at night. After work most people come home, sit on the couch and eat. I’ve learned that a lot of people reward themselves with food. One of my former clients had a very sad conversation with me about her disciple. She couldn’t make it through the day without promising herself some kind of greasy reward meal. If she got through a hard Monday she rewarded herself with her favorite meal of fried chicken, and her week goes on like that. I wasn’t surprised by her eating habits; I had the same attitude many years ago. Her eyes surprised me. She truly wanted to loose weight, she was truly miserable, but she  didn’t know where to start. She used food as a friend and a reward, if she takes away a friendship or a reward then she would have no motivation to continue on with her day.

She was a special case, but I started her out with a food journal just like all my other clients. Once she could see what she was consuming she noticed she was runined her day, and her life with these reward meals. It took us over 6 months but I helped her realize that food wasn’t her friend. Food is just something we need to live. I still wanted her to enjoy eating, but to stop depended on food to make her day better. Her food journal was a very positive tool for her to have. She said writing down what she ate on a daily base made her feel powerful, it reminded her that she is the only one that has true control over her eating. We “baby stepped” her down over 40 pounds, now she is tackling her weight on her own, I still check in with her once a month, but she feels like she finally has the tools to take control of her life.

I never endourse something that I don’t truly believe in, I truly believe in food journals. I recently started keeping track of the food intake again. Summer is right around the corner and I must fit comfortably into my bikini so I’m pulling out all my tricks.

There are many apps for calorie tracking. My favorite is MyfitnessPal, after you down load the app it asks you how much you weight, how tall you are, how much you exercise, and what your goal weight is. The app calculates how many calories you should consume on a daily bases, and that’s where it all starts. After you register you have to keep track of everything you eat. I find that using my notepad app to keep track of all my food intake throughout the day is the easies thing for me, then at night I enter everything into the app. They count my calories for me. The only annoying part about all food tracking apps is it gets old fast. The annoyance is worth the reward. This app has assited me in loosing vacation weight last year. I went on a 3 month trip around the world that I had to look great for, and I did with help from my fitness pal. The best part about MyfitnessPal is that is free to download! Who doesn’t love free.

Good luck on this wonderful journey we call life. I hope this posting inspires you to keep track of your daily food intake, and take control of your eating habits. You can send me your 7 day food journal and I can help you with your own weight loss goals.

It truly works!

I’m the proof!