Ways of Keeping Track of Foods You Eat

Seven ways to keep track of the food you eat

"I am keeping track of the food I eat."

"Good for you! I am proud of you for doing that."

Keeping track of the food that you eat can be important.

How you keep track of what you eat depends partly upon why you feel that you need to do that. If you are serious about weight loss and effective weight management, there are a number of easy ways you can do this. It will involve time, effort, diligence and persistence, on your part.

Here are seven easy ways to keep track of the food you eat:

Pen, paper and loose-leaf binder:

With a pen and paper, write down everything that you eat at one meal. If you use this method to keep track of the food that you eat, you can discard the pages from the loose leaf binder, at a later date, when you feel that you no longer need to keep the record.

For example:

"For breakfast this morning, I had scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, strawberry jam and coffee."

When you are just starting, you will need to document everything that you eat. State your portions, for example, 2 slices of bacon and 1 slice of toast. Be honest with yourself, even if you are embarrassed, because your scale will tell the tale. Write this in full sentences or in point form, if you prefer.

You will begin to see exactly what you are eating and drinking and become increasingly aware of where you can make some changes, for the better. For instance, you may decide that eating a lot of bacon is not a good idea, if you want to lose weight. Or, you can reduce the amount of bacon that you eat, for example, 1 slice instead of 3 slices.

Notebook:

In a notebook, you will be able to record your food intake with more detail. Remember that a notebook is a more permanent record and it is difficult to discard the pages that you do not want to keep, as you would have to tear your notebook apart to do so. Document your information correctly, the first time. If necessary, put the data on a piece of scrap paper first and then, write it in your notebook later.

For example:

"For breakfast today, I had scrambled eggs fried in butter. I am not certain how many eggs were in the scrambled eggs, because my mom made my breakfast. I should have had a boiled egg instead. I had a slice of toast with a lot of butter on it. My mom really loves butter! If I make my own toast, I could use just jam and omit the butter. Maybe I should try having my coffee black, too. Perhaps a glass of orange juice would be a better choice?"

Note that here there is more attention to detail and a notation, as to possible changes that could be made in the future.

Food journal:

In a food journal, you might be able to record things differently, again.

For example:

August 13, 2008: "I went to the market for my groceries today, rather than going to the grocery store. I am proud of myself, as I bought grapes and cantaloupe, instead of chocolate cookies. Since I live alone, I can keep track of what I eat by shopping carefully and not buying unnecessary food items. I am determined to shop once a week. I am planning my budget more wisely, so that I do not overspend on food. I will only purchase food that will make me healthy. I am learning how to shop with a grocery list, in order to save money. In my budget, I allow only a certain amount of money for eating out, so that I do not overindulge when I eat in a restaurant."

Diary:

In a diary, you might want to record the food you eat, in a way that you are  talking to your diary, as if your diary was your best friend. Who knows, it might prove to be just that.

For example:

"Dear diary, I know that I over indulged on my breakfast today, as I had several pastries on top of my regular breakfast, but I was so hungry. I have not had any for a long time. Now, I have to start all over again. It is going to be hard to resist pastries, but next time, I will eat a half of one pastry, instead of several. I am determined to succeed and I know that you are always there for me. Thanks for being my very best friend! Talk to you again tomorrow.

P. S. I met someone that I really like yesterday. Now I am really determined to keep my weight under control."

Having a good friend who is supportive, is important when beginning a weight loss and dietary management program. Remember that food may not be a friend to you. Many people tend to over-indulge in food because they are lonely. One advantage to keeping a diary is that your diary cannot talk back, scold you or make you feel guilty.

Computer Word document:

Using a computer Word document requires basic knowledge about how to use a computer and how to save the document. This is how to use Word document, to keep track of what you eat.

Click on the Word icon on your computer. It will open up a new document. Give it a title like "Keeping Track". Now begin to write the record of the foods that you plan to eat or have eaten for that day or week. Click on "File" in the top left hand corner and there will be a drop down menu, that says "Save To". It should save your file when you click on it. The next time that you want to access that file, click on Word again and it should be the first file on the Word program. If not, you may need to find it under My Documents. You can add to this file or delete it from your computer, at any time.

In the Word document, you may state exactly what your food will be, for one day at a time. You can do that using food exchanges.

For example:

Breakfast: 2 bread/cereal exchanges 
1 meat/egg exchange
1 milk exchange
1 fruit exchange
1 free exchange

In this format, a bread exchange could be a slice of bread or a small bowl of cereal.

This system works well in terms of weight loss and dietary management programs, because a person does not have to record every individual food item that is consumed. Just setting up a Word document properly, with the number of exchanges allowed for each day or at each meal, makes it simple to keep track of what you eat. The exchange can be eaten at any time, during that twenty four hour period. This is easy but you may need some further directives with respect to food exchanges.

A spread sheet:

A spread sheet works well for someone who is counting calories. It is like doing basic bookkeeping, but 

using a calorie counter, instead of keeping track of dollars and cents. Consider taking a course in basic bookkeeping or Excel, in order to learn how to use a spread sheet properly.

Blog

A blog requires knowing how to use a computer to post information on a website. Remember that if you are using a blog to keep track of the food that you eat, it is going to be posted on the Internet, so be careful about personal information you put on your blog. It is wiser to depersonalize it as much as possible, but you could still note things like "Celery and cucumber help to get rid of excess fluid." 

By keeping a record of what you eat, you are doing more than just that. You are working seriously at weight loss and management. You may not need to keep a record of what you eat, once you learn how to do weight management properly, as you will find that you automatically eat the right foods and the right amounts.

Note that if you are a diabetic or are on a special diet of some kind, you may prefer to keep a different kind of record.

Good luck keeping track of what you eat. You will succeed!