Food diaries are boring!
But... Is your diet lacking variety?
Have you had enough of the same meals' week in, week out?
Would you like to improve the way you look, feel and perform?
Then tracking your food intake via a simple 7-Day Food Diary could be the way to start making some progress with your nutrition once and for all.
There are many benefits of writing a food diary, I have outlined my top 5 reasons why you should record a food diary below.
Your journey with your nutrition or fat loss should not start with a scale weight measurement and then a quick Google search for the "fastest way to lose 2 stone" or "how to lose 10 lbs in 10 days".
It should start with you taking stock of where your eating habits are right now, and quite possibly having a conversation with a professional Personal Trainer or Nutritionist to put you on the right path to results. Just think, if you wanted to do some renovations on your house, you wouldn't ask Google how to build your own extension in a week. You would speak to a highly reputable builder and set some realistic timelines!
When you record a whole 7 days eating and drinking, you might begin to notice some potential patterns or behaviours. These could be things like always having a takeaway on a Friday and Saturday night. Or they could be skipping breakfast a few days per week. Or they could be becoming aware of the amount of extra snacks or coffees you didn't realise you were consuming.
Importantly, we are not demonising any of these things. Your food diary is just a sounding board and not a place where you should feel negative about any of your current eating habits, this could kill your motivation to change in the future. So, protect your motivation and be positive about the behaviours and habits you find :)
By noticing your own patterns and behaviours, this may well highlight some potential areas to improve upon. Try to see these areas of improvement as a positive, you now know where you can focus your efforts. You may also find that you are doing a great job in some other areas, which is brilliant and you can keep consistent in those areas.
Are you meeting your nutritional and energy demands? With these new and highlighted areas, this could lead you to discovering some potential holes in your diet.
For example, you might not be consuming enough omega 3 fatty acids from fish or other dietary sources; you might be exceeding or not meeting your energy demands (i.e. gaining or losing weight); you might not be consuming enough variety to cover all of your nutritional requirements (example: are you eating enough fruit and vegetables - and therefore vitamins and minerals - to achieve optimal health?).
Remember, all of this data can be used positively to achieve your future goals.
Want to get leaner? Record a food diary.
Want to perform better? Record a food diary.
Want to feel better? Record a food diary.
It all starts with a food diary.