Most girls have an addiction to buying shoes. I have an addiction to buying journals. I have accumulated more of them than I could possibly count. My collection ranges from simple, cardboard books to nice, leather bound pages. I just can’t pass up a good deal on a new, unique journal. But I don’t feel so bad about my journal addiction after recently reading research on how food journaling can be a tool for weight loss and weight maintenance.
A food journal is a simple log of what one consumes throughout the day. It can include the day, time, feelings at the time of consumption, calories and grams of macronutrients (fat, protein, and carbohydrates) or it can be as simple as writing down the name of the food.
Registered dietitian Marisa Moore describes the food journaling process as, “for better or for worse, you write down everything that passes your lips.”
Research studies have shown that participants who have food journals lose close to double the weight of their counterparts who don’t journal their intake. Journaling also proved to help people maintain their weight loss.
Keeping a food journal, or a food log as some call it, will help you become more conscious of the food you eat. Becoming more aware of what you put into your body will lead to less impulsive eating.
Say that you go into work and a co-worker brought a plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Knowing that you will need to write down what you have eaten will allow you to focus more on the food you are consuming. Instead of mindlessly eating half of the plate, you may only take one cookie, which will be enough to indulge your sweet tooth without ruining your healthy diet.
Journaling helps you eat more consciously, but it’s not meant to cause you to obsess about the food you eat. There should be no shame involved when logging, even if you ended up eating a few more slices of pizza last Saturday than you should have. Everyone indulges on occasion, and that’s not something to be ashamed of.
Want to avoid feeling stressed about journaling? Set a goal of trying to include a variety of food groups, rather than just focusing on logging a low calorie intake.
You don’t have to log your food the old fashioned way with pencil and paper. There are many apps that are available for smart phones and other hand held devices.
Personally, I use “MyFitnessPal.” MyFitnessPal is an easy way to log food consumed throughout the day without the burden of carrying around extra bulk (such as a journal). The application contains a database of nutrition information for thousands of different food items. It is easy to use in that it separates your day into breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, allowing you to easily see a complete meal breakdown.
In addition to the electronic version, I write in a journal at the end of every day. In the journal, I do not write down all of the food that I have consumed, since I track that throughout the day on the app. Instead, I write down how I feel about the day as a whole. Did I meet my goals for that day? Was I productive enough? What can I do to improve my health and wellness further?
By having a written log of my healthy habits (and also those that aren’t so healthy) I am able to keep making improvements. It also is very motivating to see yourself change, not just physically, but spiritually and mentally as well.
Colleen Kokx is a dietetics senior and member of the MSU Food and Nutrition Association. Reach her at kokxcoll@msu.edu.
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