How To Effectively Food Journal

How To Effectively Food Journal 

Food journaling, or food tracking, is a method of mindful eating. We use this as a tool for individuals to help give them an understanding of what their food habits look like visually. It is a way to help encourage better eating habits, pinpoint food sensitives, reduce poor food choices and help portion control meals. Furthermore, food journals can also give you a sense of direction, it allows you to plan out the week and encourage you on what and how you should be eating. Not to mention creating an understanding on why you eat at certain times of the day and why you opt to choose certain foods when you do. Learning how to structure each meal correctly and learning to understand your food choice can be the first steps to creating new and healthy eating habits.

There are many other amazing benefits such as:

• It can help you remember what you have eaten that day.
• If you are tracking calories, you can see where you can improve if you are trying to achieve a goal.
• It will let you see if you are eating too much or NOT enough.
• It will let you see what time of day you typically get hungry and help you adjust your eating schedule.

Things to consider when weighing tracking food on My Fitness Pal:

• Make sure all foods are tracked correctly, whether it being cooked or uncooked weight specify that. 
• Weigh your food after pealing or unpacking, weighing before effect calorie count eg, peeling potatoes prior to weighing. 
• Also weigh Pasta, Potatoes and all Meats/poultry before cooking and choose the uncooked or Raw option.
• Weigh Rice after Cooking 
• Scan Barcodes wherever you can be doing so will allow for most precise tracking specific to the products you are using. 

Here are some things to consider and tips to easy food journaling:

• Track everything the night before, morning of or at night once all meals are consumed. (doing so will give you a better direction of food choices and portion controlling)
• Set yourself a weekly menu and plan out meals for the week (doing so will help will meal prep and origination
• When logging your food, ask yourself, “why am I eating?” (If logging meal by meal)
• Make note of the time of day you are eating and how you are feeling.
• If you are tracking calories, make sure to take the service size into consideration.
• Understand what effects certain foods have on you. 
• Include absolutely everything you have including condiments, sauces, dressings, oils, etc. 
• Take note what your energy levels are like after certain meals.