This challenge involves logging everything you consume for thirty days. Every single thing. So not only tracking your daily food intake but also everything you drink, a small snack, a can of pop, everything!! Sounds easy enough, huh? For some it is but for others I think it is difficult because sometimes we eat or drink without even thinking about it!
Why should I keep track of what I eat?
The main reason keeping a food journal is important is to just bring awareness to what we are actually eating! That handful of M&M’s that we grabbed and threw in our mouths without thinking, the kid’s leftover chicken nuggets, it all adds up! Keeping a log can also help identify patterns in our eating. Is it always the same time of day that we are looking to snack? Do I overeat when I’m with certain people or on specific days of the week?
If you are looking to lose some weight or to eat a more balanced diet, food tracking can be an important step! Even though it won’t tell you what your supposed to be eating, it can give you a clearer picture of what you actually are eating over the course of the thirty days.
How should I keep track?
There are multiple ways to track the things you eat and drink every day. The best one is the one that you will take the time to do each day and be able to stick with!
First there is the paper method. Each day write on a paper everything you eat and drink.
Things to note are: the time you ate, what you ate, how much you ate: amounts and calories (found either on the food package or on a website like this one), and any other comments, you may have. For comments, you could write things like your mood, hunger level, how stressed you were, where you were etc. This isn’t required but could help you notice eating patterns.
You could just jot it down in a notebook every day, or buy a special journal like one of them found on my resources page.
If you like playing with your phone, (and who doesn’t:) there are apps designed for keeping a food log. My favorite is the Lose It! app. (Found here at the app store, or here for google play). There is also a desktop version at loseit.com. This app makes it very easy to keep track of what you eat and calculates calories, carbs, fat, etc. And I forgot to mention that it is FREE! There is an option to do a premium upgrade but I still use the free one.
Tips for keeping your food journal
My #1 tip: Be honest!! Maybe you don’t want to admit that you had four cookies so you write down two. It doesn’t pay to cheat here! In order for you to learn from this challenge you’ll need to keep track accurately. Holding yourself accountable for every tidbit you eat can be a great motivator not to give in to cravings!
Another tip is don’t fill out your food journal with things you “plan” to eat. If you already accounted for a small order of fries, will you take the time to go back and edit this to show the 10 leftover fries you ate off your kid’s plate? This isn’t to say you shouldn’t plan out your meals ahead of time, just don’t write them down in your journal quite yet.
Are you ready to take your challenge?
Just like all of the 30 day challenges here, the tracking daily food
intake challenge is completely free. Find a friend to take it with you and keep each other accountable! Try it for 30 days and see what you learn about your eating habits and let me know!
I’ve finished my challenge, now what?
Great! If you’ve logged your food and drinks for 30 days you have a lot of information at your fingertips! Now its time to look back over your results! Depending on why you took this challenge (most likely to lose weight or to eat a more balanced diet) answer these questions:
- Eating patterns
- Are there certain times of day you over eat?
- Does stress seem to be a factor?
- Are there certain days you tend to skip meals?
- Are there certain foods/meal that show up often?
- Are these healthy foods?
- Are these foods/habits you’d like to eliminate?
- Are you eating certain foods or drinking for emotional reasons?
- Where are most of your calories coming from?
- How many fruits and vegetables are you eating?
- Are you eating from all of the food groups?
- Are too many calories “empty” calories?
Now that you’ve finished your challenge and have more knowledge about what your eating and some questions to think about going forward, look for a new 30 day challenge and continue working on your goals! If you need any help on deciding what to choose for your next challenge or have any questions, let me know!
