Keeping up with Chloe: The Benefits of Keeping a Food Diary

On my quest to better my fitness, improve my health, and lose five pounds, I have read countless diet and fitness articles.  Many of them are pretty detailed, but there are some that only discuss the basic and obvious tips.  We all know that these tips include eating more vegetables, drinking lots of water, etc.  In more and more of these articles, though, there is an additional tip that is deemed crucial to losing weight and eating better:  keeping a food diary.

According to a study done by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, keeping a food diary increases one’s chances of losing more weight, so I thought I’d give it a try.  I have been writing in it for about a month now, and although I have not weighed myself in the past month (a scale was NOT on the college supply list!), I’m seeing its effects.  Almost immediately after starting it, I began watching what I ate more closely.  Realizing that putting pancakes or French toast down for breakfast every day, I started eating yogurt for breakfast with strawberries and Grape Nuts mixed in.  For me, keeping a food diary is psychological, as it likely is with others who keep one.  If I feel that I’m too embarrassed to write a food down on it, I’m more likely to choose a more healthy option.
 
In addition to writing down what I eat every day, I write down my calorie intake, exercise I that did, and calories burned from exercising.  Although I’m not an obsessive calorie counter, keeping track of calories helps me make sure that I don’t overeat.  I don’t have a set amount, but I make sure that I eat between 1800 and 2200 calories per day (depending on how much exercise I get, etc.).  This is an example of one of my daily entries:
 
• Special K milk-chocolate protein shake: +150 calories
• Plain yogurt mixed with strawberry topping and Grape Nuts: +300 calories
• Banana with creamy peanut butter: +290 calories
• Blueberry muffin: +169 calories
• 24 oz. skim milk: +209 calories
• 12 green grapes and three strawberries: +54 calories
• Slim 6 sandwich from Jimmy John’s: +545 calories
• 13 oz. kiwi-strawberry Propel: +16 calories
• 1 chocolate-chip Insomnia Cookie: +200 calories
• 8 oz. cranberry-raspberry Snapple: +10 calories
• Walking 3.5 miles: -226 calories
• Elliptical workout: -350 calories
• Weight lifting: -132 calories
 
By collectively seeing what I eat, I’m able to find patterns in my eating habits that I could change.  This entry was recorded within days of starting my food diary, so one thing that I have learned since this entry is to be careful of how many liquid calories I intake.  Although Propel does not have a ton of calories or sugar, I have switched to Propel Zero—hey, it adds up!  After all, wouldn’t you prefer to save those calories for a treat?
 
Keeping a food diary can be tedious and (at times) challenging, but I still argue that it is worth the effort. Okay, maybe I haven’t lost weight from it, but this is just one of many baby steps along the way. Regardless, the healthy choices that I have made as a result of keeping a food diary have left me more physically fit, healthier, and happier.  Good luck, Collegiettes™!
 
Sources:   ABC News (http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Fitness/story?id=5327486&page=1)