Keeping A Diet Diary

I Literally have a stack of diaries that I used a one point or another to record everything possible of my experience with my diet. Food is so very personal. I can pick up a diary, read a page or two of what I was eating at the time and suddenly I'm in the middle of a story, my story. I'll quickly remember the major events in my life, a particular pair of jeans I had since forgotten about, the song that may have been playing on repeat, and the way avocado with blueberry jam on Ezekiel toast reminds me of how it felt to be kissed that particular summer.

Food connects us to the world around us, whether sunny or rainy, we turn to food, consciously or not. When we are happy and well our diet reflects that. When we are numb and tired our diet reflects that too.

The point of keeping a food diary is to bring AWARENESS to our habits and our relationship with food. Just the simply act of writing down what you eat changes you.

When I keep a diet Diary I write down all the meals and snacks and drinks starting from when I get up. I usually include the time I ate, how much (hand full, small bowl, 6 small cookies etc.) I like to include note, sometimes on a separate page about how I was feeling, if I was hungry or not, any physical symptoms, and where I am in my cycle. If I see chocolate for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, I usually know why.

Including as much detail as possible is a good idea if you are trying to make changes or wondering if a certain habit or food is causing a problem. Record everything for at least two weeks without changing anything, simply observing what you eat and writing it down. Next, after at least 2 weeks review your diary, you may be surprised! You may also see connections to moods and symptoms with food. This is the spring board for change.

If change is not what your after, a diet diary is a good reference. You may look back months or years later and remember a certain recipe you loved, or find that you have come away from a certain way of eating that you'd like to get back to and now you have a guide. On the other hand, you may congratulate yourself on how far you have come and suddenly realize, "oh ya, I'm not getting those headaches, or leg cramps anymore."

Anyways, you get the point. Keeping a diet diary is a fun and useful habit!