It’s been proven that people who keep a diary of the foods they eat are much more likely to maintain their weight loss than those who don’t. At the ABC, we strongly recommend that our patients keep a food and activity diary. Writing down, at the time the meal or the activity takes place, can be a powerful tool to help you succeed. Equally importantly, it can give your doctor a good idea of what progress you are making and what may be your problem areas.
Remember, as you and your doctor plan your meals, the best kind of weight loss results from limiting your fat intake. Calories from fat should equal no more than 30% of your daily calories. To use the diary, simply record the foods that you eat, including the amounts and number of calories and grams of fat, in the pages provided. Don't worry about being exact. part of the learning process of keeping a food diary is discovering some of your misconceptions about food. If you eat a plate full of lasagna and write down what how many fat grams you think it has, you can check later how close you came to being correct. By trial and error, you learn exactly what you eating. It's like homework; its meant to be a learning experience (except there is no grading and you don't have to read it in class).
Include everything that you drink
except calorie-free beverages, such as water, sugar-free tea or black
coffee, and diet soda. If you drink coffee, write down if you put two
teaspoons of sugar or a 1/2 teaspoon of cream in it. If you go to Starbucks™, don't write down "cup
of coffee" if you had a cafe
latte grande (about 260 calories and 14
grams of fat). They are entirely different animals.
One has several hundred calories and dozens of fat grams; the other
does not. I'll leave it to you to figure out which is which.
Try to be as accurate as possible. Honesty is of great importance. If you lie in the food diary, who are you hurting? Only yourself. Don't be one the many people who under-report eating and over-report exercise. This diary is for only you. The only other person who should ever see your personal food diary is your doctor and, then, only if you want to share it with him or her. Don't share it with your family or your friends. If you start showing it to everyone, you start to lose your honesty. Do you want even your best friend to know that on Wednesday night, after arguing with your spouse, you ate a half gallon tub of ice cream? I didn't think so. The fewer people who have access to your food diary, the more likely you are to be honest with yourself. Even though it is best to record what you eat as close to the time you eat as possible, use common sense. Don't pull it out at the lunch table with your group of friends and start writing in it. It will bring the usual questions: What are you writing? Can I see it? etc. Wait until you can find a private minute and record what you ate. It's no one else's business. Trust me on this.
To get you started, I have included a printable version of a food diary Print several copies to get you started. If you want to be more discrete than a full page document, buy a simple one-day-per- day planner. Then, if someone notices you writing in it, they will just think you are recording an appointment or a phone number and think nothing of it. Whatever format you chose to use for your diary, keep one. You will find that it will open your eyes to a whole new view of your habits, behaviors, strengths and weaknesses. Try it for a couple or weeks and see what I mean.
 Food Diary - Adobe PDF Format |
