Keeping a Food Diary

Happy Monday all!  Most of you are probably lucky enough not to be stuck at work on a slow news day... but not me!

Here I sit, done with my work and nothing to do-- so I thought, "Why not do some blogging?"  

I'm hoping to dedicate Mondays to Health, Fitness and Beauty discussions.  Some days I'll offer tips and insight, other days I'll talk about regimens, workouts and advice that has worked for me and sometimes I'll offer motivation and inspiration.  We'll see how it goes.

Today, I want to talk about keeping a food diary.  Something that's new for me, but that has been working well so far.  

I decided to start keeping a food journal after doing a TON of research on weight loss.  It seems most people who are successful in their weight loss goals, have used a food journal.  

My relationship with food journals have been on and off over the past few years.  Mostly because, when I've gone on my eating binges I've been embarrassed to write what I've eaten down.  But lately I've noticed, recording what I eat makes me think more about what I'm putting in my body (most of the time.  There's still the occasional "Fuck it" day)

I use My Fitness Pal, which you can download for free on your Android or iPhone.  I like it because it has a scan feature, so you can scan your food labels and it automatically enters the calorie and nutrition information.  There's also a way to enter recipes, so if you cook at home you can put in all the ingredients and it will figure out the calories per serving.  

BUT--- My all-time favorite thing about this app is that it's linked to a website.  I pull the website up when I'm at work, and it serves as a reminder for me to log what I eat while I'm sitting at my desk.

Now I know that starting a food journal sounds a bit overwhelming, and it can be.  You have to dedicate yourself to it, and be honest with yourself.  To start, try loging everything you eat for a week-- but don't worry about the number of calories you consume.    After the week is over, look at what you ate and see what you can eliminate and add into your diet.

Like I said above I've had an on-again, off-again relationship with my food diary.  It's something I've had to constantly work on for the past 2 years.  But with some hard work and discipline, I know it will get easier.  

Do you keep a food journal?  Do you use and app, or are you more old-school and write it down?  Have you found using a food journal has helped you stay conscious of what you're eating?