how to keep a food jounal

Start Adding This Missing Piece to Your Food Journal

Last week, I shared that Good Nutrition Isn’t Complicated. It’s actually very simple.

I feel the need to say again that it’s simple and that’s different than easy.

Like they say, “If (fill in the blank) were easy, everyone would do it!”

In this case, it’s good nutrition – healthy, whole foods in an appropriate quantity.

Again, simple, yes, but easy?

Perhaps easier than you think – at least that’s always my approach – to make a healthy lifestyle easy for you to achieve.

What’s the catch?

The catch is that it will take more time because you’re making lifestyle and behavioral changes. Some patterns may need to be “unlearned” so that you can overcome behaviors that aren’t serving you and replace them with habits that will lead to the results you really want – a healthy body that you LOVE living in.

Will it take a little more time my way? Yes, but it’s worth it, just like the great feeling you get when interest is building in a savings account you put money in month after month.

As you can tell, I get excited talking about this stuff because I want to help you live the healthy lifestyle that you want, need, and deserve in your fifties.

You’ve been taking care of others, now it’s YOUR time to take care of you!

Let’s continue my 5-part series based on my reaction and response to the recent article in Time magazine “The Weight Loss Trap”.

If you currently write a food journal, that is, writing down all the food you eat at the end of the day, you may be missing this key element that is really helping my clients make healthy changes.

If you don’t write a food journal, should you? Maybe or maybe not.

This simple tip I have to share with you might be something that could help you get from where you are now to where you want to be when it comes to your nutrition. It’s sure helping some of my clients who are doing it.

Do you write a food journal?

Most women who write a food journal might just write down the food they ate at the end of the day, whether it was healthy or not.

Is going through the trouble of writing down everything you eat worth it?

Sure, if it’s going to help you and you know why you’re doing it.

On the other hand, I find that a lot of women write out what they eat everyday, but because they don’t have a plan and strategy in place to determine what to do with this information, it’s easy to look at it and just feel bad about themselves because of their food choices that day.

And this is NOT helpful. We beat ourselves up enough. The last thing we need to do is “beat” ourselves into better food choices.

It’s similar to weighing yourself. Do it only if it’s going to help you. Don’t use it as a tool to shame yourself.

We women aren’t motivated to do better by constantly thinking about how “bad” we already are.

It’s so important so I’ll say it again: We don’t get motivated to make changes by feeling bad about ourselves.

With this in mind, if you’re already in the habit of writing a food journal because you want to keep track of what you’re eating everyday, great!

But don’t stop there like most people do.

Instead, begin adding how you feel at the end of the day.

Did you feel sluggish?

Energetic?

Something in between?

Write down how you felt that day in as much detail as possible – the more specific, the better.

This way, you’ll be able to see trends – when you eat “these” foods you feel great and full of energy!

But when you eat “those” foods, you feel heavy and tired.

Remember, like I said last week, there’s no one-size-fits-all diet.

Create your “diet” around foods that make you feel great.

By the way, I bet they’re healthy, whole foods!

Next week, I’m going to talk about the role that exercise should and shouldn’t have in your quest toward a healthy and joyful life in midlife.

I’ll see you then!

 

 

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You’re going to learn:

  • How Refocusing on Your Needs Leads to Abundant Health Rewards
  • The Most Important Change You Must Make in Order to Lose Weight After 50
  • A Proven Formula for Ongoing Health Success That Will Keep You Motivated and Inspired

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