How to Record What You Eat

No matter if you're dieting or simply trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, tracking what you eat on a daily basis is a surefire way to success. Keeping a food journal not only reminds you to keep on track, but is an effective tool to refer back to when you get off and need to know where you went wrong. The process takes a bit of discipline, but if you commit to making it a part of your day-to-day routine, you'll find jotting down what you eat becomes a habit.

Things You'll Need

• Journal
• Pen

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Instructions

• 1

  Purchase a food journal. Buy an official journal from a health and nutrition store or in the health section of your local bookstore. Dedicate a plain notebook if your budget doesn't allow the purchase of a specialty book.

• 2

  Read your labels for accuracy. Write down the most important things to your monitoring process, such a counting calories, sugar, fat, sodium, protein and/or carbohydrates. Identify these items on everything you eat by looking at the nutritional facts labels on prepackaged foods. Ask for a nutritional guide if you go out to eat, or look online for a close count if the facts aren't readily available to you. Go to CalorieKing.com, TheCalorieCounter.com or visit WebMD's Food-o-Meter online for a calorie counting database.

• 3

  Write down everything you eat and drink. Indicate how many servings you consume and how many calories, fat and carbs were spent for each item. For example; one whole wheat bagel is 260 calories, 2 g of fat and 11 g of protein. Jot these numbers down next to everything you eat including condiments like cream cheese. Journal how many beverages you drink, including water, as it's important to drink plenty of water throughout the day.

• 4

  Enter the date and time for entries in your journal for easy reference and tracking. Entering your consumptions all day, including snacks. Commit to recording in your food journal on a daily basis even when you think you think you can estimate what you eat.