Food & Exercise Diary

Diet and exercise are important components that people can control to live a healthy life. Many times though, when daily life is busy and time is of the essence, following a proper diet and scheduling exercise can seem impossible. This does not have to be the case, however, as you can take small steps each day to work healthy eating and exercise into your daily life. Keeping a food and exercise diary is an excellent way to gain control over your eating and exercise habits and realize the easy steps you can take to live healthier.

Goal-setting

• Setting small goals for yourself can be encouraging and help you to achieve greater success.

  Most people who re-evaluate their eating and exercise habits do so with a goal in mind. If you do not already have a specific goal in mind, such as "lose 10 pounds" or "eat less cholesterol," you can simply try to strive toward "living healthier." It is important though, to make sure your goal is something that is not out of reach to achieve as this can lead you to become discouraged easily (i.e. trying to "lose 10 pounds in one week" is not a good idea).

Achieving Goals With Your Diary

• Knowing what you should be eating and what you actually eat in a day will help you take control of unhealthy habits.

  After evaluating your goals, you then should determine what it will take to achieve them. If your goal is simply "to live healthier," you should do some research as to what you can introduce into your daily eating and exercise habits to make them better. Take a look at the daily dietary suggestions put together by Harvard's School of Public Health. This is more up-to-date and accurate than the current food pyramid put together by the US Department of Agriculture. After evaluating how much of each food group you should be doing, begin your diary. Record the nutrition facts and calories for the food you are eating, taking note of how many servings you consume. Do this for a few days and then compare this to what you should be doing to achieve your goals.

Your Diary

• Make sure your food and exercise diary can easily fit in your purse or pocket so you do not forget to record your daily exercise and food consumption.

  Purchase a small notebook to use as your diary (or use a PDA, if you have one) that you can bring with you everywhere you go so you do not forget to record anything you eat or any exercise you do during the day. If you do not have time to record nutrition facts or if that information is unavailable to you at the moment, you can find that information online later in the day using a website such as NutritionData.com.

Reward Yourself

• It is helpful to motivate yourself by scheduling a "reward" in your diary for healthy eating.

  Be sure to reward yourself in your diary with words of encouragement, by scheduling in little "treats" (i.e. new shoes or the occasional sweet) from time to time and by pasting pictures, articles and other little inspirational tidbits. Making your diary a reflection of you and what you want to achieve by personalizing it and making it a fun activity will make eating right and exercising a natural, fun part of your life rather than an added chore.

Don't Let Setbacks Stop You

• Birthdays and other holidays can sometimes lead people down a path of unhealthy eating.

  Sometimes you may not always stick to your nutritional or exercise goals according to plan. This is particularly the case during holidays or birthday parties when unhealthy food is readily available. Try planning for these events in advance by scheduling more exercise or healthier eating in your diary in advance. If this is not possible, then make sure not to get too hard on yourself as getting discouraged can lead you further astray of your goals.