Why a food diary keeps you slim

Why should you bother keeping a food diary? What if I told you it could change the way you eat and what you eat forever?

And what if it could also help you to manage your weight and control your moods? Worth a go isn't it?

The first step to changing your body shape is to find out exactly why your body is in the shape it’s in right now. And that means keeping a food diary. This is one of the first things I get all my clients to complete because without knowing specifically what’s going on at the moment, we’re not in a position to make the best changes to their routine.

This post is for those who really mean business with getting fast and spectacular results.You ready to give it a go?

The reasons for the food diary are simple:

1) You have to be honest. It’s easy to sneak some things that you know aren’t right into your daily food routine but it’s another thing to write them all down. Committing everything to paper always makes people think twice about grabbing junk food or extra little ‘treats’ along the way.

2) Showing the diary to someone else adds accountability. You may be happy to lie to yourself that ‘it’s just a little bit of cake’ but you’re less likely to try and get away with this when someone else is watching.

3) When you write down what you eat and when you eat it, you can then match the way you feel during the day and see how different foods affect you. This is an amazing process. By noting down your diet, you can see why you struggle to get out of bed, why you feel tired in the middle of the day, why you get irritable and why you’re not in the perfect shape you want to be. And better than all of that, you can easily see where the most effective changes to your routine can be made. If you feel generally sluggish, you may just be dehydrated so experiment with more water throughout the day and see how you feel. If you feel tired in the mid-afternoon it may be that lunch is too big. Or contains too much protein or too many carbs for you.

Grab a piece of paper and note down the following for the next 24 hours.

What you eat – the quality of each meal

When you eat it – the time of each meal or snack

How you felt before you ate – are you really hungry?

How you felt as you ate – did you enjoy the experience of each meal or snack

How you felt after you ate – did each meal or snack leave you feeling energized?

When you’ve collected your first day’s worth of information, think about where you can make alternative choices that will ensure you feel energised all day long. And remember, no cheating. Let me know how you get on.