For Fat Loss Keeping A Food Journal Will Power Your Success

For fat loss keeping a food journal can be the difference between having the body of your dreams or just dreamin’. Think of a journal as part of a fat loss support system that keeps you focused on your goals and holds you accountable for your actions.

A funny thing happens when you keep a food journal-you start eating better. I guess it’s embarrassing to write bad things down. Sometimes a little guilt is a beautiful thing. A journal helps you to be aware of the things that help you and those that sabotage your fat loss efforts. You’ll learn to take control of your body and stop letting it control you.

When I first started doing bodybuilding shows I had no real idea what I was doing diet wise. Lifting the weights I knew how to do but I had no clue how to eat to compete. It was only after I started keeping a food journal that I started to have success as a competitive bodybuilder.

Keeping a journal at first was kind of a drag. It might be like that for you too. But, once I started understanding the link between what I wrote down and how my body looked I got real excited. So will you. The power in writing stuff down is amazing. You’ll start seeing fat loss and you’ll be psyched!!!

Types of Information to Track for Your Food Journal

1. Time of Day ( what time did you start and stop eating?) Are you skipping breakfast? Do you rush through your meals? Are you eating late at night? Doing things like these can make you fatter.

2. Amount Eaten (what did you eat/drink and approximate amounts?) Here’s the deal-we usually underestimate how much we eat big time. Reading food labels would help here. You can pick up a book at the library which can help you figure out how many calories you’ve eaten.

3. With Whom (who were you eating with?) Do you have that friend who just loves to chat over a big slab of chocolate cake? How about that buddy that always wants to meet over a couple of drinks? Some people will help you lose weight and some will help you become fatter. You gotta know who they are.

4. Place (where were you eating? i.e. bed, kitchen, work, restaurant, bar) Some locations might make you overeat or eat badly. One place is work where it’s easy to find junk food and sweets. Take healthy snacks to munch on instead.

5. Mood (how were you feeling at the time?) This is the big, big one. How many times do you eat when you’re truly hungry? How many times have you shoved the wrong things down your throat when you felt _______(filll in the blanks). Bet most of the time you weren’t hungry.

6. Hunger/Fullness Level (how would you rate your hunger on a scale of 1 to 5 before and after eating. 1 being extremely hungry and 5 being full?) Are you really hungry when you eat and do you stop eating before you’re ready to pop?

7. Associated Activity (what were you doing at the time?) This will tell you what activities might cause you to overeat or eat badly. Maybe you overeat when you drink or dine out. Maybe it’s when you party or hang out with friends. Maybe it’s when you’re alone. Find out what kills your fat loss efforts.

Tracking Exercise

Record your exercise or activities. If you went for a walk, run, hike, went dancing, etc., write it down. Record how much time you spent doing the activity. Write down how you felt while doing the activity and how you felt afterwards.

Hopefully you’ll associate being active with feeling better. Most people feel way better after engaging in activities that they like. If you enjoy what you do, you’ll do more of it which will help you with fat loss.

Start your food journal today. Don’t talk yourself out of it. Let it help you identify what triggers you to overeat or eat badly. Learn to control those triggers and you’re on your way! Use your journal as a compass to point you in the right direction so that you can achieve your fat loss goals.

Here’s to new beginnings

“Surrender to that goal. Really surrender. Let it obsess you and give you the automatic instrumentation you need to reach that goal”

-David J. Schwartz (author,The Magic of Thinking Big)