I was never a food journal kind of gal. After all, why would I want to write down what I ate? I already knew; after all, I ate it, right? Then I decided to write a book. And in that book I decided to conquer my weight issues. So I started a food journal.
You can start a food journal any day of the week. It’s not part of any particular diet. You don’t have to use fancy paper. Just buy a spiral notebook and simply jot down on a piece of paper what you eat each day. When I began my food journal, I realized a trend right away—I eat a lot of carbohydrates. And not the good-for-you whole grain type; the white type. The type that converts to sugar quickly. I realized my trigger times, that is, the times during the day when I blow it. I don’t always eat a ton of food at mealtimes. But at around four o’clock in the afternoon, I could eat a house, or at least a few too many cookies. This is my trigger time. I also noted how much water I drink each day. I hadn’t realized how easy it was to go an entire day without water.
Starting a food journal was therapy for me. I did it faithfully for twenty-eight days. By the end of the four weeks, I knew where my problems were and could easily see what I needed to do. Because I refused to “diet” during that time, I didn’t lose a tremendous amount of weight, but I did lose six pounds, and to me, that was wonderful.
If you feel like a food journal is a waste of time, just try it for a week. Even when you’ve eaten a tempting “no-no” food, include it in your journal. Chances are, it’ll be the first step toward new choices for you, too.