Aside from trying to avoid a cake and a half gallon of ice-cream a day, there is nothing more necessary to weight management that keeping a food diary. Everyone hates keeping a food diary. I have never met the person who said to me, "Oh, wow! You want me to keep a food diary. I always wanted to do that."
If food diaries are so hated, why do serious trainers and weight loss consultants always ask you to keep a food diary? Do we just enjoy annoying you? No! We ask you to keep a food diary for a couple of reasons.
First. with rare exception, and I do mean rare exception (having worked with several hundred clients I have never found an exception, it is that rare), we all underestimate how much we eat. We plan our meals well, and we may, though it is rarely the case, practice good portion control. Great! What did you drink? Have you had a snack? What did you snack on? Unless you keep a food diary, you very likely have no idea how many extra calories you take in from your drink and snacks. You often do not even remember snacking. There are the ever present peppermints we pop unwittingly into our mouths. We don't plan them; we may or may not remember eating them and maybe we only pop a couple a day. How bad can that be? They are only about 20 calories each, right? 20x2=40. OK, that still isn't so bad. But 40x30 days in a month = 1200 cal. In three months, you have enough extra calories to add a pound of fat to your body, 4 pounds in a year and 5 years into your desk job…let's see 5x4 = the answer to the bewildering question of where did this weight come from. Well, few people eat just two peppermints in extra calories a day but you get the point. If you have planned your meals to include you daily calories; then unwittingly add 20 calories twice a day to that…Yep!
Secondly, we often attempt to control calories without taking into consideration nutritional values. A hundred calories of candy and a hundred calories of fruit have the same caloric value. The difference is this: the one is slowly processed and provides vitamins, minerals, trace elements etc. to your nutritional needs while the other jacks up you blood sugar for a short time, zips through your system, and quickly leaves you craving another energy shot having added none of the nutrients needed to maintain a healthy body. Your trainer, weight management consultant or nutritionist simply cannot help you substitute good choices until they know what you are currently eating.
A word to the wise: When your coach asks you to keep a food diary, you sabotage the entire process by being dishonest. There was a lady in the gym where I trained who was about 60 pounds over her desired weight. She was not my client but she came to me one day and said, "I'm working really hard but I am not losing any weight. What do I need to do?" The obvious answer is that she needed to quit eating so much but I reserve that sage advice for clients with whom I have developed a relationship. I told her to keep a food diary for a week, including the weekend (very important) and perhaps we could figure out what she needed to do. A week later she brought me a food diary that, with little exaggeration claimed that for breakfast she had coffee and simply smelled the bacon, for lunch feasted on three grapes and a lettuce leaf; then for dinner finished her day with a baked chicken leg and a celery stick.
Basic rules for keeping a food diary:
1. If you put it in your mouth and swallow, write it down. Don't try to guess if it is good or bad. If you already had an idea about that, you wouldn't be seeking help.
2. Include your drink. I had an obese client who maintained a very healthy "food" eating plan. I discovered she was literally consuming two cups of sugar a day from her tea.
3. Do not forget the snacks however small they may be. There are about 10 calories in one potato chip and we all know no one eats just one chip. (Well, maybe my wife eats just one but she can also take one bite from a cookie and leave the rest for another bite the next day. A large cookie will dry and get tossed in the garbage before she eats it all. That just isn't right. Know what I mean?) If you go to a party over the weekend, count your chips. Yeah, I know, that deters you from eating as many.
4. This is important. Write down the time of day you eat (especially snacks) and how you were feeling at the time - i.e. hungry, tired, happy, sad, bored etc. Why you are snacking is as important as what you eat for a snack.
If food diaries are so hated, why do serious trainers and weight loss consultants always ask you to keep a food diary? Do we just enjoy annoying you? No! We ask you to keep a food diary for a couple of reasons.
First. with rare exception, and I do mean rare exception (having worked with several hundred clients I have never found an exception, it is that rare), we all underestimate how much we eat. We plan our meals well, and we may, though it is rarely the case, practice good portion control. Great! What did you drink? Have you had a snack? What did you snack on? Unless you keep a food diary, you very likely have no idea how many extra calories you take in from your drink and snacks. You often do not even remember snacking. There are the ever present peppermints we pop unwittingly into our mouths. We don't plan them; we may or may not remember eating them and maybe we only pop a couple a day. How bad can that be? They are only about 20 calories each, right? 20x2=40. OK, that still isn't so bad. But 40x30 days in a month = 1200 cal. In three months, you have enough extra calories to add a pound of fat to your body, 4 pounds in a year and 5 years into your desk job…let's see 5x4 = the answer to the bewildering question of where did this weight come from. Well, few people eat just two peppermints in extra calories a day but you get the point. If you have planned your meals to include you daily calories; then unwittingly add 20 calories twice a day to that…Yep!
Secondly, we often attempt to control calories without taking into consideration nutritional values. A hundred calories of candy and a hundred calories of fruit have the same caloric value. The difference is this: the one is slowly processed and provides vitamins, minerals, trace elements etc. to your nutritional needs while the other jacks up you blood sugar for a short time, zips through your system, and quickly leaves you craving another energy shot having added none of the nutrients needed to maintain a healthy body. Your trainer, weight management consultant or nutritionist simply cannot help you substitute good choices until they know what you are currently eating.
A word to the wise: When your coach asks you to keep a food diary, you sabotage the entire process by being dishonest. There was a lady in the gym where I trained who was about 60 pounds over her desired weight. She was not my client but she came to me one day and said, "I'm working really hard but I am not losing any weight. What do I need to do?" The obvious answer is that she needed to quit eating so much but I reserve that sage advice for clients with whom I have developed a relationship. I told her to keep a food diary for a week, including the weekend (very important) and perhaps we could figure out what she needed to do. A week later she brought me a food diary that, with little exaggeration claimed that for breakfast she had coffee and simply smelled the bacon, for lunch feasted on three grapes and a lettuce leaf; then for dinner finished her day with a baked chicken leg and a celery stick.
Basic rules for keeping a food diary:
1. If you put it in your mouth and swallow, write it down. Don't try to guess if it is good or bad. If you already had an idea about that, you wouldn't be seeking help.
2. Include your drink. I had an obese client who maintained a very healthy "food" eating plan. I discovered she was literally consuming two cups of sugar a day from her tea.
3. Do not forget the snacks however small they may be. There are about 10 calories in one potato chip and we all know no one eats just one chip. (Well, maybe my wife eats just one but she can also take one bite from a cookie and leave the rest for another bite the next day. A large cookie will dry and get tossed in the garbage before she eats it all. That just isn't right. Know what I mean?) If you go to a party over the weekend, count your chips. Yeah, I know, that deters you from eating as many.
4. This is important. Write down the time of day you eat (especially snacks) and how you were feeling at the time - i.e. hungry, tired, happy, sad, bored etc. Why you are snacking is as important as what you eat for a snack.
