It’s safe to say that most people think that tracking food or keeping a food diary is only useful if a person is trying to lose weight. This, of course, is not true. There are many different reasons why keeping a food diary can be useful. First of all, it can provide you with a certain level of organization when it comes to eating and cooking. Also, it can show you what you are eating and how much of it you are eating on a daily basis.
Tracking food is eye-opening and everyone should do it at least once every few years. In case you are still on the fence when it comes to keeping a food diary, here are some of the benefits you might want to consider.
A Food Diary Can Show You What You Are Eating
People are aware of what they are eating, but usually only while eating it. As soon as they are finished or a few hours later, they simply don’t think about the food they ate. This is perfectly normal. Men and women of today have too much on their plate (pun intended) and they simply don’t have the time to think too much about the food they are eating. If you are a busy person, you know what we are talking about.
However, not knowing what you eat can be bad for your health. This is exactly where a food diary comes in. Keeping track of your food every day can show you exactly what you are eating. This kind of intel can help you to make better nutrition decisions and, as you probably know, eating better food usually means better health. Keeping a journal will allow you to eliminate all the unhealthy food from your diet.
It Can Show You When You Are Eating
When it comes to diet, what kind of food you eat is one of the most important aspects. However, so is the time of day and night you eat it. A lot of people love to have a midnight snack and they are not even noticing the fact that they eat late at night. As you probably know, having late meals can cause all sorts of health problems. Therefore, keeping a thorough journal can help you to organize your meals better and avoid those midnight snacks.
A Food Journal Allows You To See How Much You Eat
Food is one of the most wonderful things in this life, no question about it. Most people really know how to enjoy their meals. However, in doing so, they tend to overeat. This can be a problem. Overeating is one of the most common causes of obesity and other dietary problems. Therefore, if you want to enjoy your food and stay healthy, make sure to track your food. See how much of it you are eating and if you notice that you are eating too much, simply reduce your food intake.
It Shows You How You Are Feeling While Eating
This can seem a bit unimportant at first, but when you think about it, how you feel while eating certain foods can determine your diet. Therefore, write down how you feel while eating various foods and analyze the data. After all, you should enjoy every meal you have and a food diary can help you achieve this.
It Tells You Where You Are Eating
These days people have a lot of options when it comes to where they eat their food. Therefore, if you eat at various places, you should try to keep track of where you eat. This will give you valuable insight into what kind of food you are eating and when it’s time to change your diet. For example, if your diary says that you’ve been going out and eating burgers for the past week, you will be able to change that and prepare healthier food at home.
A Journal Lets You Know What Else You Do While Eating
Eating is a rather fun thing to do, but sometimes people tend to do other things while enjoying their meals. For example, some like to watch TV, while others like reading books. It doesn’t matter what you do while eating, you should definitely write it down. This kind of information can help you to determine various problems and make certain changes. For example, if you are sitting in an awkward position while eating just because you want to watch TV, you might cause your stomach some problems. Writing down things like this will help you to make better decisions and improve your diet.
It Helps You Identify Food Intolerances
Food is a wonderful thing and eating is one of the most beautiful pleasures in life. However, some people can’t eat certain foods. This is called food intolerance and there are many different examples of it. The most famous one is probably lactose intolerance. People who are lactose intolerant can’t eat or drink dairy products. Eating food you are intolerant to can cause you a lot of health problems. Therefore, it’s rather important to identify food that is causing you problems.
This is exactly the situation where a thorough food journal can come in handy. If you are experiencing some troubles digesting your food, make sure to track what you eat for a few months. This will give you valuable insight and it will help you to determine which foods are causing you problems.
Keeping track of what you eat may seem like too much work, but it’s not. The most important thing you have to understand is that you don’t have to do it for a long time. A few months of noting every meal will do the job. This information will help you to make better decisions and have a healthier diet. If you decide to visit a nutritionist, make sure to bring this journal with you.
Make sure to be diligent and write down every single meal you have. Trust us, this will change your life for the better.
Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash
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