Make Your Own Food Diary

A food diary is a very effective tool, because you can use it to help you determine if your current eating habits are healthy. A food diary will help you understand where your diet goes wrong and can reveal your calorie intake, so you know if you are getting too many or too few calories.

It can also help you know if you are getting enough fruits, vegetables, whole grains and healthy proteins each day and help you keep your carb-fat-protein ratios in healthy proportions.

What You Need for Your Food Diary

You will need a three-ring binder, a three-hole paper puncher, paper and your printer. I have designed the food diary pages you need to keep track of your diet. In order to know how many calories, carbs, fats and proteins that you are eating, you need to carefully measure your portion sizes. A kitchen scale (buy direct), measuring cups (buy direct) and spoons will come in handy. You also need to know how to read Nutrition Fact Labels to understand the portion sizes for packaged food.

A nutrition data base is needed to find all the nutrition information for foods you eat that don't have Nutrition Facts Labels. My favorite is the USDA Nutrient Data Base. You can search online or download the USDA SR18 nutrient-finding program in to your computer or PDA.

Once you have all these items ready, you need to understand your diet and how to change your diet to control your weight and improve your health.