Make Your Own Food Diary

A food diary will help you figure out how many calories you are consuming each day and it will also tell you if you are getting enough fruits, vegetables, and whole grains that should be part of a healthy diet.

What You Need for Your Food Diary

You will need a three-ring binder, a three-hole paper puncher, paper and your printer. On the following pages you'll find 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 database is needed to find all the nutrition information for foods you eat that don't have Nutrition Facts Labels. My favorite is the United States Department of Agriculture National Nutrient Data Base.