Keeping a food diary or food journal is a faster way to weight loss, as I pointed out here, on the Sugar Shock Blog and as I often remind my clients. To help you peel off those pounds, I’m providing you with a special food diary.
I encourage you to print out many copies of this page and then track yourself like a lab rat all day long. Just imagine that you’re a scientist watching the behavior of your beloved animals.
Feel free to share The Ultimate Food Diary with friends, co-workers, gym buddies, bosses, hairdressers, fitness trainers, loved ones and frenemies. In short, spread the link love, as some say.
Sugars & Fake-Sugars Tracker: The Soul-Searching Food Diary™
Name ________________________________________
Date _________________________________________
What did I eat and drink? (Any sugary foods or drinks? Any refined carbs? Any artificial sweeteners?) How did I I feel? Was I physically or emotionally hungry? (On the 1st line, state what you ate. On the 2nd line, jot down how you felt — really hungry, angry, lonely, frustrated, furious, stressed out, etc.)
7 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
7 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
8 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
8 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
9 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
9 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
10 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
10 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
11 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
11 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
12 noon _______________________________________________________________
12 noon _______________________________________________________________
1 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
1 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
2 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
2 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
3 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
3 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
4 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
4 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
5 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
5 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
6 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
6 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
7 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
7 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
‘8 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
8 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
9 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
9 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
10 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
10 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
11 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
11 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
12 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
12 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
1 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
1 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
2 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
2 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
3 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
3 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
4 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
4 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
5 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
5 a.m. _______________________________________________________________
6 a.m. _________________________________________________________________
6 a.m. _________________________________________________________________
What were the worst foods I had today? ________________________________________
What were the best foods I had today? _________________________________________
How much water did I have today? ____________________________________________
What exercise did I do today?
Aerobic _______________________ Resistance Training __________________________
When did I felt best today? Why? _____________________________________________
When did I felt worst today? Why? ____________________________________________
What were my physical symptoms? __________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
What were my emotional symptoms? __________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Did I ever eat when I wasn’t hungry? When? Why? _________________________________________________________________________
How did I get along with my loved ones and co-workers today? ____
_________________________________________________________________________
Did I embarrass myself today or behave in a way I was not proud – in other words, was I bitchy, moody, crabby, angry, irrational, short-fused or more? Specify. (It’s OK that you did these things — knowing how food affects you is the first step to becoming more calm.) ___________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Was I a zombie at any time today? What did I do to pep myself up?
____________________________________________________________________________
How many times today did I eat (or drink) food and beverages with sugar, refined carbs or artificial sweeteners _____________________________________________________________________
How did I feel immediately afterward? ________________________________________________
How did I feel 2 hours later?________________________________________________________
How did I feel 4 hours later?________________________________________________________
What trends did I notice as to which certain foods affect me? ____________________________
What new healthy foods did I try today? _____________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Were there any trigger situations in which I found myself? ______________________________________________________________________________
Was I trapped in any situations by saboteurs (whether intentional or not?) What happened? _______________________________________________________________________________
What are my biggest obstacles today to my leading a sugar-free, artificial-sweetener-free life? ___________________________________________________________________________
Did I feel deprived today? How so? _______________________________________________
(If you ate sugar or refined carbs) Did eating sugar help? _____________________________
What is my tricky time of day? Why? Where am I? __________________________________________________________________________
How did I treat myself today in non-sugar way(s) today? __________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
How can I treat myself tomorrow in non-food ways? _______________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Today’s most important lesson(s): _________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
What food(s) agreed with me most? ___________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
What food(s) agreed with me least? ___________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
What can I do differently tomorrow? ___________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
© Copyright, Connie Bennett & Stop Sugar Shock, 2009. Sugar & Fake-Sugars Tracker: The Soul Searching Food Diary™
. Feel free to share this with others, but please include this entire entry and the fact that it first appeared on the Sugar Shock Blog. Become a Sweet, Super Friend of my upcoming book, The White-Out Diet. Sign up now at www.WhiteOutDiet.com
It’s so important for your health and weight loss that you keep track of your food intake that fitness trainer Jim Karas and Dr. David L. Katz urge you to do so on Oprah.com. Likewise, Ali Hale of the Diet Blog gives you six good reasons to keep one.
In addition to using my Soul Searching Food Diary, you could look into other options as well. For instance, you could record what you eat and drink using tools from Fit Day, My Fitness Pal, Bella Online, The Daily Plate or Calorie Counter.
Or, you could monitor your food and beverage intake using the super-small, convenient Pico Pad Food Journal, which my pal Jimmy Moore of Livin’ La Vida Lo Carb Blog is now enjoying.
Admittedly, the Pico-Pad Food Journal is a lot easier to carry along with you than my food journal, and the others I cited above are more high tech than mine.
Hmm, perhaps one of the above companies wants to work with me to create a different kind of food diary, where you watch your sugar, carb and artificial intake, as well as your emotions and the ways that you feed yourself in non-food ways?