Importance of Food Journaling

There are many components to either starting or maintaining a well-rounded nutrition program, but I would argue none as important as an accountability journal.  Whether you do it the old-fashioned way, with pencil and paper, or use one of the many online options (*our Nutrition Together program offers both), there is nothing so enlightening as making a record of everything you put in your mouth throughout the day.  No matter how you record, it should always include what you eat, when, how much, and even how you feel before and after eating.  Whether you have a tendency to eat too much, not enough, or at the wrong times, a journal can help you hit those fitness and wellness goals.

Despite how much you think you are paying attention to what you eat, until you start recording you may not really have a full grasp on what you are putting in your mouth.  It is easy to forget how much peanut butter you put on your toast for breakfast or how many tortilla chips you ate at that restaurant for lunch.  On the other side of the spectrum—it can also help you be more aware of making sure you get enough servings of fruit and vegetables or lean protein for the day.  As they say, knowledge is power.  Once you have the awareness, you can make the appropriate changes to your daily nutritional intake to truly use food as fuel to make your body function as optimally as possible.

Many people argue they do not have time in the day to record everything they eat.  When it comes right down to it, how much time do you spend playing games on your phone, watching television, or even sitting in the waiting room somewhere?  When it really comes down to it, we can all find an extra few minutes to take a more active role in our health and wellness. 

Another thing I try to speak with clients about is that this is not something you have to do the rest of your life.  For most people, once you get in a solid routine of planning out meals and snacks for the week and (probably most importantly) learn what proper serving sizes should be, you do not have to continue to journal indefinitely.  Our Nutrition Together program lasts six weeks, but we generally suggest journaling longer to really set those good habits in place.  Journaling is also great to go back to if you fall off your routine, or even just as you hit new goals and need to adjust your nutritional intake.  I recently started journaling again so that I can continue to reach my own personal goals, so your trainers do this, too!

I would also recommend journaling your daily workouts, as well.  At Fitness Together, we keep a record of every client’s daily workouts, as well as encourage our clients to keep track of their cardiovascular exercise for the week.  It is a constant reminder of what you are looking to accomplish and why daily activity is so important.  In a perfect world, we would all be active every day and make good nutritional choices, but unfortunately there are many distractions in life.  Getting back to the basics every now and again is a great way to get past some of those distractions and help make us all happier and healthier!

Katie Jensen, CSCS

Fitness Together

Fitness/Nutrition Coach