Learn how to do anything: How to Keep a Food Diary

Keeping a food diary gives you an accurate picture of what you eat every day. It's a good way to gain more control over your diet, since without recording what you eat you might not notice how many calories you're consuming. If you have indigestion or another medical issue, keeping a food diary can help you figure out what ingredient might be causing the problem. See Step 1 to learn how to track what you eat and analyze your findings.

Steps

Part One: Tracking What You Eat and Drink

Set up your diary. The simplest way to track what you eat and drink is by setting up your diary in a notebook or electronic device that you always carry with you. You'll need to be able to keep track of the date, time, place, item eaten, quantity consumed, and extra notes. Set up your diary so that each piece of information gets its own column. That way, it'll be easy to record all the data in one place each time you eat.^[1]
- If you like to write things down by hand, use a blank notebook or purchase a daily diary with enough space on each page to record your intake for the day.
- You can use an app or an online tracking device if you prefer. Since food journaling has become so popular, there are a variety of good apps to choose from.^[2]

Record everything you eat and drink. Be very specific, and break complicated foods down by ingredient. For example, instead of writing down "turkey sandwich," write out the quantity of bread, turkey and condiments as separate entries. Handle other mixed foods, like casseroles and smoothies, in a similar way.
- Don't forget to record snacks or random odds and ends you eat, like a cookie offered at work.
- Record your drinks as well, including your water intake.

Write down accurate quantities. If you're concerned about how many calories you consume, writing down the quantities you eat is important data to include in your diary. You might want to purchase a food scale to help ensure your quantities are correct. That way you can weigh out ingredients you use and record the exact amount you eat.
- You might have to estimate quantities when it comes to eating out at restaurants or purchasing food that's difficult to weight. If you eat at a chain restaurant, check online to see if you can find information on the quantities of ingredients in their serving sizes.
- Consider tracking calories along with quantities. Doing an online search for a food + "nutrition" will pull up sites that tell you exactly how many calories the food has by quantity.^[3]

Write down the date, time and place you ate. This is an important part of finding patterns in your eating habits. Try to write down the exact time, rather than just "afternoon snack" or "midnight snack." If you want to get really specific, you can record the exact spot in your house where you ate. Were you in front of the TV? At your home desk?

Record how you feel after eating each item. Whether you're keeping a food diary to help you lose weight or you're trying to pinpoint a potential food allergy, your mood matters. Use the "notes" column in your diary or make a new column reserved just for writing down how your food makes you feel.
- Wait 10 - 20 minutes after eating to assess how you feel, since it takes about that long for food to have an effect on your system.
- Code your entries by using meaningful words followed by a short description. For example, after an entry for an afternoon snack of coffee and a cookie, you might write "Anxious: I felt jittery for 15 minutes after eating." This way you'll be able to spot patterns more easily.

Part Two: Analyzing the Data

Look for patterns in the meals you eat. After a few weeks of keeping track of everything you eat and drink, you'll probably see some patterns emerge. Some patterns will be obvious, like having the same thing for breakfast every day, while others will be a bit more enlightening. Check your diary and think about these questions:
- Are there patterns related to how foods affect your mood?
- Which meals seem to leave you hungry, and which are more satisfying?
- During what situations do you tend to overeat?

Assess your snacking habits. Many people are surprised at how many snacks they actually consume in a given day. A handful of almonds here, a cookie or two there, and a bag of chips while you watch TV at night can really add up in the end. Use your diary to assess whether your snacking habits or healthy or might need a little work.
- Do you tend to choose healthy snacks, or grab whatever's nearby? If you tend to be on the go and don't have time to prepare fresh food every time you need a snack, try thinking ahead and bringing snacks along with you instead of heading for snack machines when you're hungry.
- Do your snacks leave you sated or do they just make you hungrier? Check out your notes column to assess whether that coffee and chocolate habit you've gotten into is really perking you up in the afternoon, or if it's actually making you sleepier.

See if you eat differently on days off. For most people, work and school have a big effect on their eating habits. You might find it hard to make time for cooking on work days, but spend more time in the kitchen on your days off. See if you can find patterns that might influence your eating habits.^[4]
- Do you tend to eat out more on certain days? If you notice that you get takeout four times a week, because you have night classes on those days, that's valuable information to have.
- Use the information to help you plan out your meals. If you know you're not going to feel like cooking on a certain night, try planning ahead to have something healthy in the refrigerator instead of ordering pizza again.

Look at the relationship between what you eat and how you feel. Figure out what life situations might have influenced your eating for any given day or week. You might notice a pattern in the food choices you make during times that are stressful. Maybe you can't sleep well so you eat a midnight snack, or you turn to comfort foods to make yourself feel better. Knowing this about yourself can be useful when it comes to planning out your diet.
- See if there's an issue with overeating when you're upset. If so, try having a backup plan instead of turning to food when you're stressed.
- On the flip side, if there are certain foods that seem responsible for negative emotions, you might want to try giving them up to see what happens. For example, you may feel stressed or angry after drinking too much coffee.

See if a certain ingredient seems to be having a negative physical effect. Look for patterns in the way foods impact your system. You might never notice that you have trouble digesting popcorn until you realize that you've had a stomachache the last four times you had it as a snack.
- See what foods make you feel bloated, gassy, have a headache, nauseous, or just generally too full.
- Try eliminating the ingredient for a few days to see if the symptoms clear up.
- Celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and other illnesses can be greatly helped by altering your diet to completely eliminate certain ingredients. If you have symptoms that lead you to believe food might be making your problems worse, bring your food diary to the doctor to discuss the possibility that changing your diet could help.

Part Three: Tracking Additional Helpful Details

Consider recording your physical activity. If you're keeping your food diary as a way to track calories and get in shape, it makes sense to write down your physical activity, too. That way you can see how many calories you've burned in comparison to how many you've consumed.
- Record the type of activity and time spent doing it.
- See how your level of exercise affects your hunger level and what you eat.

Record nutritional information. If you're keeping a food diary to make sure you're getting enough of a certain nutrient, you might want to record the nutrition information for each item. It's easy to find nutrition information for any type of food online. Just do a search for the name of the food + "nutrition information" to find out how many vitamins and minerals it contains and its makeup of fat, carbohydrates and protein.

Track your progress toward a goal. A food diary can be a motivating tool when you have a goal you want to reach that's related to your diet. Whether you want to lose weight or you're just trying to eat more fruit and vegetables, tracking your progress will inspire you to keep going and show you where there's still room for improvement. Here are a few ways you can track it:
- Record your weight. Write it down at the end of each week so you can see how it has fluctuated.
- Note important milestones. If you've successfully eliminated gluten from your diet for a month, note it in your diary.

Use your food diary to track food expenses. Since you're already writing down everything you eat, why not also write down how much it costs? It's a great way to stay within your food budget for each day, week and month. You might be surprised when you find out where you tend to spend the most money.
- Note how much you spent on each meal. Include meals you make at home as well as meals you eat out.^[5]
- Look for patterns to determine how much you spend on food each week or month, and find places where you can cut back.

Track medical information. If your concern is eliminating foods that are making you sick, track your symptoms carefully. In your journal, make a separate column for symptoms and write down how you feel each time you eat. Take your diary to the doctor to discuss potential allergies or problem foods.^[6]

Video

Tips

If you are keeping the food diary because you want to lose weight or because you have an eating disorder, it can sometimes help to have a "How I felt when I ate this" column. This will help you keep track of the reasons you eat.