How to Keep a Food Diary - Diet and Nutrition

How to Keep a Food Diary

A food diary records everything eaten for at least three days–the minimum period in which to gather reliable information about nutritional intake and food consumption patterns. Completing the diary for seven days is better, while a 30-day period is even more helpful. Nutritionists recommend that the diary be kept throughout the day so that the required information can be recorded immediately after eating.

A sample one-day food diary appears below. It can be xeroxed and the additional pages stapled or bound together to make a diary for longer periods of time.

To make entries: 1) Record the date and type and amount of each food you consume in a 24-hour period. 2) Using a calorie-counting guide, nutritional handbook, or computer diet software program, calculate the number of calories and nutrient composition for each food eaten. 3) Record the time and place of consumption, and whether the food was a meal or a snack. 4) Note how hungry you were, and what, if any, mood accompanied the food.

Foods and Amounts.     In the “Food Consumed” column, record the type of every food and beverage you consume during the course of a day and its product name. For example, if you ate cereal, toast, and coffee for breakfast, record in column 1:

Food

Grapenuts cereal

Whole wheat toast

Coffee with cream

In the “Amount” column, enter the amount of each food or beverage you consumed. Thus, in the second column you would enter:

Food	Amount
Grapenuts cereal	1 serving
Whole wheat toast	2 slices
Coffee with cream	1 cup w/2
	tablespoons cream

Calories.     While not all of the diets “count” calories, it's a good idea–particularly at the beginning of any diet–to know how many calories you consume each day. By way of comparison, carbohydrates and proteins supply approximately four calories per gram, while fats supply approximately nine calories per gram.

In May 1994, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began requiring companies that produce packaged foods to provide substantial information about fat content, calories, and other nutritional values in large type on a “Nutrition Facts” panel on their labels, and to show how items fit into a daily diet of 2,000 calories. The new laws, which took 10 years to develop, have now forced companies to substantiate claims for their products such as “low fat” or “high fiber.” This newly required information will help dieters filling out a food diary calculate the amounts of various nutrients–listed as grams or milligrams, as well as a percentage of recommended daily intake–they are consuming.

Protein.     Identifying the protein content of foods is important in order to determine whether you are receiving adequate daily amounts of essential amino acids. As noted, national dietary guidelines now recommend that people consume moderate quantities of protein, especially animal protein, and suggest that fish is an excellent source of protein and is low in saturated fat.

Fats and Saturated Fat.     Recording total daily fat and saturated fat intake is especially important for people on weight-loss diets. Normally, when people consume excessive amounts of fat (more than 30% of daily calories), they experience weight gain. However, there are exceptions, and by paying close attention to this column in the food diary, you can determine how well your body metabolizes fat. Some dieters may find that even if they restrict fats to 20% of calories, they still gain weight.

Cholesterol.     According to the Surgeon General's Report , a 1% reduction in total blood cholesterol is accompanied by a 1.5% reduction in heart disease risk. National dietary guidelines currently recommend that Americans consume no more than 300 milligrams of cholesterol per day. People who suspect that they may be at risk of heart disease should further restrict their cholesterol intake to less than 200 milligrams daily.

Carbohydrates.     In this column, enter your daily intake of the two principal types of carbohydrates: complex carbohydrates and simple sugars (found predominantly in fruit). National dietary guidelines currently recommend that 60–70% of total daily caloric intake should consist of complex carbohydrates.

Fiber.     Monitoring intake of fiber foods is important because they provide cellulose which helps in digesting food and preventing several disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. As a result, nutritionists recommend that people consume 20–30 grams of fiber daily.

Sugar.     Sugar is not considered to be harmful when consumed in the proper amounts. However, sugar flavors many manufactured food products, and Americans tend to consume it to excess. The average American, for example, is estimated to take in almost a third of a pound of refined sugar each day in synthetic foods. Refined sugar–which are rich in calories and do not provide essential nutrients–also deplete other essential nutrients in the bloodstream and prevent nonsugar foods from being easily metabolized.

Alcohol.     It's very important to monitor daily intake of alcohol because heavy drinkers tend to overconsume other sugar-rich foods, and underconsume nutrient-dense, nonsugar foods. Since alcohol contains the energy equivalent of seven calories per gram, a few beers or mixed drinks several evenings a week can also substantially increase weight and body fat. In addition, alcohol irritates and damages the digestive tract, interferes with the body's use of many nutrients, and depletes tissue stores of protein, B vitamins, and essential minerals.

Meal or Snack.     Recording the number of meals and snacks consumed each day will help identify food patterns that may be counterproductive. For example, eating one large meal a day, which supplies the majority of caloric intake, increases the difficulty of losing weight. Instead nutritionists recommend eating smaller amounts of food more frequently. Many of the diets reviewed in this book stress the importance of eating three balanced meals–and consuming small, nutritious snacks throughout the day. This pattern tends to stabilize blood sugar and blood fat levels. Eating a balanced breakfast, in particular, is key to weight loss, as studies show that dieters who eat breakfast, compared to those who do not, have more healthful dietary patterns overall.

Hunger Level.     Everyone becomes hungry during the day when the body signals that it needs nutrients to provide energy for its many physiological processes. Keep in mind that hunger is different than appetite. Appetite is defined as the brain's psychological perception that it needs food (often as a response to external cues), while hunger is the body's physiological demand for sustenance. Healthy people respond only to hunger.

To record your hunger level in the food diary, use a scale of 0 to 10–0 being empty, 5 being comfortable, and 10 being completely full. Note at what level of hunger you were when you ate a particular food. You may find that your brain sometimes tricks your appetite to convince you that you need food when, in fact, you may already be satiated.

Many overweight individuals find that their eating behavior is triggered by external stimuli that are unrelated to feelings of hunger or satiety. For example, some people eat at predetermined times each day, regardless of whether or not they are hungry. Mealtimes are often an important form of socializing, and family gatherings or taking a break from work can trigger appetite.

In addition, some people are “recreational” eaters, meaning that their principal forms of recreation–playing cards, for example–include eating food. Again, these people do not necessarily eat because they are hungry, but because it is part of the social ritual surrounding that form of recreation.

Time of Day.     Because foods are metabolized differently depending on when they are ingested, it is also essential to record the time of day you consume each food and beverage. Foods consumed at breakfast, for example, are more quickly metabolized–i.e., the calories are burned–because most people perform some physical activity (even if it is just going to work) immediately following breakfast. A large meal eaten just before going to bed, on the other hand, is not metabolized as quickly because sleeping involves very little physical exertion.

Place.     Locale can also influence when and how much people eat. Studies have shown, for example, that certain rooms in a house are often subconsciously linked with eating. People who spend a lot of time in the kitchen tend to eat more–and often overeat. Many people eat more when they are close to a refrigerator, while others are more susceptible to overeating when they shop for food. Dining at the home of friends, family gatherings, parties, and at restaurants also encourages overeating–especially foods rich in fats and sugars, including alcohol.

Finally, watching television tends to encourage people to eat, even after they have consumed a large meal and presumably are no longer hungry. Michael Murray and Joseph Pizzorno state in the Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine that next to prior obesity, television watching is the strongest predictor of subsequent obesity. In fact, the more TV watched, the greater the degree of obesity.

Mood.     Many people with weight problems are unaware of the emotional cues that can trigger overeating. Psychologists have observed, for example, that stress, anxiety, and feeling lonely, bored, or angry can prompt food cravings. Unfortunately, giving in to these cravings ultimately tends to make a person feel worse, because it can lead to weight gain and guilt, and may even contribute to wavering self-esteem.

Some people derive a kind of emotional comfort from ingesting food. This may be because as early as when they were nursing infants, most people learned to associate eating with receiving love, affection, and comfort. This strong association may persist throughout life, reinforced by various cultural events revolving around food, such as socializing and celebrations. As a result, overindulgence can become a generalized behavioral pattern for dealing with psychological distress.

In the “Mood” column, write down the mood that best summarizes your emotional status each time you consumed food or beverages.