Food Journals

For many people, food journals are a very helpful tool in losing weight or eating in a more healthy manner. Almost all diet programs suggest you start with a food journal. I've heard (or read) many people say that just the act of keeping a journal will help them lose weight.

Journals help you realize just how much you are eating: "Wow, cleaning up the kids' mac & cheese really adds up."

They can encourage you to make healthy choices: "Do I want to eat that enough to write it in my journal?"

They can help you realize your eating habits, like the bag of cookies you eat when you talk to your mother on the phone.

I, however, am not most people. I am perverse. As I have mentioned, just saying the "D" word can make me gain 5 lbs. I set my intention to eating a healthy variety of fruits, veggies, and lean protein --- food I actually LIKE, and suddenly I cannot resist the Hardee's Omelet Biscuit with large fried potato things. What's that about?

I was just looking at a food journal I kept for about a week this summer. I had been eating the angel way for about a week, I guess, and decided to keep track. KABOOM! Day one: cottage cheese with lots of pretty fruit (which I LOVE); turkey on wheat with spinach & tomatoes; tacos with lots of veggies. Day two: Whopper with large fries. Day three: Hardee's biscuit. Still ate a lot of fruit and veggies, but I'm thinking the Whopper/biscuit/Quarter pounder with cheese was NOT what the angels had in mind.

Unlike most people, I am not intimidated by the food journal. One: I will lie to my journal. Why not? Two: Even if I write the truth, and even if I publish that on-line or at weight watchers or whatever, I don't care what other people think. No one has scolded me about what I eat in many years, but the early training made me immune to scolding. Kathy, do you need that? Kathy, is that on your diet? Kathy, do you have to eat the whole carton of Breyers Ice Cream in one sitting? Yup, yup, yup. Thanks for asking.

I still start up food journals all the time. I love journals. I love food. Perfect match. Maybe some day I'll find a way to journal that helps me with my food fetishes. Hope springs eternal.. and there is always a journal sale at Barnes & Noble...