Why you should keep a food diary

Conscious eating

Food diaries also have the more mundane function of showing us what and how much we eat. A lack of consciousness is the biggest enemy of success in weight loss. Most overeating - in fact, most eating - is unconscious. It's a mindless, habitual, conditioned reaction to a wide variety of cues, few of which have to do with hunger.

By writing down what you're doing, when you're doing it, and how you're feeling at the time, you will give yourself the opportunity to examine what transforms a habit into a conscious choice.

Food and mood

Diaries also let us begin to make connections between food and mood. One of the problems with our diets is that our physical and emotional reactions to food are often delayed. As a result, we lose sight of the effect food has on our moods, energy levels, and mental outlook.

By making room in your diary for notes about what is happening and what you feel when you eat, you can also focus on what conditions are dangerous triggers for bad eating habits.

Finally, for many people, the diary is one of the only places you can really be alone with yourself. Free from the knowledge that someone else will see and judge what you're feeling and saying, you can make many personal discoveries. You can explore feelings, behaviours, fantasies and even 'unacceptable' thoughts that you spend a great deal of energy keeping hidden. The diary is your private letter to yourself. Since the constraints of social acceptability and 'proper behaviour' are not applicable, you're able to delve into how you feel.

The best part about keeping a food diary is that there's no 'right' way to do it. You can scrawl angry words on the page, 'say' things to parents, husbands, and loved ones that you've never been able to 'say' in real life, or just make a simple old list of what you're eating and when.

Be willing to be surprised by the results. You almost certainly will be.

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