Diet diary why it’s worth keeping

Taking notes in the diet diary – unnecessary or necessary? Sentences are probably divided. Some people may associate keeping such a journal with the need to have absolute control over their lives, others will claim that they have no time or patience for it.
A diet diary – what is it?
Records in the diet diary may be in a traditional form or, if someone is more comfortable with it, in an electronic form. In other words, we can take notes in an ordinary paper notebook or using a computer program. In shops and bookshops you will also find ready-made diaries divided into tables with interesting nutritional tips and healthy recipes. But to the point – why should anyone want such records and what should they contain?
In a diet diary, we carefully note what we ate on a given day. We take a closer look at each day and write down what our meals consisted of, taking into account the exact amount of all ingredients and their calorie content. We also write down the hours of meals. We do not forget to note how many liquids we drank. We do not skip snacks, and in no case dietary sins. This is the basic information that we should put in the journal. For better results, we can also enter the current weight along with the time of weighing and note whether we made a physical effort (and what and how many calories we were able to burn). If we smoke cigarettes, we can also take this fact into account by recording how many cigarettes we smoked each day, at what times or in what circumstances.
Keeping a diet diary will be even more useful if you write down your daily groceries.
Benefits of having a diet diary
The diet diary actually serves control. It allows you to watch over what usually gets out of it, with more or less negative consequences for your health and figure. Thanks to keeping records we will realize, first of all, bad eating habits that accompany us every day. Secondly, we will be able to determine exactly how many calories we consume per day and whether, by any chance, there are too many calories in relation to individual needs (before starting a diary we should determine what our actual energy needs are). We will also verify, at the same time, to what extent our meals are regular and how the recommendation to eat frequently, but in smaller quantities, should be implemented in practice. The diet diary will help us prepare more balanced meals and adjust their calories to the time of day. If you decide to take notes on your purchases, you will probably also be able to rationalise your spending on food.
This may seem unlikely at first, but keeping track of your eating habits really helps you achieve your dietary goals. And the goals can be different. A diet journal is suitable not only for people who lose weight, but also for those who want to cleanse their bodies, get rid of bad habits, improve their appearance or finally start to eat sensibly. It is worth trying to keep records even if only for a month. This will give us a quite detailed picture of our practices. A journal will be necessary when we go to a dietitian. Let’s be sure that after the first visit (or even before it) we will get an order to keep a diary.