6 Tips to Take Control of your Eating Habits Forever

Completing an Eating and Exercise Diary is the best way to quickly understand your eating habits and what causes you to eat in such a way. Following are 6 ways to ensure that you use a diary effectively.

1. When you complete your diary, you need to be as detailed as possible. For example, is it chicken or chicken schnitzel?
2. Initially weigh and measure your foods and drinks to become aware of how much you are really consuming. How many slices of toast did you eat and what else did you put on it or drink with it? If you had a coffee, what type was it and how big was the cup?
3. Record the exact timings of your food consumption because it will help identify what is happening to your carb tank and your fat stores.
4. How did you feel when you ate your meal? As we know, emotions drive our food choices, so be accurate to help detect any patterns in your behaviour.
5. If you are snacking outside of your meals times make sure you write them down in detail too – this is the food we most easily forgoet or underestimate the amounts we really eat. Do spot checks to see where you macronutrient tally is at throughout the day – are you on target for your goals? If not, what are you going to do about it? Would your daily macronutrient totals be classified as excellent, good, fair or poor? How can you learn from each day and improve for the next day?
6. Never lie about what you eat and drink. On many occasion, I have viewed near perfect Eating and Exercise Diaries of clients who say they cannot achieve their goals. Remember, the weight loss equation is pretty straight forward. If you burn more energy than you eat, you will lose weight. Hence you weight loss results will generally be a mirror image of your Eating and Exercise Diary.