Fitness/Food Journal

[MarciaTJ]

I was wondering -does anyone keep a food and exercise journal - do you just write in the facts, or do you go into how you feel. Also,do you use the journal religiously, and ever look back over past entries?

Thanks!

[m4star]

Yes, I keep both a paper journal and an online one. Dietwatch.com will let you track calories and nutritional information for free. But I use the paper journal to keep track of my training, emotions twoards food/diet/life. It's more of a diary too.

[lindrusso]

Well, I journal "just the facts" (calories, exercise, etc.), and even that I have been very irregular about. I know that once I get into the groove, I know that it will become a habit, it's just finding that groove.

I'd be interested to hear more about people who keep more of an overall journal....how do you feel this has helped? What sorts of things do you write down?

[MPHenderson]

I keep a food journal and have for about 18 months now. I record food item, calories, fat grams and fiber in a spreadsheet on my Palm Pilot. I keep track of this as a means of being more mindful of what I eat. I have a hard time balancing my diet through the day and this really helps.

I also record my exercise on the kitchen calendar each day. Just as a way to keep an overall record of what I'm doing.

I have read so many articles that indicate that journals are a key component of weight loss and maintenance. Can't hurt, right?

[JHolcomb]

OK, I went to dietwatch.com and I ended up more confused than when I entered the site. It said that half a pound of extra lean ground beef had 77 grams of fat. Why, then, does the nutrition label on the beef say that 4 oz has 4.5 grams of fat? That would only be 18 grams of fat for a whole pound. What's up with that? Is that after draining it or something, or is the site wrong? I am so confused.

[lindrusso]

JHolcomb - it may be that your package of beef is listing the nutritional values for the beef after cooking. You know how manufacturers are - they always want to display their product in the best light possible!

What percent fat is your beef? I have noticed that nutritional info programs all list their ground beef differently. Some list extra lean as 15% fat!! Compare that to some beef on the market now that is only 5-10% fat and you're going to come up against a big difference. We'll get to the bottom of this yet...

[This message has been edited by lindrusso (edited 03-09-2001).]

[CLCH]

I have been using dietwatch.com for about 6 weeks now to record my exercise, diet and weight. I think it has been very helpful for me. If I don't record what I eat, I tend to think that I haven't eaten as much as I have. Being forced to record every bite of food, even when I think, "Oh it was just a nibble" made me realize that I was eating a lot more than I thought. I found that a lot of the foods I eat aren't in the database so it was time-consuming at first to enter a lot of nutritional values, but well worth it for me.

[m4star]

Not to sing the praises of dietwatch.com too much, but I agree with CLCH. It is good to have something that can help you to keep track of all those little "bites" that tend to add up over the day. Plus it really made me realize how little calcium I get some days.

However, you must realize that no computer program can be 100% accurate all of the time. That's why there is the "add a food" option. I add in the calories for the CL recipes, and it's really useful. Also, try the USDA's database for some clarity on the ground beef situation (http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl). It's a slow database, but it might shed some light.

[JHolcomb]

The lean ground beef I buy is 4% fat, and I do drain it.

[Pat58]

I keep a weekly Weight Watchers food journal with brief notations re: exercise, and an on-line fitness journal at accenthealth.com. We used to have a Workout Challenge thread on this board but it fizzled out so I stopped participating. Journaling has been the key to my success at WW.

[Lynn B]

I definately think "journaling" helps! I tracked my weight/what I ate/type of exercise for about 8 months while I was losing...now that I am maintaining I have let up w/ MOST of that. (BUT, if I would happen to go over my "goal range", I have told myself that I will start tracking ALL of it again.) I think it is helpful for several reasons. For me, it helped to make me aware of what I was eating. Just knowing I had to write it down made me think twice about eating that (2nd or 3rd!) cookie, etc. PLUS, if I slowed down or stopped in the weight loss, etc., I could look back and see what I was eating/doing when I was losing. It was a good reference. I still keep track of my weight (weigh in once a week and jot it down). I also made a graph, and I keep track of it (my weight) there. My "goal range" is in yellow, and I am happy to say that I have stayed "in the yellow" for 5 months now! I think the journal has had a lot to do with the successfulness of my program.
I totally recommend it!
Lynn