Five Reasons to Write Down Everything You Eat

YOU SNACK A LOT MORE THAN YOU REALIZE — Carry a notebook with you and jot down every item of food and drink that passes your lips. Within a day, you’ll realize just how much you snack. A bag of chips mid-morning, a cookie from a colleague’s stash, a few bits of candy — it all adds up. You might find you’re eating more in snacks than in proper meals.

YOU’RE NOT EATING ENOUGH FRUIT AND VEGETABLES — Are you hitting your five servings of fruit and veggies every day? Maybe you reckon that you’re “close”. Chances are, you’re sometimes only getting two or three – if that. Once you’ve written down everything you ate during the week, look back and see where you could fit in some fresh fruit (swap one of your many snacks for an apple, grab a fruit bag instead of a candy bar with your lunch-time sandwich). And if your meals are a veg-free zone, make sure you start including some salad or cooked vegetables.

YOU DRINK WAY TOO MUCH SODA OR ENERGY DRINKS — It’s easy to forget that drinks have calories too. If you’re chugging down three cans of Coke or an energy drink a day, you’re swallowing hundreds of grams of sugar.

YOU SPEND TOO MUCH ON JUNK — Now this list is going to become ultra-handy. In addition to watching your food intake, you’re also watching the budget. Keep a note of where you eat — or how much you spend on food — if you’re buying it out. You might realize that junk food and snacks are costing you more than your main meals.

YOU DON’T GET ENOUGH VARIETY IN YOUR DIET — Are you writing down the same things for meals almost every day? Maybe your breakfast is always the same type of cereal, lunch is a fast food sandwich, and dinner revolves around frozen meals. Or perhaps everything you eat is from your own national cuisine.