AUNT BEE 2 BARBEE FITNESS CONSULTING

KEEPING A DAILY FOOD JOURNAL

Another important step I took in making lifestyle changes was keeping a daily food journal. I designed a spreadsheet that keeps track of my calories, sodium and carbohydrate intake. Watching these three areas holds the key to helping me keep balanced nutrition. I have also included on this same spreadsheet the current date and all the food items I eat for each day. 

Keeping my daily food journal is a great way to help me stay on track. It allows me to go back to previous days and months and compare how consistent I have been in staying within the numbers of daily food counts. Each week when I do my weigh in, I know my weight will be the same because of the information logged in my journal. It is a good feeling to get on the scales each week and know beforehand that I have not gained weight because of what is written on the chart of my daily food journal. I highly recommend keeping a daily count of all food intake, because it has been an added plus in my continued progress in making lifestyle changes. 

Keeping a daily food journal helps me stay accountable for all that I eat. When a person knows that they will be held accountable for their actions, they tend to be more careful in all they do so as to have a good outcome. 

Wikipedia gave me more insight on the word accountable. It states, “Accountability is often used synonymously with such concepts as responsibility, answerability, blame worthiness, liability and other terms associated with the expectation of account giving.”  

Researching the broader meaning of this word made me see why keeping a daily food journal was a wise decision. The first good reason was that I have the responsibility to make sure I eat a balanced diet. The second reason is that I would be held liable for what I ate. The health problems I had in the past helps me see what can happen as a result of being held liable for what I ate. The third reason is that I wanted to keep free of blame by staying consistent with healthy eating. Keeping my daily food journal would definitely be the solution to accomplishing all of this. 

It was certainly beneficial for me to take the time to look up the broader meaning of this word. I could see this word has deep meaning and that being held accountable involves almost every aspect of our lives. Understanding just how serious accountability is helps me keep this daily task part of my lifestyle changes. 

Another beneficial aspect of keeping a daily food journal is that it helps me avoid the pitfalls of struggling to maintain a healthy weight. I struggled for many years in the past with weight gain, not knowing the reasons why. When I consider my past problems with constant weight gain, I can now see how keeping a daily food journal could have helped me avoid this. It has proven to be very beneficial for me to keep track of each and every thing I eat. My daily food journal has helped me avoid disastrous consequences, contributing to good health and a better quality of life.